New Dad in the Spotlight is our recurring feature highlighting new dads who have joined the AoOL community in the past year.

This month we continue our New Dad in the Spotlight series with Neil Samoilis, a great new addition to our community. Neil's family pictured above includes wife Jennifer and girls Ella (Kindergarten) and Sophia (pre-K3).

Both Neil and Jennifer grew up locally, graduating from Fair Lawn High School in 2009. Neil went on to study philosophy and political science at Fordham. Never afraid of rolling up his sleeves, Neil began working in his family's business (River Road Hot Bagels in Fair Lawn) at age 14 and took full ownership in 2022. Congratulations!

When discussing the reasons they chose AoOL for the girls, Neil and Jen cite the warm and welcoming families they encountered. Neil also credits the commitment of AoOL to "not only prepare our children academically but reinforce the faith and moral values we instill in our home."

Neil and Jen look forward to building close relationships with fellow parents and faculty. The pair has already jumped in to help on many occasions, providing catering to a number of meetings and events.

Please welcome the Samoilis family and keep River Road Hot Bagels in mind. Delicious!

River Road Hot Bagels

13-30 River Road, Fair Lawn

201-791-5646

www.riverroadhotbagels.com

One of the many things that distinguishes our school is the abundance of extracurricular and athletic activities available to the kids, not found at many other places.

Hats off to the Cross Country Stars of AoOL! In the State tournament, the girls varsity team finished 3rd overall out of 20 teams, and the boys varsity finished 1st in the small team category, a huge success. Thanks very much to the dedicated coaching staff of Larry McGivney and Theresa Roberts. The coaching duo generously devoted countless hours to the kids this fall and taught them not just about competing, but winning the right way.

By the way, the kids above look happy & healthy, and the medals are great....but how about that gorgeous official AoOL tent provided by the Fathers Guild!? Now we're talking! As Coach McGivney noted, "our kids and parents had to contend with rain nearly every competition this season and the tents provided the much-needed shelter."

Congratulations as well to the Bulldog volleyball teams. If you've ever been to one of their games, you know the nail-biting excitement of these matches. JV, Varsity Blue and Varsity White all represented the school exceptionally well, winning many games and exhibiting great sportsmanship. Thanks to our coaches for their leadership of the kids.