The Monroe Township Board of Education has named Dennis Ventrello and Erinn Mahoney as principals of the Applegarth and Barclay Brook elementary schools, respectively.

Ventrello currently serves as principal of Oak Tree Elementary School, and will begin serving as the lead administrator at Applegarth on April 1, according to board President Kathy Kolupanowich.

Mahoney is currently assistant principal at Woodland Elementary School. No start date was set for Mahoney in her new capacity at Barclay Brook. Kolupanowich said Ventrello represented the best choice for Applegarth, the former middle school building that is undergoing renovations before reopening as an elementary school.

“[Ventrello] has a lot of experience and he knows the community,” she said. “He is absolutely the right person to open Applegarth School and turn that school into an excellent educational facility.

“It’s going to be an exciting challenge for him,” she added.

She noted that Ventrello was the first administrator to serve at both the Brookside and Oak Tree schools.

Applegarth is closed for the current school year while it undergoes asbestos abatement and renovations. District officials hope the building will be ready to house students for the 2012-13 school year.

“We’re moving forward with asbestos abatement,” Kolupanowich said, adding that environmental agencies, including Mc- Cabe Environmental Services LLC, have been on site to monitor the remediation.

“So far everything is going extremely well,” she said.

Ventrello will play a role in ensuring the school is ready and safe for students and staff, Kolupanowich said.

In addition, he will work to get staffing in place while gauging needs regarding supplies and facilities, she said. “His job will entail making sure that the school is ready to open up in September,” she said. “He has to make sure there are enough rooms for the kids coming in. He has to make sure the library is ready, the cafeteria is ready, things like that.”

The search for Ventrello’s replacement is ongoing and the district could appoint an interim principal at Oak Tree, similar to what it did at Barclay Brook, she said.

“We will have another process and look for a qualified, excellent principal,” Kolupanowich said. “There is not a timeline, but since Dennis will be moving in April, April 1 would be a good time to have a new principal over there.”

As with Ventrello, Kolupanowich expressed confidence in Mahoney’s abilities.

“She’s going to be an excellent addition,” she said. “I think she’s going to be able to continue to keep up the Barclay Brook tradition.”

Mahoney is replacing Dana Walker, who resigned in December to pursue an administrator position in another school district, Kolupanowich said.

The appointments were approved at the board’s Jan. 18 meeting.