Craddock was elected, and within his first six-year term a one wing Pearl River High School was erected on Taylor Drive.

Mr. Matulich's daughter, Mary Lou Jordan, served as the Principal of Riverside Elementary School in Pearl River from 1992 to her retirement in June 2018.

He began a program incorporating principles of site-based management which included greater decision-making on the part of the faculty and staff.

In 1985, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education changed the diploma requirements, which triggered a curricular shift to one of a college preparatory nature.

Because of the increase in the number of credits needed for a diploma and the type of academic requirements, it became necessary in 1988 to move from a six-period to a seven-period day.

It also stimulated curricular expansion which included classes such as speech, newspaper, yearbook, psychology, twentieth century American history, gifted and talented, AP calculus and a multitude of dual-enrollment courses.