Winchester Principal Looking Forward to Next Challenge

Ralph “Skip” Marotta doesn’t know if he’ll miss it. For 36 years Marotta has been involved in education, whether it was as a teacher, coach, assistant principal, or this past year, when he was the Interim Principal at, Marotta has always been around the teaching process.   

But after he announced his retirement earlier this spring, Marotta is ready to move on.

“I’ve been responding to a bell for a number of years,” said Marotta, who’s been . “I don’t know if I’ll miss it. Fall is a great time of year, and I’m looking forward to take the time to appreciate it.”

The long-time Winchester resident spent the first 30 years of his career in Medford before getting the opportunity to work in the school system that saw his son Matt graduate from Winchester High School and his either son, Mike, prepare for his final year at the high school.

And with his ties to the community, Marotta will still be active around town.

“I live in town, we’re not moving away,” Marotta said. “I intend to stay involved in this community as a resident and a parent of school-aged children. I’ll still be engaged, but now I’ll have more time to get to some athletic events. I’m really looking forward to spending time with my family.”

Even though Marotta is ready to move on, not being around schoolchildren on a daily basis, he said, will be difficult.

“It’s invigorating to be around the children,” Marotta said. “I’m going to miss the opportunity to work with a variety of kids at this school. It’s been fun to work with the kids [in Winchester]. It’s rewarding work. I’m going to miss the daily interaction I had with them, being able to say ‘hello’ to the kids in the morning.”

As for what’s next, Marotta isn’t quite sure. But whatever it is, education will always be a part of his life.

“I’m going to stay involved in education one way or another,” he said. “I’ve always known I wanted to be in education and I plan on staying involved with it in the future.”

Jorge Goncalves, who has spent the last seven years as Assistant Principal at the Briscoe Middle School in Beverly, MA, will be the . He will begin on July 1.