School Administrator & Principal Mentor Ed.D. in Educational Technology Leadership Founder, The Resilient Leaders Project
Dr. Phillip Crisostomo is currently employed as the Principal of Mercer County Technical Schools Assunpink Center in Mercer County, NJ, as well as a mentor for new school leaders with the Leader2Leader Program.
He is also the founder of The Resilient Leaders Project LLC, a company founded on the premise that school leaders need to be engaged in Communities of Practice to become resilient leaders in today's schools.
He originally pursued a career as a Music Teacher by obtaining a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Grove City College. Having taught Elementary and Middle School music for 10 years, he then became a school administrator after earning his Master of Arts in Educational Administration from the University of Phoenix.
Between 2011 and 2024, he served as an administrator in the Willingboro School District, first as an Elementary Assistant Principal, as head Principal of Garfield East Elementary, and then as an Assistant Principal at Willingboro High School. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he transitioned to a new role as the Supervisor of Instructional Technology & Data Analysis, overseeing the district's 1:1 device initiative, along with monitoring the implementation of educational technology in the district's schools.
Members of Cohort 7 of the NJCU Educational Technology Leadership Program
The desire to learn how to help teachers implement innovative lessons through the use of technology led him to enroll in the Education Technology Leadership program at New Jersey City University in 2019. He earned his doctorate from NJCU in 2022 after defending his dissertation, which focused on the use of teacher leadership to close the digital divide.
Dr. Crisostomo transitioned into the Principal position at Willingboro High School in 2023, where he oversaw the re-implementation of CTE Programs, the addition of new electives (including eSports, Print Production, and TV Broadcasting), and the revitalization of current programming and facilities.
In 2024, he became the Principal at the Assunpink Center in the Mercer County Technical Schools. At MCTS, he oversees the Health Sciences Academy and several shared-time programs (Diesel Technology, Electrical Construction, Carpentry, HVAC-R, Welding, Computer Game Programming, and Allied Health). His focus is on improving current programming and helping to identify new programs for students, along with preparing students for the workforce through work-based learning opportunities, apprenticeships, and earning industry-valued credentials.