This NJ school principal was just named best in the U.S.

Perhaps it’s because I was a good student who rarely got into trouble back in the day, but I knew very little about our school principals when I was actually in school. It was only when I became a parent that I truly noticed the differences between schools.

When I first moved back to my home state of New Jersey as a single father with my then 4-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son, I lived in Plainsboro. The principal at their new school, J.V.B. Wicoff, was Michael Welborn. This guy had the most positive influence on my kids and that school. Very hands-on, greeted everybody every morning, and I swear he knew every single student by name.

Today, my younger set of kids, 8 and 9-year-old boys, are on the spectrum. Their school, Copper Hill Elementary, has been fantastic thanks largely to their principal, Jesse Lockett. He’s a true gentleman who has a strong background in special education, which shows in the way he runs that department. He’s always made sure those kids are never excluded from anything.

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Best principal in New Jersey

New Jersey has many great principals at a lot of very fine schools. But imagine being lucky enough to have your child attend a school run by not only the best principal in the state but the best principal in the entire country.

If your kids attend Lenape High School in Medford of Burlington County they’re in good hands. Tony Cattani was just honored by the National Association of Secondary School Principals as the 2025 National Principal of the Year.

“We built something really special at Lenape and now it’s on a national platform,” Cattani said. “I’m just so happy and proud that I get to represent New Jersey.”

Lenape High School Principal Tony Cattani

He’s been at the helm of the high school for 18 years. This high honor will mean some travel. As National Principal of the Year he will be called upon for speaking engagements and various events around the country.

Cattani has a long history as a South Jersey educator. He started his career as a gym teacher in 1999 in Evesham at Cherokee High School. In 2002 he became an assistant principal at Shawnee High School in Medford. Then in 2007 took over as principal at Lenape.

Congratulations to Tony Cattani and a big thank you to all New Jersey’s hard-working educators.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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