Along with the many other changes to the system this year, we welcome new principal, Dr. Morton, to our home. An established scholar and a former athlete, Dr. Morton hopes that everyone will “constantly strive for excellence in everything we do”.
Dr. Morton grew up in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, and attended high school in the Coney Island area. Growing up, he was given high expectations by his parents and believed that working hard was the best way to achieve his dreams. Dr. Morton believes that the most interesting thing about his high school was the fact that the people made up a “tossed salad.” There were many different cultures and backgrounds in the school. Dr. Morton thinks that our school reminds him of his school and he wants to preach that it is important to appreciate the variation in backgrounds and “respect one another.”
Dr. Morton attended college at Clarion University in Pennsylvania. There, he was a stellar basketball player, taking home “National Player of the Year” honors. Because of his success in college basketball, he was invited to the Portsmouth Invitational, a scouting tournament for college seniors where players are looked at by NBA scouts and International scouts. Dr. Morton decided to pursue professional basketball in the country of Venezuela. Dr. Morton had a very interesting experience at a burger shack in Venezuela. When trying to ask for ketchup, he could not figure out the Spanish word for the condiment. He calls this one of the funnier yet more embarrassing things that happened to him down in Venezuela. Nevertheless, he loved playing basketball, and despite struggling with the language barrier in Venezuela, he played for over 6 months there. However, Dr. Morton decided to end his tenure in professional basketball when he declined an offer to play basketball in Australia to pursue a career in education and stay with his girlfriend back home. Dr. Morton believes that there is a “correlation between skills in sports and teaching.” He describes his basketball days as a valuable experience that helped him develop into the educator he is today. When Dr. Morton came back from Venezuela, it did not take long for he and his girlfriend to get married. Together, they have 10 kids (7 sons and 3 daughters) and Dr. Morton believes it is important to approach his job “as a dad.”
Before arriving here at West, Dr. Morton spent time at several other schools and in several other states. Starting as a teacher in New York City, he progressed from teacher to administrator. He was assistant principal at a high school in the Philadelphia area and spent the last five years as principal of a Cherry Hill School District elementary school, Joyce Kilmer School. Because of this job, Dr. Morton was able to hear about the departure of former principal, Dr. Meloche. Dr. Morton had talked to Dr. Meloche in an Executive Group meeting and soon after, Dr. Morton decided to take the responsibility of being our principal. He decided to take the job because he enjoys working with older students and “having spent the last five years down the road [he] knows the neighborhood.”
Dr. Morton discussed several changes that impact the school this year. Teachers now have new requirements in terms of evaluation. It is now a state mandated process in which “student growth will be tied back to their teachers.” This “growth” will be tracked with a pre-assessment, taken at the beginning of a certain course, and another assessment taken at the end of the same course. At the same time, there are certain areas of the school that now have a “bring your own device” policy (meaning students will be allowed to use their electronic devices for school purposes in designated areas). Dr. Morton supports this policy because he wants to present students with “responsibility” and he thinks that one of the best ways for students to develop is to see how they react when given certain responsibilities. Also the process of making our school, “No Place for Hate” promotes “tolerance and acceptance” and also “adds a nice touch to our school.” These new policies and procedures, along with an extension of the school day, and some increased security measures will  make our school a better community.
Dr. Morton has high aspirations for the student body of our school. He wants both the students and staff to reflect high quality to the rest of world. He would love to see everyone have a certain “performance character.” He wants the same thing for himself. In Dr. Morton’s eyes, one of the most effective ways to be successful is to follow a role-model and to strive to be a role-model. Dr. Morton may just be the perfect role-model for many of us here in the West community.