September 5 not only marked the beginning of PHS’s 2023-2024 school year, but also the first day for a new principal with a familiar face. After a lengthy selection process that spanned close to the entire summer and included a search committee composed of over 20 stakeholders, PPS superintendent Carol Kelley recommended former assistant principal Cecilia Birge as the new PHS principal. This recommendation was unanimously approved by the Board of Education on August 31.

In an email that entailed her recommendation of Birge sent on August 30, Kelley stated that “During this selection process, Ms. Birge showcased her exceptional leadership qualities, along with her deep commitment to the success of all students, her passion for education, and her respect for the entire Princeton High School community.”

After a whirlwind of new principals at PHS (four in the past three years) and the lingering controversy over the nonrenewal of former PHS principal Frank Chmiel, a survey was sent out to PHS stakeholders on July 7 asking them what the desired characteristics of a principal at the high school were.

“Our goal was to begin the search process as soon as possible so that we would have an individual at least approved by the Board prior to the start of the new school year,” Kelley said. “Because of the reputation of our school district, we saw that even though the posting gave people just three weeks to apply for the position, there was an outpouring of candidates that were interested.”

Apart from the community survey, the Board also surveyed PHS faculty about their wants and needs for the new principal. Immediately, Birge stood out as a forerunner with her past experience and reputation at PHS.

“The staff that was involved on the interview committee really wanted an internal candidate. They said that the school was fragile and that they couldn’t really take someone who didn't understand the culture at the school ... When you have the staff saying that this is what we need, the board is gonna listen to that," said Dafna Kendal, President of the Board of Education.

According to Kelley, the job opening received 25 applications during the three weeks it stayed open; two of these applications came from internal candidates, while the rest were external. The process consisted of three rounds of interviews. The first round was a paper screening to identify the candidates with the suitable qualifications and characteristics desired by community stakeholders, while the second round was a short virtual screening of four questions; this collectively narrowed the candidates down to five people, including the two internal candidates that skipped these first two rounds. The final round was an hour-long interview conducted by a stakeholder committee for each individual candidate, consisting of an open-ended question of the candidate’s outline on the first 100 days of school as PHS principal, as well as ten questions that focused on the candidate’s trustworthiness, communication, and responses to pertinent school affairs. Afterward, the committee had a discussion and rated each of the candidates according to their responses, culminating in the recommendation of Birge by Kelley to the board.

Keeping with her philosophy of placing the well-being of students and teachers at the forefront, Birge, despite enjoying her assistant principal position, mentions one of her primary reasons for applying to be principal in the first place was to provide missing continuity.

“When somebody from outside the community applies, the learning curve is really steep. And that means that will cause additional learning curves. Students and teachers - that was really the main reason for me to apply,” Birge said.

After retiring from being a bond analyst on Wall Street, Birge began her time in education in 2012 and has seen and guided the growth of thousands with different job titles along the way. Starting as a substitute teacher for former PHS math teacher Valerie Rodriguez, she later secured a tenure track position at Dwight Morrow High School in North Jersey teaching math the next year, where she worked with various students with special needs. Wanting to make a greater impact, Birge obtained her certification in special education and later returned to PHS in 2015 as a special-ed math teacher.

“I returned to PHS as a special-ed teacher because at Dwight Morrow, I had taught some really challenging students and in many ways, the teachers in that school were the only stabilizing force in those children’s lives … It sort of gave me a different perspective and a much higher level of appreciation for public education and how teachers can touch student’s lives,” Birge said.

Now, after watching Birge’s exceptional performance as well as the board’s unanimous approval, Kelley believes that Birge’s experience, combined with her involvement in the PHS community, will bring long-awaited stability to PHS.

“I feel that [Birge] is going to do a really marvelous job … She's not just an administrator, but she's been a teacher and parent at the high school,” said Kelley. “I think that her background in other industries and the experiences that she has had serving, as mayor [of Montgomery Township], on town councils, on town committees … creates an individual that's right for being principal of Princeton High School.”

In addition to her extensive professional career in public service, Birge believes she can readily adapt to unfamiliar environments due to her experiences as an immigrant coming to the U.S. from China without knowing much English.

“I still remember the days when I stood in the cafeteria at my college, trying to order food, and didn't know what to say to get the food. I think that my experience as an educator [and] my passion for our students is very much framed by my experiences as an immigrant and being unfamiliar with the system,” said Birge. “I think that my diverse professional background really has been great because school is a microcosm of society.”

When asked about her methodology and guiding principles when making decisions for the future, Birge mirrored Kendal’s sentiment about putting teachers and students at the center.

“As an administrator, my philosophy has always been that my job is to support the teachers, and if I support the teachers, then the teachers can place [the] students as their priority…you will never hear me blindly choosing some statistics just for the sake of statistics, the students and the teachers must be front and center in everything.”

This school year, Birge does not hope to change much around the school and will instead try to focus on having a strong and communicative relationship with PHS stakeholders, in addition to the strategic plan that the PPS administrators and board members have decided upon.

“I want to be out there to be visible in the community. I'm in the process of meeting with community groups, [such as] PTO and other groups to update our communication channel. The Tiger Tribune will probably return, in addition to Letters From the Principal,” Birge said.

Furthermore, Birge has taken various actions to update an outdated system she sees as geared towards survival during a period of COVID-19 instead of a thriving school ecosystem. Several of these include requiring lanyards and revising punishments for plagiarism and unverified absences.

“All of these [new] policies and handbooks and whatnot … What we all realize is that after surviving the past three years post-pandemic, we need to be re-educated about what real school feels like,” Birge said. ”

Birge fondly remembers her time as an assistant principal mainly because of the relationships she was able to form with students, as well as jokingly mentioning her comfortable old office.

“In many ways, the assistant principal’s job is the best job in a school in the sense that each day is different. You just don't know what to expect each day and same thing with principals. But the assistant principals focus is on the students. They're there to support the students and the teachers, but with direct contact with the students. So the principal is a step removed,” said Birge.

On September 26, the Board approved the transfer of former PHS Mathematics Teacher Lauren Freedman to the Assistant Principal position who has worked in various capacities with the current PHS administrators and feels ready for challenge.

“I also believe that my transition into this new role will go well, as I have been working closely with the administration team over the years on various committees … I have had the opportunity to work with Ms. Birge and had the honor to co-teach Pre-Calculus with her,” said Freedman. “I am most excited to have the opportunity to directly engage with the entire PHS community. In this role, I will get to work directly with staff members from all departments, the entire student body, Valley Road, and other community members.”

Freedman also is deeply connected as a Peer Group teacher, field hockey coach, student class advisor, and Corner House advisor, among many other roles. Similarly to Birge, Freedman believes she can utilize her wealth of experiences to impact students in her new position.

“I have taken on a variety of leadership roles with the PHS administrative teams, and I have planned and coordinated both district-wide and building level initiatives. I feel that the AP position gives me an opportunity to provide a wider range of support to our students.”

In the future, despite her new position being a “step removed,” Birge hopes to continue to work more closely with students and watch their growth.

“Be the good student leaders, the role models that you are … make an appointment with me or walk with me,” Birge said. “Learning can be painful and difficult, but that's why graduation is so beautiful because at the end of the year, we reflect that there isn't a single child who doesn't grow fast and significantly.”