Doktor and his VPs: Andrew Jaeger, Susan E. Schnepf, Patricia DeLotto, Luis Ros and Peter Cumba (not pictured).
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“Michael is a person of high character and professionalism with a great knowledge of the district and high school. He also has a nice rapport with the teachers and a great understanding of the students’ needs.”
Michael Doktor is making his rounds, something he tries to do several times a day. He walks through halls that change from tiled corridors to windowed walkways filled with natural light, like the one cutting through the school garden. Throughout, Clifton High is filled with maroon accents – students and teachers wear the color, as does the new principal. Doktor knows his path, having traveled it first as a student in September 1991, and later as a teacher and vice principal. Students recognize him – not with fear but with a bit of surprise. He is hard to miss. Doktor stands a lanky 6’5”, still looking like the volleyball player he was in high school. Seeing students without their ID lanyards, he motions to his own and they scramble to grab theirs from a pocket or purse. “The inside of your pocket doesn’t need to know where you are,” he said to one, “but we do.” 36 October 2017 • Cliftonmagazine.com
– former CHS principal Tony Orlando
Throughout his walk, Doktor points out items of interest – murals he’d like to see expanded, the two school resource officer locations staffed by Clifton Police, the television studio that is bigger and better equipped than many colleges. A few more students drift by without ID lanyards; Doktor reminds each one. “New school year,” he said. “They’ll get it.” He spots three students without required colorcoded passes. “Where are you supposed to be?” he asks. Two mumble something and slip into a classroom; the other launches into a long explanation. Doktor listens for a bit and tells the student to go