Yesterday the South Orange-Maplewood Schools District announced the appointment of Ricardo Pedro as Interim Principal of Columbia High School. He replaces, at least temporarily, Frank Sanchez, who has been charged with second-degree child endangerment and simple assault against a tenth-grader.. Since January the current assistant superintendent,  Ann Bodner, has been in charge of the high school because Sanchez was put on administrative leave pending the outcome of the charges filed by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.

This is a statement written by district Communications Manager Paul Brubaker:

“I am thrilled to welcome Mr. Pedro to the District family,” said Dr. Kevin F. Gilbert, Acting Superintendent of the South Orange and Maplewood School District. “Mr. Pedro brings a wealth of experience as an educator and a high school administrator to Columbia High School. I have every confidence that he can deliver the kind of leadership our students and families want and need. I’m looking forward to working with Mr. Pedro and I hope everyone in the Columbia High School joins me in welcoming him.”

Before coming to SOMA, Pedro was principal of Newark’s Arts High School, a district magnet school. Previously he was a math teacher at Newark’s East Side High School, Weequahic High School, and a local parochial school. In a message to staff, Pedro said,

“My leadership style of working collaboratively in an environment of respect in a result-driven climate to meet/exceed expectations has proven to be an effective approach,” Pedro stated. “I encourage all stakeholders to utilize my ‘open door’ style of management to ensure all voices are heard and ideas shared to positively impact decision making.”