Principal: 'My life has been in the schools'

When John O'Breza started teaching English in Cherry Hill in 1968, people were flocking to the then-young community, in part because of its schools, he said.

The same draw still exists, and O'Breza still works for the school district, now as the principal of Cherry Hill High School East.

That will change in August, when O'Breza retires after a 45-year career in Cherry Hill.

"My life has been in the schools," said O'Breza, who is 67. "And it's been my blessing."

His departure means the district will be searching for two high school principals. At West, Joseph Meloche is stepping down as principal to become the district's director of curriculum.

O'Breza told East faculty members on March 21 that he planned to retire, news that was noted at a school board meeting last week.

"I felt the work that I've done here was at an end," O'Breza said in an interview Thursday.

He decided "it would be time for someone else to come in and take on the challenge and seek new areas to advance our school, and to maintain it."

An Ohio native who earned a bachelor's degree in classics at John Carroll University, a Jesuit institution outside Cleveland, O'Breza said he was always interested in becoming a teacher.

"I like books, I like the act of teaching, and I like being around young people, particularly in high school," said O'Breza, whose wife and son are also teachers. "In truth, I couldn't imagine a higher calling."

He had envisioned himself working in a private school in the Midwest. But plans changed when he enrolled in a teaching internship program offered through Temple University, which placed him in Cherry Hill.

He enjoyed Cherry Hill - "a wonderfully supportive community, has been from Day 1," he said - and became an English teacher at Cherry Hill West.

Back then, the schools were crowded, O'Breza said. The township was growing rapidly, with young families moving to Cherry Hill in droves.

"The neighborhoods largely built up around us," O'Breza said of the schools, which at one point served a third of the district's population. The enrollment at East, which today has about 2,100 students, once topped 4,000, O'Breza said.

West and East were strong schools "really from the beginning," O'Breza said. After four years at West, he was sent to East, where he continued to teach English.

He became an assistant principal in 1988 and was transferred to West the next year.

In 1996, he returned to East, this time as an assistant principal in charge of guidance and special education. He became acting principal in 2002 and was later named to the post permanently.

As principal, O'Breza said his goal was always to help students succeed, whether they did well or struggled.

"There are no throwaway students," he said.

That philosophy marked his tenure at East, said Leslie Karpiak, president of the East PTA.

"He runs a very large school . . . and he has created an environment where every student of varying abilities can succeed," Karpiak said. "He is an advocate for every student."