This September, North Arlington High School welcomed a new principal, Mr. Christopher Mingoia. Mr. Mingoia grew up in Bayonne in what he described as a “blue-collar upbringing.” Currently, he resides in Scotch Plains with his wife and two children. As a student, Mr. Mingoia was always interested in the sciences, more specifically “how the body worked” (anatomy and physiology, kinesiology). Mr. Mingoia reflected, “I remember in eighth grade dissecting cow eyeballs, and being amazed with anatomy and physiology.”

Mr. Mingoia holds both a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and a Teaching degree in Physical Education and Health.  After attaining his undergraduate degrees, Mr. Mingoia earned two Master’s Degrees – one in Education, and another in Administration and Supervision. He also holds 32 advanced credits.

Mr. Mingoia continued expressing his desire for learning by stating, “Choosing education wasn’t as much of a choice, but more of a desire to teach. After teaching for 6 years in a classroom, I thought about what sort of change I could make on a larger scale, and this in turn developed into the administrative fold.”

Before coming to North Arlington High School, Mr. Mingoia was principal at Lafayette School #6 in Elizabeth. While reflecting about his previous administrative position, he stated, “We were worried about the abundance of social and emotional issues, whether or not the students had the basic needs to even start their day.”

Mr. Mingoia notes that North Arlington has a more academically rich environment for its students, “The difference here is that there is an overwhelming support from the parents. They take care of [the students] and [they’re] definitely loved. Where I came from, it was a matter of knowing whether students were safe to walk home, or if they would have electricity.” Mr. Mingoia’s vision is to “make North Arlington High School the best high school in New Jersey.” He also is focused on improving course selection for all students as well as providing upperclassmen the option to attain college credits by taking college classes.”

On a personal level, Mr. Mingoia and his children are big fans of The Lion King as he stated, “It’s one of those movies where you can flip through the channels and just watch it whenever it comes on. Everybody has a favorite Disney movie, whether it be a secret or not.” When asked if given the choice to have dinner with anyone living or dead, he chose his late grandfather stating, “He passed away when I was a sophomore in high school, I grew up with him and I miss him.”

Mr. Migoia also stated that from a professional perspective dinner with Einstein would be interesting, “It’s mostly from a professional standpoint. Just listening about motion and relativity, and everything in between, just gathering how he thought. And that’s how I always think: from a personal and professional standpoint. I always tend to separate the two.”

North Arlington High School welcomes Mr. Mingoia to the Viking community.