Like coming home

John Cafagna will soon lead students he’s known since they were in kindergarten as principal of Cherry Hill East High School.

Now principal at Rosa International Middle School, he’s spent nearly 28 years in the district.

“It’s like a coming-home event, because a lot of the things that I’ve done throughout the district have made connections within Cherry Hill,” Cafagna explained of his new job, which will earn him a salary of $200,000. “So it’s really exciting when you come up and you see the kids, because I’ve seen them all the way from kindergarten all the way up until high school.

“When you come back and you see this culmination piece, it feels like it’s almost graduating with me in my career as well.”

In the lead-up to his new job, Cafagna has attended a number of East events, including Model UN, the Mr. East talent show and a celebration of Iftar with the Muslim Student Association. He plans to be in the stands for games and at this year’s graduation.

Once he starts his new job in July, Cafagna plans to go around the school to connect with students and staff, including some who already know him.

“The visibility blitz will be getting around to make sure everybody knows they have my ear for me to listen, see what’s going on great in the school,” he noted, “see what they love about it. I’ll be doing that soon with the administrative team, because that’s the most important (thing) for me, to build that team, because that’s what I’m coming into.”

Cafagna’s district career began as a educational technologist, followed by teaching and coaching at Rosa, then serving as assistant principal there. He was principal at the Cherry Hill Alternative High School, Bret Harte Elementary, Carusi Middle and Horace Mann Elementary. He took the top job at Rosa in 2024.

Cafagna is East’s fourth principal in two years. He succeeds Leslie Walker, who announced she was stepping down for personal reasons in February, and before that Daniel Finkle, who resigned for the same reason last year. Finkle’s predecessor, Dennis Perry, resigned in 2024. Neil Burti is now interim principal.

In light of those changes, what Cafagna wants to do first is provide stability.

“First is coming in and building that stability,” he pointed out. “Because they’ve had some leadership changes and shifts over the past couple years quickly and rapidly. And institutions such as this, they want to know that they’re safe and secure. So staff and student wellness is really important.

“That comes through them seeing, everybody being able to see routines in place. Seeing the same kinds of things happening, the same people in front of you.”

Cafagna plans to be in his new job for a long time.

“I’ve been in the district 27 years,” he said, “and I think I’ve shown that I love being here … Yes, I definitely want to be here.”

Cafagna so far has no concrete plans for East, but will address issues as they come.

“Change isn’t something that I’m looking for,” he acknowledged. “But I know there might be some things that pop up. But they’ll pop up as we talk about what we need to do to move forward. … If they’re necessary, they will happen.”

The school district’s latest budget – with a loss of 70 positions – was expected to be voted on this week. Cafagna wants to soften its impact at East.

“We’re all running into challenges with the budget cuts no matter what happens,” he observed. “Losing money and losing things that we have that we rely on is definitely going to be troublesome if that occurs in that manner. But our district is very careful about how we do the things we do, so that it has the least impact on the community and little to none on our students whenever possible.”

Cafagna has already heard from well-wishers.

“I talk to lots of families and kids,” Cafagna remarked. “Everything that they’ve come to me with has been positive … They’re excited I’m coming.”