Here are the two new principals and one curriculum supervisor taking the helm in Cherry Hill this year
The new principals will lead Joyce Kilmer and Johnson elementary schools.
The Cherry Hill school board on Tuesday approved the appointment of three top administrators for the 2025-26 school year, including two elementary school principals and a curriculum supervisor.
The board approved Wendy Wong to serve as curriculum and instruction supervisor, Sean Sweeney to serve as principal of Joyce Kilmer Elementary School, and Lauren Giordano to serve as principal of Johnson Elementary School.
Wong has worked in the Cherry Hill School District for 22 years — 14 as an elementary school teacher and eight as a middle school science teacher. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University, a master’s degree in integrated science from the University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree of education in administration and leadership from Georgian Court University.
“She is an expert educator, extremely dedicated,” Cherry Hill Superintendent Kwame Morton said of Wong.
Addressing the board, Wong said, “I’m very excited for this great role, and I hope to continue the great work my predecessors started.”
Sweeney, who will step into the role of principal at Joyce Kilmer, is currently the director of human resources for the Washington Township Public Schools. Previously, Sweeney was the director of curriculum and instruction in the Medford Township Public Schools and was an administrator in both the Mount Laurel and Cherry Hill schools. In Cherry Hill, he served as principal of Clara Barton Elementary School from 2014 to 2022.
LaVonda Daniels, the former Joyce Kilmer Elementary School principal, died earlier this year. Daniels had served as the school’s principal since 2023 after working as a teacher and administrator in multiple districts throughout the region.
Sweeney called his time at Cherry Hill “the most rewarding years of my professional career thus far.”
During public comment, Yonaton Yares, a local education consultant who has worked in the Cherry Hill schools, said he was “so excited” to have Sweeney return to Cherry Hill.
“Especially to come to [Joyce] Kilmer … you could not make a better match,” Yares said.
Giordano will become the principal of Johnson Elementary School. She is currently the principal of Cherry Hill’s Coles Alternative High School Program. At Johnson, Giordano will succeed Jared Peltzman, who was recently appointed curriculum and instruction supervisor for elementary mathematics and science. Giordano was previously the director of special services for the Clementon Public Schools. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University and a master’s degree in educational leadership from the American College of Education.
Yares said Giordano “is fantastic.”
“What she’s done at the alternative school and [The Coles High School Program] is just incredible,” Yares said.
Morton said Giordano “has just truly been a breath of fresh air, a bolt of inspiration and lightning.”
“It’s nice to see homegrown folks staying within the district, keeping it fresh and interesting, and changing it up and returning,” board member Miriam Stern said.