Millstone Primary School principal starts on July 1
New school's leader to earn $104,500 per year in position

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MILLSTONE TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT Millstone Township School District Superintendent Mary Anne Donahue welcomes new Millstone Township Primary School Principal Gina Marie Villani to the school district. Villani will begin her new job July 1.

MILLSTONE - The Millstone Township Board of Education has appointed Gina Marie Villani as the new Millstone Township Primary School principal.

The primary school, which is the new name for the current elementary school on Schoolhouse Road, will house prekindergartners to second-graders now that the township's new middle school on Baird Road for grades six to eight will open this year. The current middle school on Millstone Road will become the new elementary school for grades three to five.

Villani, of Bound Brook, will start her new position July 1 and will receive $104,500 for the 2007-08 school year, according to Louise San Nicola, the school district's public information officer.

She has a bachelor's degree in biology, a master of science degree in elementary education and a master of arts degree in educational administration, according to San Nicola, and she is currently completing her doctorate at Seton Hall University in South Orange.

Villani, who is coming to the Millstone Township School District from the Somerville School District, has a background in preschool administration and previously served as a preschool administrator in charge, a pre-K to 12th-grade supervisor of humanities and related content areas, and a pre-K to eighth-grade supervisor of curriculum and instruction. She has also worked as a district testing coordinator for all state testing for grades K-8, which includes the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge 3 (NJ ASK3) and NJ ASK4, NJ ASK 5-7, the Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA), the TerraNova assessment series and Pre-GEPA, according to San Nicola.

In addition, Villani served as a district 504 officer, which allowed her to gain experience in affirmative action investigations. She has experience in staff and professional development as well, according to San Nicola.

Her knowledge and expertise in all aspects as an administrator, along with her years of experience teaching second and third grade, made her the Board of Education's candidate of choice as the principal of the Millstone Township Primary School, according to San Nicola.

San Nicola said there were 71 qualified candidates who applied for the position, 10 of whom went through an extensive interview process.