West Orange Principal Retires After 33 Years In School District

WEST ORANGE, NJ — A longtime principal in the West Orange Public School District is retiring after more than three decades of educating and coaching local youth, administrators announced Thursday.

Liberty Middle School Principal Robert Klemt’s departure after 33 years of service to the district will leave some big shoes to fill.

According to district administrators:

“Born into a family of educators, Klemt began his career in Bergen County in 1982. In 1989, he moved to the West Orange School District, working as an Industrial Arts/Technology Education teacher at Edison Middle School for eight years, and transferring to West Orange High School for four. He also coached JV Soccer for nine years and Freshman Baseball for four. From 2001-2005, Klemt served as a counselor at Roosevelt Middle School. In 2005, he was named Assistant Principal of the newly-opened Liberty Middle School. With the retirement of Principal John Vogler in 2008, Klemt was named LMS principal.”

Klemt said it was an “honor” to take the reins as principal, a position he’d hold for 14 years.

Klemt’s love for his students was clear in the quarterly honor roll accolades he initiated, administrators said: the many awards ceremonies and recognitions, his hands-on involvement in all school activities, and the annual Multicultural Night highlighting the diversity of staff and students.

“I will miss the daily interactions, whether with staff, students or parents,” Klemt said. “On any single day you come across countless people who you try to encourage, inspire, guide, and manage.

Klemt recalled the many memories made over the years and noted how meaningful his interactions were with students and staff.

“There is a long list of individuals that I have taught, counseled, coached and mentored, including a former student from my Edison years that has become a faculty member at Liberty,” he noted.

Another standout memory was “Snowmageddon,” a freak storm that struck West Orange in November 2018. The storm choked all roadways in and out of West Orange, stranding buses, students and motorists throughout the township. But valiantly, Klemt and a partial staff of 25 remained at Liberty Middle School for a “sleepover” with more than 300 stranded students, cooking for them, playing games and keeping them safe until they could be picked up.

• See related article: West Orange Teachers Show True Grit When Snowstorm Traps Students

When asked what advice he would give to the next Liberty School principal, Klemt offered the following reply:

“Become a part of the Liberty culture and school environment, whether that is dressing up on Character Day, participating in physical education class activities, pie-in-the-face fundraising, playing in student/faculty volleyball games, or performing in the yearly school play. I have participated in all these and more to embrace student life and enhance our school spirit. Leading by doing is the best way to develop relationships among all stakeholders and to best promote your message and goals.”

Klemt said he is looking forward to retirement, where he plans to spend a lot more time with his grandchildren.

“During the pandemic, I was hardly able to see my family because I was working daily in a large school population,” he said.

But the veteran educator isn’t done with the classroom yet. For the past several years, he has mentored new principals through the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, and he plans to continue that work after retirement.

Klemt’s successor, Aretha Dooley Malloy, will officially take the reins at Liberty Middle School on Sept. 1.

• See related article: Essex County 'Teacher Of Year' Hails From West Orange School District

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