SHS Principal John Klemme Steps Down
Ending months of uncertainty, Scarsdale High School Principal John Klemme announced that he will retire at the end of the school year. Klemme has been out of school dealing with health issues since before the Christmas break -- and until the March 8th announcement the community was wondering if and when he would be back. He plans to return to school after the April break and work until the end of the school year to complete his term as Principal.
In an email to his colleagues, Klemme said his years at Scarsdale were “the singular experience of my career in education,” and thanked his colleagues for their “commitment to the education of Scarsdale students,” calling the high school “a pioneer in preparing student for productive lives in the twenty-first century.”
Klemme came to Scarsdale in 1998 from Birmingham, Michigan where he was an English teacher and administrator. In an interview on Scarsdale10583 in 2009 he recalled his first impression of Scarsdale where he was “struck by the extraordinary achievement levels of the students and the strong support for education in the community at large. Klemme also recounted the story of President Clinton’s landing in a helicopter on the Scarsdale football field.
During Mr. Klemme’s years the school undertook some major curriculum shifts that were bitterly debated. The faculty and administration favored the adoption of Advanced Topics courses in the high school, in place of the highly structured AP program. They believed this move would give teachers more flexibility and the opportunity to teach certain areas in depth. Fearing that the AT courses would be viewed less favorably by colleges, some parents fought the faculty and Klemme on this move. Ultimately the AT program was adopted and has now been hailed as a success. Other changes to the ninth grade orientation process and curriculum were more universally accepted. In athletics, during Klemme’s tenure additional athletic teams were added to give more students the opportunity to play and funding was provided for extracurricular activities such as debate, mock trial and Model U.N. Klemme also oversaw a major expansion of the school as a wing of new classrooms and a large gymnasium were added in the early 90’s. This year, Klemme was excited about a student exchange with China and spoke about his own trip there during his graduation speech in 2010.
Disciplinary responsibility fell on Klemme’s shoulders and he was severely tried by student drinking at a 2003 homecoming dance. Several students were hospitalized and Klemme sought to suspend students who had been caught drinking or named by others. Parents fought the disciplinary actions and some said the student code of conduct was over reaching.
More recently, in the fall of 2010 several suicides in Scarsdale deeply affected the school community and posed mental health challenges to the faculty and the students. Klemme lead the school through these tough times and they undoubtedly affected him.
On a personal note, I must thank Mr. Klemme for supporting two of my children during their years at SHS. Both my son and younger daughter served on the student government and Mr. Klemme invited them to meetings, sought out their opinions and guided them in their education. Despite his many duties, he made the effort to get to know them and we are grateful for his care.
In his resignation letter he reports that next year he will return to the classroom where he will teach in Florida. We wish him the best of luck in his journey and thank him for his service to Scarsdale.
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written by claremont road, March 10, 2011
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written by Carolyn Stevens, March 10, 2011
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written by former scarsdale student and parent, March 09, 2011
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He had a reputation for being the most intelligent teacher in the school (we all wondered why he wasn't a lawyer--or a judge--since it was rumored that he received a perfect score on the LSAT--and we felt privileged that he chose to focus his awesome intelligence on teaching us)--and also one of the toughest (on one essay exam, he awarded no "As" and only one A- [me!]). But he also challenged us in ways few other teachers did (we often read and discussed graduate level material)--and encouraged us to challenge him as well. By expecting so much of us, we felt respected by him--and generally rose to the occasion. My college courses were easy compared to Mr. Klemme's high school classes (seriously)--and that was largely due to the rigorous training that Mr. Klemme provided me (sadly, those college classes were also less rigorous and interesting--and those were at a highly-ranked university).
As a debate coach, Klemme's teams won more Varsity and Novice State Championships than I could possibly count (trophies literally lined his entire classroom). Again, he demanded a lot of us, but his intellectual rigor, one-on-one coaching, and faith in us was inspiring and made us want to perform at the highest level possible. And our behavior was just as important to Mr. Klemme as our performance. At tournaments, he always encouraged us to show the utmost respect for the other teams--and he made sure that we acted with class when he won (instead of hooting and hollering, we were encouraged to clap politely) or lost (which was rare--ha). Ethics were extremely important to him--and he would have rather dropped out of a tournament than see his students cheat in any way.
He was also one of the kindest, most thoughtful teachers I ever had. He really did listen--and care. He wrote me a letter of rec two years after I graduated--and he always asked my mother about my sister and me, years after both of us graduated. When I heard he had moved on to Scarsdale, my feeling was: good for him (and Scarsdale), but bad for Seaholm (not sure if they've won a debate tournament since!).
I'm very sorry to hear of his health issues. But I envy the students in Florida, who will benefit from a teacher who will inspire them for the rest of their lives!