On Dec. 22, 2023, students and staff of Communications High School (CHS) will hear the iconic line “Good morning CHS!” ring out from the school loudspeaker for the last time. Starting Jan. 1, founding CHS Principal James Gleason will enter retirement after spending 32 years within the Monmouth County Vocational School District (MCVSD).
“I am extremely thankful to MCVSD and all the amazing students, staff, and parents that I have worked with over the years,” Gleason stated in his email to the CHS community on Aug. 15. “I believe Communications High School is well positioned for the future and our program of study will continue to provide amazing opportunities for the students of Monmouth County.”
While students and staff are bidding farewells to their beloved principal, Gleason reassures he won’t be far. As a lifetime New Jersey resident, Gleason was exposed to the state’s unique outdoor surroundings from an early age, and he plans to spend more time enjoying nature and pursuing his passion for hunting.
Although he is unsure where his family will reside after his retirement, Gleason hopes to reconnect with his hometown in Stillwater.
“When you grow up, I think as a kid, you always recognize with that place,” Gleason said. “Even if you do move away and live someplace else, you always think about home.”
While living in Stillwater, Gleason attended Kittatinny Regional High School, where he found an early passion for technology and its potential for creativity. His talent led him to a technical internship program in Morris County. While he obtained useful skills in the position, the lack of compassion in the industry concerned him.
“A lot of people that would be there in the morning… in the afternoon, they would be fired,” Gleason said. “It’s devastating.”
After receiving advice from his mentor on pursuing an educational career, Gleason was guided towards Trenton State College, now known as The College of New Jersey, where he majored in Technology Education. Luckily, as Gleason graduated in 1990, there was an opportunity as a Teacher of Technology at High Technology High School in the MCVSD.
“A lot of things are just timing. I was able to get my feet in the door on a very progressive district that was doing something different.”
In 1996, Gleason took on the same role in another upcoming MCVSD institution, Allied High School. Despite his passion for the job, Gleason realized he needed to financially support his family and earned his administrative certification from Kean University. With this credential, he served as the district’s Technology Director before being asked to undertake the role as principal for the MCVSD’s fourth academy, Communications High School; Gleason accepted.
“They gave me a year; picking out rugs, furniture, just every little thing that you can think about for a school,” Gleason said.
In Sept. 2000, James Gleason opened the doors to MCVSD’s newest academy, running the first communications-focused institution in the district and a shared-time program alongside it.
“I’m sure there were bumps in the road and learning curves,” Gleason said. “Even if you go in with a plan, you’re not going to have everything figured out.”
CHS took several years to develop, filling its student body with freshmen through seniors within its first four years of operation. However, the school’s unique student culture quickly took the spotlight with events such as Color Wars, bringing students and staff together as early as 2003.
History teacher Sharyn O’Keefe, one of the founding staff at CHS, reflects on Gleason’s departure with their earliest memory together when she first started at HighTechnlogy High School. O’Keefe recounts when Gleason set-up her computer before starting her work in the MCVSD and claims Gleason was “the very first employee of the district that [she] met, minus the principal.”
Continuing on, O’Keefe feels like Gleason’s role as principal allowed for the culture at Communications High School to develop into what it is today.
“I think he really let the students shape up,” O’Keefe said. “He was all about community and the kids, and that has kind of just grown even more.”
While developing the environment that encapsulates the school today, Gleason believes this would not have been possible without the endless excitement and support from the faculty.
“Right from the beginning, we worked really hard as a staff [and] developed the programs,” Gleason said. “From the secretaries to the custodians…to the nurse to the guidance counselors, everyone has their role to make this place what it is.”
Gleason’s impact on the staff has been acknowledged through both his character and his involvement in the programs. Photography and Communications Technology teacher Amanda FitzPatrick has been working at CHS since 2018, and she believes Gleason’s absence will be missed throughout the school.
“He’s welcoming, he’s polite, [and] if you need something, he’s available,” FitzPatrick said. “He was such an advocate for this equipment in [room] 101 and I hope that doesn’t fade.”
As his time draws to a close, Gleason reflects on his history of serving some of the most unique and highest-ranked high schools in the area.
By taking the opportunity to lead one of the only communications-focused institutions in the state, he has fostered an atmosphere that produces artists, programmers, filmmakers and other successful creatives.
“I’m just proud to have been part of a very progressive district and played a role in three different academies,” Gleason said. “[CHS] a very unique environment of creativity that really doesn’t have a lot of bounds.”
Even though Gleason is departing from his role as CHS principal, this is not the end of his journey. For an individual with as much ambition and determination as James Gleason, even he acknowledges that there is a lot more to be anticipated from him in the future.
“I am retiring, but there is going to be a second act…I just don’t know exactly what that second act is yet.”
