School Contacts
South Orange Middle School
70 North Ridgewood Road
South Orange, NJ 07079
Main Office: 973-378-2772
Ms. Hellstern: x2000
Principal: Lynn A. Irby-Hill – lirby@somsd.k12.nj.us
Assistant Principal: Donovan Smalls II — Testing Coordinator — dsmalls@somsd.k12.nj.us
Assistant Principal: James Waldron — 504 Coordinator — jwaldron@somsd.k12.nj.us
To contact staff members, district email addresses generally follow the following format: Staff member’s first initial, followed by the first SEVEN characters of his/her last name@somsd.k12.nj.us. For example, John Smith = jsmith@somsd.k12.nj.us. For voice mail, call the main office number and follow the prompts to enter the first few letters of the person’s last name.
You can also click HERE for the district website directory.
District e-mail addresses are created by using the person’s first initial along with up to the first seven letters of their last name, followed by @somsd.k12.nj.us.
HSA: somshsaquestions@gmail.com
To report a student absence:
- Your child’s name, grade, your child's homeroom teacher's name and your name
- Day or dates your child will be absent
- The reason your child will be absent. If your child is absent due to illness, please indicate whether your child has a temperature of over 100 degrees.
1) Call the South Orange Middle School Main Office at 973-378-2772 and follow the prompts
2) Send an email on PowerSchool. Select- Forms - Attendance- Student Absence Notification.
2025-2026 Team Leader List
A full staff contact list is found on pgs. 13-14 of the school handbook published by SOMS.
6th Grade
6A – Linda Abella: labella@somsd.k12.nj.us
6B – Jessica Squires: jsquires@somsd.k12.nj.us
6C – Lauren Keegan: lkeegan@somsd.k12.nj.us
7th Grade
7A – Frank Guastella: fguastel@somsd.k12.nj.us
7B – Nicole Chirlo: nchirlo@somsd.k12.nj.us
7C – Elizabeth LiPuma: elipuma@somsd.k12.nj.us
8th Grade
8A – Lynn McGlotten: lmcglott@somsd.k12.nj.us
8B – Anna Crane: acrane@somsd.k12.nj.us
8C – Talaya Hampton: thampton@somsd.k12.nj.us
Upcoming Events
- Tuesday, December 16
- Tuesday, December 23
- Wednesday, December 24
- Thursday, December 25
- Friday, December 26
- Saturday, December 27
- Sunday, December 28



