Dr. Michael Wanko
Principal
Bayonne High School, Avenue A & 28th Street, Bayonne, NJ 07002
Category: Secondary Principal - Northern Region
Michael Wanko has been principal of Bayonne High School for 20 years and has been an educator in the Bayonne public school system for nearly thirty years. But he is not just the principal of Bayonne High School Ñ he is also an alumnus.
Dr. Wanko sees the mission of Bayonne High School as offering students quality educational programs and a safe and supportive learning environment.
That philosophy of education has become a reality at Bayonne High. One veteran school administrator, commenting on Dr. Wanko’s achievements, offered this impression of the school. "The cleanliness of the halls, the order, the serene atmosphere, the behavior of the students all contributed to the "best kept secret in Bayonne."
Bayonne High School has been honored with the designation of Star School and has received two Best Practices awards. The school was also a finalist for a US Department of Education Blue Ribbon award. In 2000, USA Weekend Magazine selected Bayonne High as the national model for a Safe and Supportive School, and the New Jersey Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development selected the school to receive the Outstanding Curriculum Achievement Award.
Those awards and recognitions highlight the commitment of the school, under the leadership of Dr. Wanko, to merging innovative curriculum practices and support programs to meet the varied needs of its highly diverse student body. It should be noted that those innovations include a long distance learning program that, through an interactive television classroom with the New Jersey Institute of Technology, allows students to graduate from Bayonne High School with up to 15 college credits.
The school is equally sensitive to the needs of employment-bound students. With the information garnered through regular meetings with the business community, the school administration learned what it needed to totally revamp the school’s business education offerings. Students are now acquiring precisely the skills that businesses look for in entry-level job applicants.
Dr. Wanko realizes the importance of sound ties with parents. A satisfied parent offered the following summary of the principal’s accomplishments: "Dr. Wanko strives unceasingly to create a supportive, positive relationship with parents as well as students. His tenacity in this regard is unparalleled. He has made Herculean efforts to diffuse racial, ethnic and gender prejudice. Programs such as ERASE (End Racism and Sexism Everywhere), SPHERE (Students Promote Humanity and Equal Rights for Everyone), Peer, Interact, and a Service Learning requirement are the result of his vision."
Or, as another satisfied parent put it: "As Bayonne High School sails into the next millennium, Dr. Wanko is truly Ôthe wind beneath our wings’." Dr. Wanko himself was the recipient of the NASSP/MetLife Principal of the Year Award and the NJPSA Golden Lamp Award.
There may be no better barometer of a principal’s success than high student attendance levels. Under Dr. Wanko’s guidance, student attendance at Bayonne High has risen from 76% to 92%.