Rumson Welcomes
 New School Superintendent

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RUMSON – John E. Bormann, Ed.D., who will assume his role as Superintendent of the Rumson School District here Aug. 1, met with parents Tuesday to familiarize himself with his new school district and the people in it.
While talking and mingling with the community at the Forrestdale middle school, he explained his plans and aspirations as the new superintendent. His immediate and primary goal is to “get into the schools and spend time learning what a Rumson education is all about and what it means to be a part of the Rumson community.”
He then will aim to “blend what I learn about Rumson with my own ideas of education” which, at its core, are to “expand the possibilities for all students by having good schools, facilities and staffing.”
Over his entire tenure as superintendent, he wants “to ensure Rumson schools can be No. 1 at anything it wants to be No.1 at,” and be a “visual part”
 of the Rumson community for the parents and students alike.
The Rumson Board of Education chose Bormann for the job in March after reviewing more than 30 qualified applications and holding several rounds of interviews, in which every board member participated.
A more than qualified candidate for the job, Bormann holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Rutgers University in Environmental Science, a Master of Science from Ramapo College in Educational Technology, a Master of Arts degree from Georgian Court University in Educational Leadership and a Doctorate from St. Peter’s University in Educational Leadership.
Bormann, who will be paid $145,000 annually, currently works at H.W. Mountz School in Spring Lake, where he has 19 years of experience as a passionate educator in the sciences, supervisor of curriculum, and superintendent/principal. He has also served as the chief school administrator of the highly successful school district of Spring Lake for the past four years.
He is absorbed into the life of the H.W. Mountz School and associates himself with every aspect of it and its science department; he develops the science curriculum for the school district, coordinates the annual science fair and is adviser for the eighth grade, the National Junior Honor Society and the school yearbook. He hopes to be just as involved in Rumson as he was in Spring Lake, even though he will not be a science teacher at any of the Rumson schools.
For all of these efforts, Bormann has twice, in 2000 and again in 2005, been granted the Governor’s Teacher Recognition Award from the New Jersey Department of Education. He has also received the Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award, and the Monmouth County Education Association Friend of Education Award.
According to the Rumson School District website, what distinguishes Bormann from many other respected educators is that he “treats education as a responsibility owed to the children of the community and believes teaching and learning should be elevated through the professional growth of teachers, the inspiration of communities, and the motivation of students.”
Bormann has a “special interest in motivating” the collaborators and stakeholders in children’s education to work harder and become better for the sake of the children. He believes that trying is the only road to success and is determined to “make this happen” for the children of Rumson, which is why he is “very excited” to make this “monumental step” in his life.
“I am ready to fall in love with Rumson and invest all of my education expertise and love of children into the Rumson community,” he said.
– Photo and story by Heather Nelson