New superintendent David Mango assumed his new role in the Kinnelon School District in October of this school year, replacing interim superintendent Anthony Riscica, who took over for Diane DiGiussepe when she resigned in June 2022. As superintendent, Mango is tasked with overseeing the entire district and attempting to improve student experiences. Luckily, he comes to the Colts Community with an impressive set of credentials and a sense of optimism for the district’s future.
Before coming to Kinnelon, Mango was the superintendent of Hackettstown School District for over 10 years. While in Hackettstown, Mango gave the students opportunities to partake in various new extracurricular activities. In this new role, Mango hopes to similarly increase student opportunities here in Kinnelon.
A major reason Mango came to Kinnelon was the challenges he observed surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic response. He said that when “dealing with a crisis, things arise that are not typical for you to watch. I was here watching my daughter, who was in Stonybrook, and I saw a lot of what was going on. When the position opened, I knew I owed it to myself and to the community to do the best I could.”
Mango worked hard to improve opportunities in Hackettstown. “As far as building it up for the community and the students, we did a lot of projects there and a lot of facility upgrades and program upgrades. They didn’t have lacrosse for boys and girls, so we brought lacrosse to the school,” says Mango.
Education was also at the forefront of many initiatives in Mango’s former district. He said, “We created opportunities for our junior and senior students to partake in dual enrollment. A lot of our students were able to earn credits from Centenary University, [which] is right in Hackettstown, and Warren Community College. So, a lot of our senior students would leave high school with a minimum of 12 college credits and a maximum of 24.”
Similar to his experience in Hackettstown, Mango hopes to provide opportunity for the students of Kinnelon through “[building] programs that don’t exist and giv[ing] young people the voice and the power that they should have.” The student body has already seen some of these new initiatives come to life, including senior off-campus lunch.
When it comes to accomplishing things within the school district in the next few years, Mango says that his “office is steered by the Board of Education and the community.” He wants the district to be the best it possibly can be in terms of its facilities, upgrades, security, extracurricular activities, and special education programs– with improvements that come from community desires. Mango is committed to this community, not only as an employee of the district, but as a father, and will do his best to help enhance different programs while listening to the voices of students and parents.
