A top Philly school official is leaving the district to be a superintendent in South Jersey
Ariel Lajara just accepted a job as superintendent in South Jersey. He will lead the Vineland school system in Cumberland County.
Another assistant superintendent is leaving the Philadelphia School District.
Ariel Lajara, who currently serves as an assistant superintendent, was just named superintendent of the Vineland public school system. He will start July 1.
Lajara has been a teacher and administrator in Philadelphia for decades. He’s a graduate of Olney High who worked as a first- and fifth-grade teacher and principal before becoming an assistant superintendent.
He will lead the Vineland School District in Cumberland County, N.J., a system of 16 schools serving about 11,000 students.
Cedric Holmes, Vineland’s school board president, trumpeted Lajara’s “brilliant career spanning decades” in a statement and said the system raised standards with its search, which followed Alfonso Q. Llano’s departure this winter to become Camden’s superintendent.
“In Dr. Lajara, we have secured an innovative turnaround architect with a proven record of driving instructional excellence, deep community engagement, and sophisticated fiscal management,” Holmes said. “He is uniquely equipped to optimize our central office operations and lead Vineland Public Schools to historic heights.”
Lajara’s departure marks the continuation of a period of change for the school system — it follows the recent exit of another assistant superintendent, Lajara’s cousin Renato Lajara, who is leaving Philadelphia to become Bethlehem’s superintendent. Jermaine Dawson, Watlington’s top academic deputy, is also departing to become superintendent in Baltimore.
Lajara is currently assistant superintendent for Learning Network 9, a group of 15 schools in Kensington, Bridesburg, Port Richmond, and Frankford.
Lajara said he was thrilled to lead the Vineland system.
“Together, we will ensure that every single school building across Vineland operates at an elite level for our students,” Lajara said in a statement.
