New leadership at Golda Och

New leadership will be in place this summer at Golda Och Academy in West Orange. As of July 1, Christine Stodolski will assume the post of upper school principal, and current associate head of school and upper school principal Adam Shapiro will become head of school, succeeding the departing Rabbi Dr. Joyce Raynor. 

Stodolski joins GOA with 26 years’ experience in independent and private schools, including having served as assistant head of school at Gann Academy, a Jewish day school in Waltham, Mass., where she also served as dean of studies and Math Department chair. 

Stodolski “has a proven track record of success from every school she has worked and taught in,” said Shapiro. “Her background in math and science, along with her experience working at very high-achieving schools, means that Ms. Stodolski will be ready to step in and help us continue to strive for excellence both inside and outside the classroom.” 

Stodolski also served as assistant head of school at Meridian Academy, an affiliate of the Coalition of Essential Schools in Brookline, Mass., where she developed and implemented an integrated math, science, and technology curriculum and collaborated on the Tufts University Genomics Project to introduce a genomics curriculum with unprecedented access to DNA sequencing technology. She also held the positions of dean of students, acting assistant headmaster, and cochair of the Math Department at the Waring School in Beverly, Mass. 

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GOA, said Stodolski, “is a school that strives for excellence in all areas of its program, and I am looking forward to bringing my experience and insights to that endeavor.”

Her experience covered a global perspective as well: she served as assistant principal at the Taktse International School in Gangtok, India, where she helped set up new systems and structures for teacher supervision, professional development, high school curriculum, accounting, and fund-raising. 

Stodolski received a BA from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and earned an MA in educational leadership from the Klingenstein Center at Columbia University’s Teachers College in New York. 

GOA is a partner agency of Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ.