King to be a 'Driving Force' at Lacey Middle School

Having worked closely with former Lacey Middle School Principal James Handschuch for several years, Jason King feels he’s in a better position to take on his new role. 

Handschuch and King were a tight team, accomplishing most tasks together. Although, King is sure Handschuch did even more than he’s aware of.

“There’s going to be a learning curve,” King, the new principal of the middle school, said. “But I feel like I’m in a better position than if I hadn’t worked with [Handschuch].”

King had been serving in an interim capacity, since , until he was officially

King’s salary will be $115,000 and his tenure as principal will be from Monday, July 9, to Sunday, June 30, 2013. As vice principal, King made $87,885 in 2010.

“I know the middle school is in great hands. He’s ready to take the reins. Making the decision to move onto the high school knowing the middle school was in such great hands made the decision easier,” Handschuch previously said.

King is a Lacey native, having graduated from the high school in 1992. He graduated from Montclair State University with a degree in biology and a minor in chemistry. He received his teaching degree from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

Handschuch had actually been King’s mentor while he was a student teacher at Lacey Township High School, he said. Afterwards, he went on to teach science for eight years at the school before receiving his Masters in Administration and Supervision from New Jersey City University.

“I made learning fun,” King said of his time as a teacher. “We got the knowledge across but we had a good time doing it.”

King then served as the Dean of Students at the high school for a year and a half.

“I love the classroom but I wanted to reach the students greater than the classroom,” King said of the transition to administration. Rather than reaching a class of students, he would now be able to reach an entire school.

Transitioning from teaching to administration was challenging at times, he said. There’s an extra layer of unpredictability as an administrator.

“There’s a shift in the mental thought process,” he said, adding that he couldn’t always have his day planned out. “That was a big transition.”

King moved on to be Vice Principal at Middletown North for just four months before returning as Vice Principal of Lacey Middle School. He was vice principal under current Assistant Superintendent Dr. Vanessa Clark for two years before Handschuch took over.

As an administrator, King believes he has always been supportive and accessible to student and staff, he said.

“I want to provide the opportunity for every student who comes through the door to learn,” King said. He said his goal is to also prepare each student for high school and beyond, since the push is college.

"We hired King in large part because of the outstanding job he's done as Vice Principal of the Middle School," Board of Education President Jack Martenak previously said, adding that King played an integral role in the school's new block scheduling and curriculum development. "He brings enthusiasm and a new set of ideas." 

The middle school will be using a modified block schedule, King said. It began a few years ago to increase time in language arts, now students will have additional time in mathematics as well.

“We’ve recognized the need for more time in math,” he said. The initiative was not just because of the push in state testing but to provide students additional support in an area of need and importance.

The district will also be utilizing Understanding by Design, a tool for educational planning that focuses on teaching for meaning and understanding.

“It delves deeper than the facts and figures,” he said.

King is also enthusiastic about teacher teams and professional learning communities.

Teaming teachers together is a continued initiative with some improvements. Groups of teachers will share a common group of students, he said.

“It will help strengthen assistance for kids and provide support,” he said.

For the professional learning communities, which began two years ago, teachers who share a common subject, grade or prep time can discuss issues affecting him or herself or the school as a whole.

“In the past we tried to find time for it, now it has its own time,” King said.

Teachers will be able to coordinate lesson plans. For example, if a group of teachers wants to do a lesson on medicine in the civil war, they can coordinate and do so over the course of different classes so the same students get different perspectives.

Currently, just over one week on the job, King has dove into the search for a new assistant principal. The district had first round interviews last week. There were seven applicants, five of whom were in-district, he said. 

The assistant principal will be more curriculum-involved than in the past, King said. Whoever is selected will have the dual responsibility of disciplinarian and curriculum leader. 

“I’m looking forward to my shared vision with the staff to come forward,” he said. “I can be a driving force.”