New to Cinnaminson High School this school year is Assistant Principal Ashley Kalfazade. Previously a Pirate as the assistant principal at New Albany School from 2020 through June of 2024, Kalfazade now joins the CHS family.
Kalfazade has earned two master’s degrees, one in administration and another in ESL, from Scranton University. She began her career as a Spanish teacher. Then she became the assistant principal at a school in Jersey City before moving to South Jersey to become a Pirate.
Kalfazade says she is still adjusting to the transition from NAS to CHS.
“The biggest challenge that I’ve had is just getting to know the day-to-day operations of the school, trying to memorize as many names as possible, classroom numbers, just the basic things.”
However, having previous experience both at the high school level and in the district, Kalfazade said she has an advantage.
“One of the advantages I have is that I’ve already been in the district, so I know the basic principles and guidelines.”
Having already met siblings and parents of many CHS students through her experience at New Albany, Kalfazade said she feels a far greater connection to the families of Cinnaminson.
“Another main thing that I’d say is that a lot of students here, I’ve known their younger siblings and their parents, and it’s nice to see and know the rest of the family and become more meshed into the rest of the family.”
Kalfazade enjoys working at the high school level. She said it allows her to have conversations with students at a higher level than in elementary school.
“It’s nice because I can have conversations with the students at a little more high level, a little more intellectual, a little more adult conversations, deeper conversations I guess I would say with the students here,” Kalfazade said. “I could have conversations with the elementary school too but as you know they are not as capable of going in-depth.”
Kalfazade also expressed her enjoyment of the school’s events outside of school. She said she likes being involved in outside-of-school events and activities that allow her to further build connections with the student body.
“I think it’s cool how here there’s so many after-school activities so I can attend games, concerts, any other competitions, things like that. I like the fact that I can be more involved outside of the school day, whereas in elementary school there aren’t as many external opportunities.”
According to Kalfazade, one of her goals is to make sure that every student has an easy time finding their place within the school, which she said she hopes could be through clubs and activities.
“I’d love to see more student involvement in clubs and activities. If students don’t feel like they have their safe place, I guess I’d want to figure out what we can do moving forward to make it easier for students to find their ‘home’ in school.”
Kalfazade knows the importance of community and building relationships, especially at the high school level. She is determined to get to know as many CHS students as possible.
“I hope I have the opportunity to get to know as many students as I can, and I’m gonna try my best to build relationships with students, and just get to know them as much as I can. I look forward to being in and out of the classroom in the future, attending more events, and just building relationships and trying to make it better.”
