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Principal calling it a career

Jeff Moore can look back on a public education career that has spanned changes in curriculum, instruction, technology and even safety.

But the longtime principal of C.E. McCall Middle School in Montoursville noted that students over the years really haven’t changed.

“They are still kids,” Moore said.

Moore, who is retiring as principal at the end of the 2015-16 school year, feels he’s been fortunate to have spent the bulk of his professional working life in the Montoursville community.

The strong family values and tight-knit community that help shape the students who come through his school have made his job, perhaps a bit easier than what he might have encountered elsewhere.

The middle school is comprised of grades five through eight, a time in the lives of students when they experience drastic physical and emotional changes, which can pose challenges for school administrators and teachers.

“They are the tough years,” Moore said.

He feels the diversity of programs at his school offering students education in the arts, industrial arts and consumer science have been a big benefit.

Moore came to Montoursville in 1995 to take a job as assistant principal after several years teaching elsewhere, including time as a fifth grade teacher.

At the time, the McCall Middle School principal was Joe Kustanbauter.

“Joe really taught me to look for good staff,” he said.

He said Kustanbauter’s belief was to refrain from micromanaging students and allow teachers to do their jobs, an approach that has carried over to his own tenure as principal.

He and Kustanbauter, he noted, have been the school’s only two principals, a not altogether common occurrence in public education.

Moore said his role as principal is to oversee the school and its educational programs, ensure that learning materials for teachers and students are in place, interact with the community, supervise teachers and respond to any unexpected incidents or emergencies.

During his time as principal, the school underwent major improvements with upgrades to classrooms, installation of a geothermal system and a complete cafeteria renovation, which included the addition of a commons area for performing arts.

Moore feels the new look to the school has been a plus.

“I think it did improve morale for sure,” he said. “I think we got a pretty nice place.”

Moore said one of the biggest changes since he arrived at McCall has been the technology.

“When I first came here no one had computers. No one had email,” he said.

Now, the technology revolution has taken over every aspect of the way schools operate, he added.

Moore has seen how safety has become a major priority in education.

“It used to be doors were open in schools, but after Columbine, the world changed as we know it,” he said.

Moore lamented how shrinking government budgets have meant less dollars for public schools at the same time schools are mandated to provide more programs.

“Teachers are required to do more with less,” he said.

Overall, Moore feels his years as McCall principal have been happy ones.

He also has lived in Montoursville, where he and his wife, Suzanne raised two children, Phillip and James.

“This has been a tremendous community to work in,” he said. “I can’t say enough about parents and kids.”

He credited Dr. Timothy Bowers, district superintendent with always being supportive.

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