New Principal Recommended For Chatham's Milton Avenue School

CHATHAM, NJ — Next year, Milton Avenue School will have new leadership after current principal Nicholas Andreazza announced his resignation from the district.

At the July 10 Board of Education meeting, Assistant Superintendent Mary Donohue gave a personnel update, discussing the upcoming changes to the elementary school.

"We have had a resignation letter from Mr. Andreazza and Dr. LaSusa and the administrative team has given this considerable thought and we are recommending Dr. Kristen Crawford to replace him as the principal at Milton Avenue," Donohue said.

Andreazza had been the principal of Milton Avenue since the 2015-2016 school year.

"Dr. Crawford has been in the district as our science supervisor for eight years and last year she was at Washington Avenue School to get the school off to a very strong start. She was there from the beginning of school until February. After that, she transitioned over to Lafayette and was the assistant principal there and she succeeded very capably in both buildings," Donohue said.

Jill Critchley Weber, President of the Chatham Board of Education, stated her support for the decision, saying that Crawford's passion for education and science was what stood out to her. "I think it's a great choice."

"We are very confident that she is the one to take on this position and would be a strong leader for our students, our families and our teachers over at Milton Avenue School," Donohue said.

Crawford also previously served as the president of the New Jersey Science Education Leadership Association (NJSELA).

"Thank you for your support and your confidence. I am really excited for this role, I am enthusiastic about my job, I'm enthusiastic about education and I'm really looking forward to being a part of the education journey for all the students at Milton Avenue School," Crawford said.

Milton Avenue School is a highly rated public school, according to Niche.com. It has 295 students in grades PK, K-3, with a student-teacher ratio of 11 to 1. According to state test results, 65 percent of students are math proficient and 65 percent are reading proficient.