As we welcome the new school year here at North Arlington High School, we also welcome our new principal, Mr. Bott! After sitting for a pleasant interview with Mr. Bott, I was able to learn quite a bit about him. He comes to us from Palisades Park High School and is very excited about working here at NAHS. Mr. Bott has a history of educators in his family. He attended college at Johns Hopkins for his Bachelor’s degree and at NJCU for his Master’s degree. He found his passion for teaching while working in a mentorship program for inner city youngsters in Baltimore.

Mr. Bott also has a very big passion for sports. He played football and baseball in high school and in college, and he is currently part of a basketball league in his town. He also enjoys helping and coaching his son, who is very involved in athletics as well. When questioned about his favorite part of being at NAHS so far, Mr. Bott had a lot of kind words, “I love the small atmosphere of the school…The staff is small, you can really get to know everybody really quickly.” He also remarked, “The kids have been really nice so far, they seem to be really welcoming.”

I also asked what his hopes and ideas were for the future of our school, and he told me a lot about his innovative ideas, “Technology is going to be a big part of it; I think what that does overall is create a sense of ownership over the learning process. You feel more invested in your own education; it’s important that you care about your own success.” The new Google Classroom program is one of the ways Mr. Bott wants to connect technology with the school, since it opens up communication and offers so many useful services.

Finally, I asked Mr. Bott what his favorite part of the job was and stated, “My favorite part about this job is watching students who thought they couldn’t succeed…succeed.” Mental health is an important concern as well for Mr. Bott, who believes in talking problems through with his students and using any resources they can come up with to find solutions, “You can solve any problem just by thinking outside the box.” He explained that he doesn’t come to work every day just for a paycheck, and he has a special way to remind himself of that–he buys the school shirts from the colleges that the valedictorians who graduated under him attend. When he wears those shirts, he is reminded of how important the success of his students is and why he really loves his job.

Mr. Bott has indeed many innovative and educational plans for NAHS.  In the meantime, he is very eager to get to know everyone, students and staff. Let us all give him a very warm welcome!