By Jesse Reilly
Staff Writer

After nearly a decade in the Springfield Township School District, starting as the principal of the high school and ending as the assistant superintendent, Joseph Roy has resigned.

He has accepted the position of principal at Upper Moreland High School.

In an interview Monday, Roy said the change stemmed from a need to get back to why he entered the field of education in the first place — the students.

“After two and a half years in administration, I missed the energy and action of the kids,” the veteran educator said. “Being a high school principal is a tough job but I enjoy the challenges. There is a lot of complexity in high school from academics to activities to athletics.”

Although students at Upper Moreland will see a new face come September, their old principal, Robert Eckley, will be just across the parking lot serving as an administrator on special assignment.

“He will be working in the education services department focusing on curriculum, instruction, assessment and professional development,” Jenny Lehman, the district’s director of education, said. “I welcome him onto the team with open arms; it’s exciting to add on another member.”

Roy applied for position of superintendent of school in Springfield Township when the previous superintendent, Roseann Nyiri, announced her retirement earlier this year.

He did not receive the job, and he said Monday it might not have been the best road for him anyway.

“High school is my thing,” he said. “My father was my high school principal, so I guess it just runs in the family.”

Nyiri left the superintendent’s office June 23. Her successor, Wendy Royer, who took over the position Wednesday, said no decision had been reached on a successor for Roy.

After graduating from Franklin and Marshall College, Roy started his career at Emanus High School as a social studies teacher. After receiving his master’s degree in educational administration from Bucknell University, he moved on to the assistant principal position at Liberty High School in Bethlehem.

After that he spent several years at Palisades High School in Kintnersville before ending up in Springfield.

During his years in Springfield, Roy received several awards including the Outstanding Communicator Award from the National School Public Relations Association for his informative newsletters.

“I didn’t want to have a typical newsletter that just focused on upcoming events,” he said. “I addressed education issues and changes we were initiating.”

He also received the Administrator of the Year Award from the National School Library Journal.

“It is one of the things I am most proud of in my time in Springfield,” he said.

He received the award in part for his initiative to restructure the school’s curriculum from report-based to inquiry-based learning.

“With all the information and things kids can find on the Internet, they don’t learn a lot from simply writing a report,” he said. “If they develop a thesis or are trying to answer a question it becomes much more analytical. It was a subtle change but it was huge.”

Although moving on is always bittersweet, Roy said he is proud of what he has accomplished over the past 10 years.

“When I came to Springfield, the high school was viewed as the weakest link,” he said. “And now that I’m leaving it’s viewed as the cutting edge. We’ve created a lot of programs, made a lot of changes and really boosted morale.”

Completing major changes at one high school, Roy is walking into Upper Moreland in the midst of a major renovation project.

“I have been through that before and learned a couple of things,” he said, remembering Springfield’s major renovation project several years ago. “The key to surviving the construction process is good communication.”

Set to start at the end of next month, Roy said he is excited about the change.

“This is the third high school I am coming into, and I have learned that in the beginning it’s best to do a lot of listening,” he said. “After talking to teachers and students I get a feel for what we shouldn’t mess with and what we could do differently. I begin to hear a lot of themes in the first few months and then the next step is to set some goals.”