Millville guidance supervisor set to retire
MILLVILLE – The lure of retirement finally outbid the joys of education for Joseph Baruffi, the longtime supervisor for elementary and middle school guidance programs in the Millville school system.
Baruffi is wrapping up a career in Millville schools that will be just shy of 25 years when it ends with the close of 2016. He turns 60 in May and, except outings as a basketball referee, is in the process of rededicating himself to life as a “grandfather.”
The Board of Education on Monday night accepted his retirement letter. Baruffi will be missed for multiple reasons, district Superintendent David Gentile said on Wednesday.
“He has been a team player who put the needs of the students first,” Gentile said. “Mr. Baruffi has maintained an open mind and willingness to remain a lifelong learner. He has definitely earned the respect of his colleagues, students, and this community. MPS wishes him the best in his future retirement."
Baruffi, a Buena Borough resident, last year made a surprising decision not to go for another term for mayor. The decision to retire from the school system was harder, he said.
“The mayorship was an avocation,” Baruffi said. “It was a public-service thing. But other than the structured council meetings, I made my own time. My whole professional life has been very structured to time frames, the deadlines. And I met so many more people. We have 1,150 kids at Lakeside.”
Although the job is a district-wide one, Baruffi’s office is at Lakeside, and spends most of his hours at the Sharp Street school. The middle school is about to lose its principal, Steve Price, to another district.
Baruffi said he had thought about leaving this June but wanted to assist with the transition to a new principal. He was there on day one of the new middle school. He also was present for the opening of Silver Run Elementary School, his first assignment when coming to Millville in 1992.
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“They’re going to say, 'There’s the dinosaur. He’s got about nine months left. Be a sponge, go get what you can from him,'” Baruffi laughed.
“I’ve worked with five principals at Lakeside since it opened,” he said. “I’m the only administrator left originally of the team. And now I’ll be working with the person who’s going to get named, hopefully by the end of the month.”
Baruffi’s career in education actually started in his hometown in September 1978, first teaching English and eventually switching to guidance work. He left the Buena Regional School District after 14 years, working there for a while with future Millville Superintendent Shelly O. Schneider.
Baruffi was at Silver Run for seven years as a guidance counselor and then moved in 1999 to Lakeside, where Schneider had been named as principal. After three years, then-Superintendent G. Larry Miller promoted him to K-8 guidance program supervisor.
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“The years have flown by,” Baruffi said. “And the two experiences, both working in Buena Regional 14 years and the last 24 in Millville, people often ask me now that they know I’m getting out, ‘Would you do it all over again if you had the chance?’ And my answer would be definitely ‘yes.’
“I’ve met so many great people — kids, parents, teachers, administrators, cafeteria, custodial workers,” he said. “This has brought me so much joy. It’s nice to reflect on your whole life. This is a big decision, retirement. I had the best of every world dealing with so many people from different walks of life.”
Joseph P. Smith; (856) 563-5252; jsmith@gannettnj.com