Curriculum & Instruction

The Division of Curriculum and Instruction can be described as the "engine" that drives teaching and learning in our school district.

Photo of Baninder Goomer

Ms. Baninder Goomer

Chief Academic Officer of Elementary Education

Baninder Goomer tried to avoid the field of education as a college student, but her destiny was stronger than her will. Ms. Goomer comes from a strong lineage of educators; stemming from a grandmother who was a Montessori teacher in pre-partition India to her great-aunt in Kenya, her sisters, cousins, and mother. She believes in the power of education to change lives, elevate humanity, and provide purpose, as she centers her work around these values. 

Ms. Goomer has worked in the Edison Township Public Schools as a teacher, staff development trainer, principal, and now as a Chief Academic Officer. She has also held supervisory positions in Robbinsville Township Public Schools and Princeton Public Schools where her roles varied but included Kindergarten through grade 12 curriculum and professional development. She also presides over the Middlesex County Curriculum Council as Co-Chair and has been published in the NJPSA Journal Educational Viewpoints.

Mr. Richard Cohen

Chief Academic Officer of Secondary Education

Rick Cohen joined the district in September 2023, after serving as former assistant superintendent and principal of Moss School (PK/K) of Metuchen School District in New Jersey. His experience also includes Principal of Red Bank Primary School (Pk-3rd grade) in New Jersey for six years. Before Red Bank, Rick was the founding director of a new bilingual school, Colegio Americano (PK-12), in San Salvador, El Salvador. Rick began teaching as a Teach for America corps member in 1996 in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Rick is the coauthor of The Metacognitive Student which won Gold Medal awards for Best Indie Book in Education in 2021 (Foreword Review) and 2022 (IPPY Awards) and coauthor of The Metacognitive Preschooler (coming out in June 2024). His work has also been published in Educational Leadership, Edutopia, District Administration, Character.org’s 11 Principles Framework for Schools, and NJEA Review’s Great Ideas column. Rick also served on the NJDOE Standards Revision Steering Committee in 2015 when ELA and Math Standards were revised. He currently serves as Faculty for Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Rick Cohen received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in educational administration from Rutgers University. He is currently working on getting his Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Monmouth University.