Mindy Milavsky Appointed New Middle School Principal

Mindy Milavsky, who received a “tremendous” outpouring of support from both coworkers and members of the Lawrence Township community during the last month as the search for a new principal for Lawrence Middle School took place, was officially appointed to that position by the Lawrence Township Board of Education during its meeting Monday, Oct. 10.

As Lawrence Middle School’s assistant principal, Milavsky had been serving as acting principal since .  

Milavsky’s promotion to fulltime principal at LMS took effect Tuesday. Her salary for the 2011-2012 school year – $129,357 – will not change.

“Mindy has been in the Lawrence public school system for 19 years,” school board Vice President Leon Kaplan said as he introduced the motion to promote Milavsky. “She has taught, she has coached, she has been dean of students, she has been assistant principal at the middle school and the high school, and she is currently acting principal at LMS. She has turned down opportunities in other districts because, as she said, this is her home. She was the unanimous choice of everyone involved in this process. And I speak for the entire committee – we are very fortunate to recommend her.”

“One of the greatest days I’ve had was going over [to Lawrence Middle School] and sharing with the staff that I would be recommending Mindy,” school district Superintendent Crystal Lovell said during Monday’s meeting. “I don’t even think I finished the sentence before they just broke out in cheers.”

Addressing Milavsky – who sat in the audience dressed in an outfit as red as the school district’s Cardinal mascot – Lovell said, “Tremendous support for you, Mindy, from your staff and from all of us here. We know you’re going to do great things as the middle school principal.”

“We’re really lucky, Mindy. Thank you,” school board President Laura Waters said.

“I’m really lucky,” Milavsky answered. “It’s a great staff. I really love it here. Thank you so much.”

Prior to the board members’ unanimous vote on Milavsky’s appointment, Kaplan detailed the efforts the school district went through to ensure the best candidate was found to replace Zuckerman as principal at LMS.

“As soon as Mr. Zuckerman was appointed director of instructional services, his former position of principal was posted, both internally and throughout the state. We received nearly 40 applications. Rebecca [Gold, school district director of personnel] sorted through them using some criteria previously specified – proper certificates, experience as a principal or assistant principal at a middle school, and coming from a district that in some ways is similar to ours,” he said.

“Ultimately, five candidates met the qualifications and they were interviewed by a screening committee that was set up for that purpose. The committee was composed of middle school parents, faculty, staff, administrators, and board members. The committee spent several hours meeting individually with each of the candidates. The candidates handed out their resumes, they spoke for a few minutes, they answered questions that we posed as committee members and they asked some of their own questions.

“The candidates, I felt, were experienced and impressive,” Kaplan continued. “They came from all parts of the state. And they had experience as principals, assistant principals; some also had held some high-level administrative positions. The typical candidate’s resume is five pages long. It lists position held, responsibilities, accomplishments, education and certifications. One candidate’s resume did stand out... Similarly, her interview was a cross between a pep-rally and a meditation on the angst of being a middle school student. Separately, we had set up a website to invite people to share their thoughts about what we should be looking for in a principal for Lawrence Middle School. Many of those who responded had a one-word answer: Mindy. Mindy was the only candidate the search committee voted to recommend to the superintendent…”