FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — Dr. Jeffrey Huguenin, principal of the Catena Elementary School, died over the weekend.

The 46-year-old resident of Howell passed away on Sunday, according to his obituary, which did not disclose a cause of death. He was married with two daughters and had served as principal since 2013. He was also an adjunct professor for masters and bachelor level classes at Georgian Court University in Lakewood.

Grief counselors will be at the school today as students return to the class for the first time since the long Columbus Day holiday weekend, according to a message sent by superintendent Neal Dickstein to district parents.

"As a husband and parent my heart breaks for the Huguenin family. Dr. Huguenin's loss will have a significant impact on the school community. It is important that we, as a district family, come together to support each other at this difficult time," Dickstein's letter read.

“He was one of our best adjuncts and an unbelievable guy. He had amazing ideas, his school was at the cutting edge of so many things(especially with respect to individualized instruction and technology. He has supervised our interns and taught in both of teacher ed and Alp programs. We had a great working relationship in that he (and his school) took a number of our student teachers. It is a great loss for us, but an even bigger loss for Catena school and his family," Tim Briles, an associate professor of education at GCU said in a statement.

A viewing for Huguenin is scheduled for the Clayton & McGirr Funeral Home on Route 524 in Freehold Township on Thursday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. His funeral takes place on Friday at the funeral home at 10 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Huguenin’s name to the Joseph J. Catena Elementary School PTO in support of the STEAM Center, 275 Burlington Road, Freehold Township, NJ 07728.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ.

More from New Jersey 101.5:

More From New Jersey 101.5 FM