By Max Gast

Our new superintendent and principal, Mr. Michael Heidelberg, used to be a swim instructor, and he found that he really liked to teach kids. When his friend informed him about a fifth-grade teaching position opening up in Perth Amboy, he became a fifth-grade teacher and has been moving up ever since. 

In the past 20 years, Mr. Heidelberg has not only served as a fifth-grade teacher, but also a seventh- and eighth-grade English teacher, a high school English teacher, a technology coordinator, a middle school vice principal, a middle school principal, a director of curriculum and instruction, and a high school principal.

He came to BBES because he wanted to go further than principal, but he didn’t want to give up the job. Since Bradley Beach is such a small town with only one school in the entire district, the principal is also the superintendent. This is one of the reasons he chose to come to Bradley Beach.

There are many differences between his old school and BBES. He came from a very large high school with about 2,000 students, to a Pre-K through 8 school, with only about 200 students.

“High school students can control their emotions better than middle school students, but middle school students can be a lot more fun because high school students think they’re too cool for school,” Mr. Heidelberg said.

He considers Bradley Beach a “very caring school.”

He has already become very interactive with the student body. He has hosted many assemblies so far including one where he introduced himself in the auditorium where he invited the whole school. Along with the assemblies, many events have taken place. He brought back the Turkey Shoot, which was absent for far too long due to Covid. Alongside that basketball event, the basketball season went into full swing. There was also a school dance in October and a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration in September with many other events confirmed and happening soon.

Mr. Heidelberg’s philosophy is about communication, academic rigor, and school spirit.

“I’ve learned that all kids can learn but they learn differently, and you have to give them the confidence to believe in themselves,” he said. 

He’s already proud of some new ideas. He was saying, “I’m proud of the fact that we’re working with teachers to make sure we have the best curriculum for our students.”

On his approach to our school, he said, “I think what we need to do is that students have good academic experience, that they understand the expectations for their behavior and their studies.”

Mr. Heidelberg lives in Sayreville with two kids and a wife. He has a daughter who’s a sophomore and a son who is in 7th grade. They also have a dog named Gus, a terrier mix. Mr. Heidelberg also likes to ski.

We welcome Mr. Heidelberg to our school and wish him all the best in his new role.