Board Selects New Principal for Butler High School

The named Martin Wall, Vice Principal at Montville Township High School, to replace Principal when he retires in June.

“The current principal is retiring at the end of the school year,” Superintendent of Schools Mario Cardinale said at a board work session Thursday. “We had about 60 applicants. We interviewed 18 candidates. A committee narrowed it down to a finalist field of eight, and the last round went to three."

“Marty will be the single candidate I recommend. Marty was five years in Montville Township High School. Prior to that he was at Montville’s Lazar Middle School. I also recommended him 17 years before, as a teacher.”

The board said the appointment will be effective on July 22 or sooner.

“Thank you very much,” Wall said. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

During executive session, the board made the decision to make the appointment Thursday, rather than wait until its following meeting, so that it would be official

Wall discussed his transition from Montville to Butler.

“The notice period in New Jersey is 60 days, and we’re bringing in a new principal in Montville,” Wall said. “Dr. Calabria [current principal] is leaving. Mr. Kelly, the other vice principal, is retiring in July. I’ve got a dual responsibility. I’ve got to be here and get started, but I also need to be there and help them along. There’ll be a whole new administrative landscape over there." 

Wall’s appointment should not come as a total surprise to his colleagues in Montville.

“It’s all public,” Wall said. “The schools are public. Everything that happens is just out there. As soon as I learned that there was a position, I applied. The process was rigorous, to say the least. It was very thorough. The selection committee from Butler was out visiting Montville Township High School for half a day last week.”

"Butler’s a great place. It really is," he added. "I only know that I’m lucky enough to be standing here. Butler is steeped with tradition,” Wall said. 

Wall talked about his vision for Butler High School.

“Visions are shared, so we’ll develop them and move in an appropriate direction that’s great for the children and the community. The most valuable asset of any school is the children. There are 600 students in Butler High School, which is a very intimate setting, so it’s a tremendous opportunity. It’s a different opportunity. I’m overjoyed to be in Butler. I’ve been in Montville for 17 years. I’ll hit the ground learning,” he said.

Wall’s career began in Montville, at the same high school he will now be leaving. He discussed his many years there, and memories he will take with him.

“I was at Montville Township High School and I hadn't graduated from college yet. This was the 1981-1982 school year, and there was a shortage of teachers. I went to Montclair State, landed the job in Montville and drove out to this farm town. It was a relatively new high school," he said.

Wall left the Montville Township district after one year, and eventually left the education field for 12 years.  

“I left after a year to go to Parsippany, where I spent four years, then left teaching," he said. "I got a job with a construction management company that built houses. I was project manager, moving people from site to site. I found more times than not, I liked teaching people on the job. I was always showing people how to do things," he said.

But Wall said his construction job did not afford him enough time to be a dad.

“It’s interesting how sometimes you have conflicting goals. Career was important to me, but I realized I don’t see my son except on Sundays and I’m not in a good mood. I think the combination of that and the goal of family life that my wife and I set down won out. So I told her I think I’m going back to teaching.”

Wall eventually returned to Montville and realized that his career choices had carved a meaningful niche.

“It was exciting because before, I was out building 50 custom homes a year. Now, I was out teaching my profession to a bunch of students who had an interest in learning," he said.

Wall could relate to high school students through his experience teaching at Montville Township High School, and the many improvements he helped implement.

"When you think about how formative your high school years were… I have so many things that are 'me' because of my high school years. I’ve got great, vivid memories of being in that school as a young professional. We put lights in two fields. We put in batting cages. So, you walk away and know there’s a bigger picture that you were involved in," he said.

While Wall will miss Montville, he is eager to move forward. 

“You become attached to the students and families,” Wall said. “I spent three years at Lazar. The current graduating class [at the high school] — I moved through with them. I’m leaving with them. We went through middle school and high school together. 

“Mr. Cardinale hired me in 1993-94 in Montville. He was the principal of Montville Township High School. That’s a lot of memories from 1993 to 2012. That’s a boatload of memories to leave behind," Wall said.

"I’m kind of excited about creating more memories here,” he said. “It’s kinda cool.”