East Hanover Superintendent to Leave Post

The East Hanover Township School District will have to find a new superintendent.

Dr. Joseph Ricca released a letter to the public Monday announcing his resignation from the position of superintendent for the East Hanover school district. He will instead become the superintendent of schools in the Elmsford Union Free School District in New York.

Ricca became superintendent in 2009. Before that he was a principal in the district for just over one year.

In his letter to the public, Ricca said the decision to leave East Hanover was not an easy one. He thanked the students, parents, staff members and Board of Education for their continued dedication and support. Support from the parents and community at large, he said, "remains a blessing that enriches our schools daily."

Before he came to East Hanover he worked as an elementary school principal in Hawthorne for one year and as vice principal for student affairs in Haledon, NJ for two years. He was a history teacher in Mountainside from 2000 to 2005.

His education include coursework at Walden University, Caldwell College, Kean University, Harvard University's Graduate School of Education, Seton Hall University and Oxford.

A copy of Ricca's letter to the public is in the Photos & Documents section of this article.