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Interview: Mr. Searles, Vice Principal
The Falcon Flyer's staff writer Nick DiRito sat down and interviewed, Mr. Raymond Searles, Jr, our new Vice Prinicpal of Saddle Brook High School.
ND: What would you say has been your best experience in the school so far?
RS: One thing that I enjoyed recently was the Vice Principal’s Cabinet Meeting. When I came here back in March, I noticed an absence of student leadership. Since then, it has been one of my goals to bring about more student leadership and to give students interested in the well being of their respective classes more of a voice. 25 students from the National Honor Society and Student Council were in that meeting, and they discussed ideas about bringing more change and events to the school. I thought that was really productive in terms of improving the school culture and I would have to say that the meeting was one of my best days in the school so far.
ND: How has the transition been from your old school to this one?
RS: I was more than aware of the change from my old position as an English Department Supervisor to a Vice Principal and how different the responsibilities would be. I was coming from a school with 1300 students from three towns to a high school with half the total amount of students. However, I grew up in Bogota, which is a town similar to Saddle Brook. My graduating class had 84 students, so I knew in a lot of ways, coming to Saddle Brook High School would be a homecoming of sorts. It’s a challenging role, but I am up
for it. The transition has been what I thought it would be.
ND: What’s the number one specific difference between your old position and your current Vice principal position?
RS: My number one role here is dealing with student behavior. That’s the role of a Vice Principal in any high school. As a classroom teacher, I had to focus on student behavior only inside my own classroom, and it was not my main focus as a teacher or supervisor. That is a huge difference compared to my current responsibilities.
Interview continues on page 7.
An Interview with Mr. Searles
By: Nick DiRito, '20