The West Morris Regional High School District is preparing for another transition in leadership as Superintendent Dr. Sargent has recently announced her upcoming retirement. Sargent is retiring effective April 1, 2025, with the news being revealed at the WMRHSD Board of Education meeting last month. In just a year and a half, Dr. Sargent has contributed greatly to the school communities of both West Morris Central and West Morris Mendham, enhancing student life and bringing the voices of our district’s youth to the forefront.
Initially entering the West Morris Regional High School District with the intention of seeing the ongoing referendum and its projects through, Dr. Sargent explains that her decision to retire so soon is one that actually “caught [her] by surprise.” However, upon receiving and reflecting on a unique opportunity to serve as the Superintendent of Schools for a small district near Bangor, Maine, she knew that it was something that she could not pass up. Sargent admits that she was “quick to discount the offer at first,” thinking that a school district in another state “would never hire somebody from New Jersey.” Nonetheless, she was drawn to further explore the position upon realizing where exactly it was in Maine, and its proximity to her oldest son and his family. “I’ve learned in my professional life that sometimes things come your way that you weren’t expecting,” Sargent states. “Yet, I feel as if the universe hands me things that are worth exploring and it has never been wrong.”
Regardless of the role she was serving, whether it be that of 7th Grade Language Arts and Social Studies teacher in the West Windsor-Plainsboro School District, an administrative leader in several different New Jersey communities, or eventually the Superintendent of Schools for the Parsippany-Troy Hills District and then the WMRHSD, the strengthening of student life and a holistic approach to education has always been the priority for Dr. Sargent. “My feeling is that our students are our clients,” explains Sargent. “If there are things that they want to see happening that we do not have, I believe that it is the administration’s responsibility and mission, as leaders, to make these things happen.”
One of Dr. Sargent’s most notable initiatives that she introduced to the WMRHSD was the District Student Advisory Panel; a committee of highly decorated students from both West Morris Central and West Morris Mendham that meet around four to five times a year to discuss prevalent school topics and help adapt school policies to meet students’ needs. Since its inception, the District Student Advisory Panel has prompted incredible change within the environments of both high schools, setting in motion their ideas for a senior off-campus lunch privilege, as well as an improvement of the nutritional quality of school lunches.
Developing a comprehensive understanding of the International Baccalaureate program is something that was also of utmost importance to Dr. Sargent upon entering the WMRHSD, and something that both the district’s students, faculty, and families have helped her navigate. Just last month, she gave a highly detailed presentation to the Board of Education on the ins and outs of IB Diploma and Career Programmes, as well as why they are worth considering in a district that offers them. “Last school year, when I was new, several board members had asked if I could do a review of the International Baccalaureate program,” Sargent explains. “However, I asked for more time in an effort to make sure that I would be doing it justice.” And that she did, not only presenting the board with a multitude of statistics about the program, but also including insights from a variety of community members with different backgrounds as to how sending their children to high schools in an International Baccalaureate district has been extremely beneficial to their education. “What the presentation really reinforced for me was the incredible academic depth of the studies in the program, but then also the care of teachers in helping students get through it,” Sargent says. “The academic efforts of our students combined with the care of our teachers has been truly inspirational for me to observe as the district’s superintendent.”
In addition to her engagement with the student bodies and faculty of both West Morris Central and West Morris Mendham, Dr. Sargent has also worked closely with the district’s Board of Education in her position. Given that this is the first regional district that she has worked in, Sargent expresses that it has been extremely helpful to work with board members from Washington Township, Chester Borough, and Mendham Borough combined since each of them “brings their own unique perspective from where they come from.” It is something that has been new to Dr. Sargent, yet something that has also been so “enjoyable and interesting for [her]” at the same time.
Referendums and student-driven panels aside, Dr. Sargent hopes to have left a more profound impact on the WMRHSD upon her upcoming departure; one that redefines what it truly means to be a leader. “I hope that people see that leadership does not have to come in the form of somebody who solely directs from an office all day,” Sargent expresses. “I love the idea that leadership can be personal, and I believe that if something matters to you, you can make time for it and to be a part of it.”
The Paw would like to congratulate Dr. Sargent on an excellent superintendency in the West Morris Regional High School District and wishes her nothing but the best in her next chapter!
