Assistant Superintendent of Schools Joseph Fleres will replace retiring Superintendent Sal Goncalves on July 1.
In 2003, Fleres began in the district as a sixth-grade Demarest Elementary School teacher.
“Room 211, blacktop side of the building, no air conditioning and I loved it,” he recalled last week.
In 2011, he took a 13-month hiatus to become vice-principal at Prospect Park School, a pre-K – 8 school in Prospect Park and returned to Bloomfield in 2012, to be the Brookdale Elementary School principal. Five years later he was moved to the central office as district head for elementary education and school safety.
Coming from the school ranks, he said, gave him a great district perspective. In 2119, he became assistant superintendent.
Regarding his upcoming duties, Fleres said a superintendent and board of education need to work hand-in-hand to do what is right for students.
“We have to have a mindset in order for the kids to have the best opportunity to learn,” he said, “while being fiscally responsible.”
He sees his primary challenge as maintaining what Bloomfield provides its children — the programs, technology and social/emotional learning within a proper educational system and all the while adhering to government mandates.
“We get the unique opportunity to educate parents’ and guardians’ precious gifts for seven hours a day,” he said. “My goal is to make those hours the best possible experience. There are new challenges always in education. You have to be able to adapt and pivot, but the kids have to be your compass. If you do that, you’ll wind up on the right side of the coin.”
A challenge he faces, Fleres said, is maintaining the growth and stability of the last 14 years, alluding to Goncalves’s tenure. And as for the infrastructure, the district is in a good place, he believes.
“We’ve prided ourselves on having adequate class sizes,” he said. “Enrollment can fluctuate, but we’re able to produce a steady product. The growth in
national assessments and benchmarks prove what we’re doing is working.”
He sees the challenge to school principals as managing government mandates and ensuring that the curriculum is delivered on a daily basis. The district, he said, draws strength from its diversity with “a beautiful array of religions and backgrounds that filter into the schools.”
“That creates an experience, I believe, like no other,” he added.
The pupils have their challenges, too.
“I think the challenge, for the kids, is the battle with technology and social media that’s growing faster than their minds are,” Fleres said. “The challenge for them is to utilize those tools in a proper way and not get caught up on the wrong side.”
Fleres hopes to continue to seek out teaching and staff candidates that reflect Bloomfield demographics. The kids, he said, deserve to have the best teachers in front of them on a daily basis. Still the educator at heart, his favorite activity is going through the schools to see what’s what and greeting the kids and staff.
“I pride myself on my relationships and accessibility,” he said.
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