Approved Wednesday night, she has been acting principal since last spring
OCEAN CITY — Ocean City High School has a new permanent principal who looks surprisingly like the acting principal.
The Ocean City Board of Education unanimously approved Dr. Wendy O’Neal for the position Wednesday evening. She has been the acting principal since last spring.
There had been substantial vocal support for O’Neal from various quarters over the past year to make her job permanent, but Superintendent of Schools Dr. Matthew Friedman said he needed time to assess the position because he was just walking into his own job before the beginning of the school year.
Friedman said O’Neal, who came to the district in 2015 as an assistant high school principal, had been acting principal since last spring, when an interim principal hired for the 2021-22 school year left.
The interim principal filled the slot of longtime principal Dr. Matthew Jamison, who retired before the start of the prior school year at the same time former superintendent of schools Dr. Kathleen Taylor retired.
Since he began his job July 1, Friedman said he knew “we had a pretty big position to fill” but he needed time to reflect and think about what the district needed in a leader at the high school.
When he began his job, he had yet to see a teacher teach a class or a student walk through the door at OCHS, so he wanted to understand the culture at the school and wanted time to find the right person.
Friedman said he feels honored and blessed every day to be the superintendent of the Ocean City School District and to work with an “amazing” administrative team that doesn’t have a weak link.
He said it was important to find someone who not only was a perfect fit but would elevate the administrative team. He soon realized the perfect fit was there all along.
Friedman said it was also important to find someone who would share the vision of moving the district forward because he had to be in lockstep with them since they would probably talk 20 to 30 times a day.
When the superintendent said he was honored to recommend O’Neal for the permanent position, there was a big round of applause.
Dr. Patrick Kane, the former school board president, spoke during public comment before the vote and said he had the opportunity to work closely with O’Neal, giving him the chance to get to know her professionally and personally.
Kane said he never heard a student speak negatively about O’Neal and that she was liked and respected as she worked with all of the stakeholder groups in the district from administrators to teachers and staff to students and parents.
Kane said O’Neal fostered a safe and inclusive environment at the high school and contributed positive energy.
When it came time for the school board to vote to approve O’Neal as permanent principal and Michael Pellegrino as permanent athletic director (see related story), multiple board members jumped at once to be the first to make the motion.
She was approved unanimously.
Afterward, the student representatives to the school board lauded O’Neal.
Isabella Pero said she never worked with anyone as kind and professional and that O’Neal always made it a point to answer her emails in less than 20 minutes.
Lauren Knopf said words could not describe “how amazing and incredible you are.” She pointed out it is the first time the senior class has had a permanent administrator since their sophomore year and now they have a solid system of “incredible people.”
Christian Ganter offered a personal anecdote. He said he was at an Exchange Club dinner for two hours and O’Neal was there with him the entire time. He said as she talked to him, he realized she cared not just for him, but for every single student. He pointed out students feel comfortable reaching out and talking to her.
O’Neal: students, teachers,
staff and administrators
make school successful
Before coming to OCHS as assistant principal, O’Neal was an athletic director for 10 years in Summit and Bordentown. Before that she was a health and physical education teacher in West Orange. She started her career in New York City, where she grew up.
O’Neal said there wasn’t much change going from acting to permanent principal.
“I’m going to come to work tomorrow and do the same thing I did every day, whether I was interim, acting, whatever the title was,” she said after the meeting.
“I’m thankful for the administrative team to support me,” she said.
“I can’t ask for better students. I can’t ask for better faculty and staff,” she said. “They come in and make this job so enjoyable every day. Without them I wouldn’t be successful, so I give the kudos back to them for making this school successful. I really do. They’re amazing — amazing group of students, amazing group of faculty and staff.”
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff