John Haney is Cranbury School principal and chief school administrator.
By: Madeleine Johnson
John Haney might be new to the Cranbury School, but the new chief school administrator and principal already feels at home there.
"Everyone has been so nice and welcoming that’s been a really nice feature here. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to work with. They’ve been so warm and supportive," he said. "It is starting to feel a lot like home."
Mr. Haney began working at the school July 2, when he assumed two different roles at the school’s administrative level.
"As principal, I’m responsible for the running of the building, and as chief school administrator, you’re more responsible for district issues and the bigger-picture issues like budget, staff, curriculum, the facility and long-term planning."
And while Cranbury School’s students may have the summer off, Mr. Haney has been working behind the scenes to prepare for the 20072008 school year.
"We’re creating the schedules for the students and the teachers. We’re hiring staff when we need to and meeting with the teachers as they review the curriculum, and I’m learning as much as I can about the school so as the school year progresses, we can move forward by making good decisions," Mr. Haney said.
Mr. Haney has worked at several schools in a variety of positions. He worked in the South Brunswick district as a music teacher for 14 years, directed its summer academy for three years, was an elementary school resource teacher for more than a year and middle school assistant principal for about one year. Mr. Haney also worked as a principal for the Clinton public schools for eight years.
He began working in schools because he wanted to influence children in a positive way.
"In a sense, I was a music teacher because I wanted to share my love of music with students because music is a unique place where you can really teach people how to achieve excellence," Mr. Haney said. "You’re always looking to perform, and it becomes really obvious when something is excellent."
But when his son, Brian, who is now 14 years old, was born with Down syndrome, his career interest shifted.
"I have a son who’s disabled and that’s what made me want to get into administration. My wife and I work very hard with him, but sometimes you have to look at changing the world around him," Mr. Haney said. "I came to realize that as an administrator, you can affect more things and affect more people positively and that’s why I continue to do it."
Both his son and his 10-year-old daughter, Laura, have inspired Mr. Haney to do whatever he can to offer his students the best educational experience possible.
"The way I look at it is that I want the best for my children, and I want the best for all the children who attend Cranbury School," he said.
Being a father and studying a range of different teaching methods have helped Mr. Haney understand the individual needs of all children.
"What you learn is that a school is a business about people and your product at the school is its students," he said. "It makes you realize that every person in a school is special and you’re trying to create opportunities for all the students to succeed."
Mr. Haney plans on using Cranbury School’s "fine reputation as a wonderful school" to further benefit every student who walks into the building.
"The focus is always on excellence and the feeling of a very strong school community," he said of Cranbury School. "You take advantage of the inherent strengths of the school. This school is really fortunate. We have very good test scores, interested and intelligent students, and caring and dedicated staff members."
Mr. Haney is "absolutely" looking forward to the first day of school and the opportunity it will present for him to meet even more of the Cranbury community.
"I’ll be very visible in the hallways, greeting students and greeting parents and getting to know people. I’ll be introducing myself and being able to see how things are going."
Once the school year kicks off, he’ll begin to make sure that all of the students come to regard Cranbury School as their home, just as he’s beginning to.
"It’s important to use eighth-graders to work with the younger children whenever you can create those opportunities," Mr. Haney said. "When you see an older child greet a younger child, the look on the younger child’s face is incredible. It creates a nice feeling of community and makes it feel like it’s our school, it’s for everyone."

