Prior to the start of the 2025-26 school year, we all saw the announcement that a new assistant principal was joining East Islip. As the first school days rolled by, we all met Mr. Leger, and many started to see him just as another assistant principal, and with our new phone policy, a “disciplinarian.”
However, it is time to break that stigma. I’m sure you didn’t know that he is from Massachusetts, or that he went to college on a baseball scholarship. I got the privilege to sit down with Mr. Leger, and now you too can find out that he’s more than just our assistant principal: he is a father to a 10 month old boy, an owner of two cats (Gemma and Sadie), a huge Boston sports fan, and a new incredible part of our East Islip family.
First, let’s look at how he got here.
Mr. Leger is originally from Massachusetts, about a half hour out of Boston. He went to SUNY Cortland as an English major on a baseball scholarship, and here was the first time he remembers hearing about East Islip. With Cortland being in New York, he heard of East Islip through our great athletic reputation. After graduating, he went back to Massachusetts for nine years, until he moved back to Long Island.
Although he graduated with an English degree, Mr. Leger learned other lessons outside the classroom at Cortland. As he spent his years on the baseball team, he discovered that he was a natural born leader. Mr. Leger was drawn to the fact that the underclassmen would look up to him and ask him for advice. This led him on a path of becoming a guidance counselor.
Mr. Leger got his first guidance counselor position at Elmont Memorial High School in Nassau County, and worked outside the classroom as a baseball and basketball coach. Here, his love for helping others and being a leader flourished. Mr. Leger loved his job as a counselor and knows how it will help him as Assistant Principal.
“Once a counselor, always a counselor,” Mr. Leger explained.
He, alongside Mr. Montemarano, are trying to eliminate the stigma that principals are strictly disciplinarians. Sure, discipline is a vital part of the job, but they want to create an approachable image just like the one he had as a counselor.
“As a counselor, I wanted everything that I talk about with kids to be meaningful and helpful,” Leger said. “I don’t know why as an assistant principal, I can’t continue to have that approach.”
So going forward, know that your assistant principal, while still addressing issues at hand, will be another pillar of support in our high school who wants you to succeed.
It is truly a huge honor for East Islip to call Mr. Leger our assistant principal. It will be exciting to see what positive changes will come in the following years with Mr. Leger and our new administrative team.
To read about East Islip’s new Principal, Mr. Montemarano, check out the article HERE!
