HOLMDEL – The Holmdel Township Board of Education has appointed Dr. Robert McGarry as assistant superintendent, curriculum and instruction.
McGarry, whose appointment began Monday, Feb. 24, began his career as a teacher and coach in September 1995 in the Hillsborough Township School District where he taught vocal/general music in kindergarten through eighth grade. He also served as cross-country coach and running club advisor, developed and taught a course in the Parent’s Academy for Continuing Education, and served on the district strategic planning team. He later taught in the Marlboro Township schools where he also oversaw the development of the district’s first Summer Arts and Technology Camp for Basic Skills students.
McGarry was supervisor of curriculum and instruction in both the Montville and East Brunswick schools. Over the course of his six years there, East Brunswick‘s arts programs received both state and national recognition. As director of curriculum and instruction at Shore Regional High School District, he guided the successful implementation of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. He later served as director of curriculum and instruction in the Asbury Park School District.
In 2006, he was invited to participate in the revision of the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards and in 2011 he was one of two educators chosen to represent New Jersey on the U.S. Department of Education’s Regional Advisory Council for the mid-Atlantic states.
McGarry earned his Doctor of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. He is author of several book chapters and journal articles and has had his work published in Educational Leadership, Kappan Magazine and in publications of the American Public Health Association.
A resident of Long Branch, he is an avid runner and completed the New York City Marathon and is also a frequent musical theater performer and conductor in Red Bank and in his hometown of Spring Lake.
