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Nanette Rotonda

Retirement Dinner Held to Honor Nanette L. Rotonda, BA, MA, Veteran Principal

A retirement dinner was held at Nanina’s in the Park in Belleville, New Jersey, to honor Nanette L. Rotonda for her 44 years of service with the Belleville School District.

Mrs. Rotonda is a graduate of Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Newark, where she was born and raised. After graduation, she attended Caldwell University, obtaining a B.A. degree in education.

She then became a Kindergarten teacher at Schools Number 9 and 3, where she remained for two years. She was then offered a first grade position at School 7, where she remained for 26 years, teaching grades 1 through 5, for the first 18 years. During this time, Mrs. Rotonda earned her Master’s Degree in Student Personnel Services from Kean University, at which time she served as School Counselor and Coordinator of the Gifted and Talented Program for the next eight years.

Mrs. Rotonda went on to earn a second Master’s Degree in Administration and Supervision from Montclair State University. In 2000, she was promoted to Vice Principal of Belleville High School, where she served for three years. In 2003, she was promoted to Elementary Principal at School 9, ESL. Supervisor and District Affirmative Action Officer. She held these positions simultaneously for eight years. She was then placed at School 5, where she remained until her retirement on July 1, 2018.

Nanette is married to former Belleville Police Chief Joseph Rotonda and they have two children, son Joseph, a Principal of Schools Number 9 and 10 in Belleville and daughter Johnna, a Special Education Teacher at School Number 3, also in Belleville. They also have a beloved canine ‘son’ Rocko; their daughter-in-law Jennifer, who is a teacher in the Guttenberg School District and a son-in-law Keith, a Bomb Squad Detective with the Essex County Sheriff’s Office. Mrs. Rotonda plans on spending plenty of time with her three grandchildren, three-year-old twins Joey and Lexi and 15 month old Joseph Giovanni.

She will begin writing Rocko’s story about living with Degenerative Myelopathy and his courage and bravery as he battled the disease. In addition, Nanette plans on writing a cookbook with her daughter Johnna and mother Marietta LaCapra.