Advisory Council

The School Advisory Council ("the Council") was established on October 1, 2015. The Council currently assists Sister Joann Marie Aumand, Director, Mrs. Suzanne Florendo, Principal, and me, as pastor, in our respective roles. This group of individuals brings different professional and spiritual gifts to the table and are willing to offer their time and talents in service to the Holy Mother Church. The Council is committed to strengthening our school and making our presence essential to the people in Basking Ridge and our neighboring communities. We are a Christ-centered school community that offers academic excellence to all of our students.
 
Supporting the Pastor, Director and the Principal, the School Advisory Council, with the assistance of many committees, will initially focus on improving key areas, including the following: Academics, Business and Finance, Electives,  Marketing, Development, and Building and Grounds. All committee chairs are assigned at least one area of focus. They are charged with organizing a group that will work with them on their respective committees. 
 
We want to create an open and transparent dialogue on how we ALL can contribute towards improving our school. The Council wants to leverage the many gifts and talents of our teachers, parents, alumni, and parishioners from their careers and their faith-life experiences. We need your help: we say we are Christ-centered offering academic excellence, which we are! Now we will do it even better with the help of God and all of you.

The members of the Council include:

B.J. Agugliaro, Chair of the School Advisory Council:
B.J. is the father of four children (three graduates of Saint James School and one current student) and is married to Jeannine. A Managing Partner of PwC's New Jersey practice, B.J is committed to youth education and our Catholic faith values.

Adriane Adler, Co-Vice Chair of the School Advisory Council, Chair of Electives Committee:
Adriane is Co-President of the Home School Association (HSA). She is married to Geoff and their two daughters are currently enrolled in Saint James School. Mrs. Adler works as a freelance director in the television industry.

Tim Caffrey, Co-Vice Chair of the School Advisory Council and Chair of the Business and Finance Committee:
Tim is married to Robin and has been a parishioner for almost 30 years. They have four children Matthew, Caitlin, Meghan, and Patrick, all who attended Saint James School. Their children went on to attend Delbarton, Ridge, and Oak Knoll. Three are graduates from Villanova, Seton Hall, and Penn State and Patrick is currently a senior at Villanova. Tim spent twenty-two years in the securities industry. He was promoted to Managing Director in 1987 and held various leadership roles at Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley. Presently, he is a managing member of Janlyn Capital, LLC.  Tim also serves as a member of the Finance Committee at Saint James Catholic Church.
 
Richard C McMahon, Chair of the School Advisory Council's Marketing Initiative:
Rich and his wife, Caroline, have three children who attended Saint James School. Their oldest son is attending Villanova University, a son currently attend Oratory Prep, and their daughter attends Villa Walsh Academy. Mr. McMahon is the Founder & CEO of cda Ventures LLC and previously spent 17 years as the Chief Strategy Officer and President International for Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc.

Shawn Lynch, Chair of the Council’s Buildings and Grounds Committee:
Shawn and his wife, Jennifer, have three children, two Saint James School graduates and one current student. Their son attends Oratory Prep and their daughter attends Mount St. Mary Academy. The family has been active Saint James Church parishioners for 18 years. Shawn has served in the reinsurance industry for 25 years and is Senior Vice President at TransRe in NYC.  He is also active in scouting, serving as Co-Den Chief for Cub Scouts and on the Executive Committee and Eagle Scout Advisory Board for Troop 555 located in Basking Ridge.

Diane Falato, Council Member:
Diane has been a parishioner at St. James Church for 25 years. She has a teaching degree in Language Arts (K-12) and retired from Saint James School in 2014 where she taught Pre-K, fifth grade, third grade, and academic development. Diane’s husband Tom is also an educator. They have four children, ages 23 to 37.

Mary Killian, Saint James School Operations Liaison (ex-officio):
Mary is a former CPA/stay-at-home mom. She and her husband, Joe, have been parishioners at Saint James for the past 23 years, and their two sons are both Saint James School graduates. Mary volunteers as a collection-counter at St. James Church. She is a three-term SJS HSA Board Member and past Corresponding Secretary for the Delbarton Mother’s Guild. Prior to being employed by the Church, Mary served as Secretary and Chair of the Academic Committee of the Council.
 
Ellen Ayoub, Superintendent of Schools, Diocese of Metuchen (ex-officio)
Sylvester J. Cronin, Pastor, Saint James Catholic Church (ex-officio) 
Suzanne Florendo, Principal, Saint James School (ex-officio)  
Sister Joann Marie Aumand, Director, Saint James School (ex-officio) 

Through our labor of love, our goal is to position Saint James School for success in its next 50 years of Catholic education. Thank you for you your support of Catholic schools here in the Diocese of Metuchen.