Wall Schools Super Appointed As Colts Neck High School Principal

He had already been thinking about it for months, but when a former High Tech High School student’s mom invited Daniel Simon to be a guest at an important event at her son’s college, that was the clincher.

Simon spent a decade as principal of High Technology High School before last year becoming the Superintendent of Wall Township Schools. His new gig was a central office job.

It was Prime Time. He was the Big Cheese.

But something was amiss behind the big superintendent’s desk. He was cut off from the students – one step removed from what attracted him to education in the first place, Simon said.

“I think I underestimated how much I’d miss that aspect of it,’’ Simon said. “I attended as many (after-school) events as I could, but I realized I didn’t know any of the kids’ names and to them I was just some … I was almost just some figurehead.’’

That changed Monday night when by a unanimous vote of the Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education, Simon was appointed the new principal of Colts Neck High School.

Provided he will be released from his three-year contract in Wall Township, Simon will return to being the principal of a high school by July 1, with plenty of time to prepare for the upcoming school year.

Charles Sampson, superintendent of Freehold Regional High School District, said Simon was the best qualified among the 25 applicants for the position, and that Simon had “nothing but rave reviews’’ from anyone who had worked with, or for, him.

“He will be a terrific addition to the Freehold Regional High School District and I think we’re lucky to have him,’’ Sampson said.

It was on his drive to Cornell University to see a former student’s final college musical performance that Simon realized that his decision to seek the Colts Neck job was the right one.

“It’s knowing what an impression this student left on me and that I was able to leave for him – that’s why you go into education,’’ Simon said. “That’s what’s the most gratifying.’’

And that’s what Simon was missing as superintendent of Wall School District, he said.

“I’ve loved my time in Wall and I’ve nothing but positive experiences to share from my time there,’’ Simon said. “But I’ve found myself longing for that relationship again with the kids and you don’t have that in that position (of superintendent).’’

Simon was adamant that the recent troubles in the Wall School district were not a part of his decision to leave.

“The truth is, for me, I’ve gotten away from my first love, which is being with kids,” he said.

But along with stepping away from the top spot in Wall, Simon also walks away from that Big Cheese salary.

At Colts Neck, Simon’s pay will be $155,221 or $11,279 less than his $166,500 paycheck would have been had he stayed in Wall Township.

“Sometimes, you have to look at what’s best for your family overall,’’ Simon said. “I obviously had to make that decision.”

Simon’s also quick to point out that he’s also invested in the Freehold Regional High School District. He lives in Freehold. His kids attend the pubic schools there, he said.

“It’s close to home and I already know all the goings on from a parent perspective,’’ Simon said. “It’s really a perfect fit.’’

But mainly, he’s looking forward to being invited to more events by more students, for a long time to come.

“That’s that relationship that you can’t build from a central office position,” he said.