Upon entering Hawthorne High School this new school year we have seen many new faces. One of the most important new faces in the school, is our new Principal, Mr. Kevin Pfister: he is that new face that will lead Hawthorne High School to success.

The Clarion sat down with the Principal himself and asked him a few questions to give us some insight of how he is preparing himself to lead us to future greatness.

The Clarion: Tell me something about yourself that you would like the kids of HHS to know?

Mr. Pfister:  Something to let the students know is that I’m someone who loves what they do and I love being an educator. The best part of my day is when I’m with the students whether it’s in class, lunch, or extra curricular activities. The best part of this position is interacting with students.

The Clarion: Why did you want to be a principal of this school?

Mr. Pfister: Specifically to Hawthorne, I live locally and I heard great things about Hawthorne High School. I was walking my dog in Goffle Brook Park and I saw the school from the park and instantly was blown away by how beautiful the school was and all of the kids on the field and felt it would be a special opportunity to be the principal of the school and be a part of the Hawthorne community.

The Clarion: How do you feel you motivate and encourage your staff?

Mr. Pfister: The one thing I will say that I feel helps motivate and encourage my staff  is we always want to keep student success at the forefront of everything that we do. We want to make sure that we are working together to ensure we are providing the best instruction, and feedback from the students and parents as well. We want to continue to promote the great lessons that are taking place in the classroom and promote teachers and students and show recognition to  them and the  community. Being a teacher is the most honorable position so we want to help recognize them and the great work they do. 

The Clarion: What professional goals have you set for yourself that benefit the school?

Mr. Pfister: I want to promote more opportunities for student voice and to that we use student open forms, the diversity alliance committee, and the strategic planning committee. I want to increase access for students wanting to try AP and honors course. And I would like to increase student activity in clubs…an example of that would be the student activities fair has helped with this greatly. 

The Clarion: What are your main goals for Hawthorne High School?

Mr. Pfister: One of my goals is to  improve student attendance and that would include not only absences, but tardies as well. As mentioned earlier, I want to improve student participation in clubs and other activities. I would love to accelerate students’ learning and improve student academic performance. I firmly believe that we need students to challenge themselves appropriately by taking risks like honors and AP classes…basically setting opportunities for kids to take the next step, especially in areas that they love.