Bloomfield’s Goncalves is named Superintendent of the Year

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The 2020-2021 school year was a tough one for students and educators all over the country, but it ended with at least one bright spot in Bloomfield: Superintendent of Schools Sal Goncalves was named the Essex County Superintendent of the Year, in recognition of his leadership, communication, professionalism and community involvement by interim Executive Essex County Superintendent Joseph Zarra. A 40-year veteran of the Bloomfield School District, Goncalves said in a phone interview with The Independent Press on July 26 that the award was a surprise.

“It’s an honor to be named among my peers,” he said. “It was a nice recognition at the end of a difficult year. I have a really supportive staff and Board of Education. They’ve been an amazing team — it’s been a real team effort.”

The award is for the school year that started last September, but the challenges the district faced started in March 2020 when it was forced to shut down its buildings because of the COVID-19 pandemic — just like nearly every other district in the country. When it became clear that the closure was going to become much longer the original two weeks, Goncalves said he and the district administration had to learn how to play by rules that didn’t yet exist.

“How are we going to create and maintain a learning environment for them?” he said they had asked themselves, adding that the district provided Chromebook laptops to every student, and Wi-Fi access to those who didn’t already have it. Bloomfield Middle School and Bloomfield High School students already had the laptops, but younger students did not. The district sped up a plan that was already in place to fill the gap.

“We took something we were planning to do over three years and condensed it into one year,” Goncalves said. “Our technology staff did a remarkable job of putting together a website, and that’s something that we’re proud of. We set up a help desk at the high school so we could deal with problems as they came up.”

This past spring, Bloomfield was able to return to the classroom in person to begin hybrid learning. Athletes were able to play their sports all year by following state guidelines, even though seasons were shortened, with fewer games on the schedule. Slowly, some semblance of normalcy began to return to school — aside from the fact the BHS threw two proms in one year.

“That was something that was never done before,” Goncalves said. “We were able to have this year’s and celebrate last year’s class. We were saying, ‘We’re palm trees, not redwoods. We’re flexible.’”

Even so, the superintendent is looking forward to this fall, when the return to the buildings will be full-time and school will look pretty similar to the way it did pre-pandemic. Protective equipment will be kept on hand, and students and staff who feel symptoms will be encouraged to stay home. There is not a vaccine mandate for staff members, but the district is encouraging them to get the shot.

“It was eerie not seeing kids in school,” Goncalves said. “You build fond memories at school, and I want to see that come back.”

That’s not to say that every tool used during the pandemic will be scrapped come fall. Some technology can stick around to the district’s advantage, and an emphasis on art and music classes has been renewed thanks to the district paying for this year’s annual Summer Arts Workshop, allowing families that fell on hard times during the pandemic to still send their children to summer fine arts lessons.

“I think certainly with technology, we’ve made a lot of strides,” Goncalves said. “We can use that to enhance what we already have going forward. And we knew it was important to help the whole child, not just academically, so art and music are important as well.”

A tough year didn’t seem to dampen Goncalves’ enthusiasm for his job, or the district in general. He has spent his entire career in Bloomfield, starting as a sixth-grade teacher at Watsessing Elementary School and climbing his way up the ranks to the administration building. He also spent time as the principal of Berkeley Elementary School and of BMS. He lives in town, as well.

“From not knowing a place when you sent out your resumes after college, it’s been so good to me,” Goncalves said about Bloomfield. “I found a home here.”

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