For the last 20 years, Leisa Karanjia’s constant goal as principal of South Valley has been to help every student to cultivate a love for school.
Leisa Karanjia vividly recalls her mother promising her before she started kindergarten that she was going to love school. Looking back, the South Valley Elementary School principal said her mother was absolutely correct.
“I remember running all the way home on the day that I learned to read because I was so excited that I could read, and I couldn’t wait to show her,” Karanjia said.
Karanjia said thinks she knew on some level even then she wanted to spend her career in education For the last 20 years, Karanjia’s constant goal as principal of South Valley has been to help every student to cultivate their own love for school, and as she leaves the Moorestown school district this June to start the next chapter in her life, she said she feels very fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet so many teachers, students and families who share this same passion.
Karanjia grew up in Ohio and attended the University of Toledo where she majored in elementary education. She earned a master’s degree in supervision and administration from Kent State University and would later go on to complete a doctorate in educational leadership at Rowan University. She said, along the way, elementary education always felt like the right fit.
“Elementary has just always been my calling,” Karanjia said. “Little people, little problems, but they’re very real problems to those little people.”
Karanjia taught in Ohio schools and a California school for one year before finding herself in New Jersey. She said her husband, a Marlton native, returned to the East Coast for work, and she joined him. She found herself teaching in Winslow Township before working as an assistant principal in Pemberton Township for a few years. Her first principalship was at Glenview Avenue School in Haddon Heights. Exactly 20 years ago, Karanjia came to South Valley to serve as principal.
“Being a principal, to me, is just like being a teacher,” Karanjia said. “You just have an entire school to work with rather than one classroom.”
Karanjia said during her time at South Valley, there was no such thing as a typical day. She said she frequently visits classrooms, but much of her role involves coaching. She said on any given day, she helped students to work through problems and taught them to be kind to one another. Some days, she helped students learn how to apologize; other days, she taught students how to use their words to assert themselves.
Along the way, Karanjia has made a point to learn every student who walks through the doors of South Valley’s name, and each year, she makes it a point to learn all of the new students’ names by Halloween. She said she doesn’t know where her knack for learning names stems from, but she’s grateful for the ability. Her emphasis on names boils down to the simple idea: every student should feel embraced at South Valley.
Karanjia’s children attended the school while she was principal. She said when she came home singing the praises of South Valley, her husband suggested the school sounded so wonderful their own children should attend. The family moved to Moorestown 14 years ago.
“For me, it was just an unanticipated great outcome,” Karanjia said. “I never imagined when I became a principal that my own children would come to my school one day.”
She said as principal she’s worked hard to give each child the same experience she wanted her own children to have at South Valley. As such, she makes it a point to be a presence in the mornings greeting and welcoming her students as they enter school and seeing them off safely at dismissal time.
Third-grade teacher Denise Semptimphelter said Karanjia always made an effort to connect with students. A statuesque woman, Karanjia crouches down to talk to students at their level and makes a point to come into the classroom and read a book to the students each year during National Book Week, Semptimphelter said.
Semptimphelter said Karanjia’s positive energy is contagious. Each summer, Karanjia crafted a message to staff informing them she couldn’t wait for their return and they were in for a positive year ahead. She said those letters made the staff eager to return.
Kindergarten teacher Norma Wright said Karanjia has an uncanny ability to recognize individuals’ talents.
“She knows her school and all of its people, children, families,” Wright said. “That’s pretty remarkable.”
For Karanjia, she will miss the people the most when she leaves this June. She said the most rewarding part of her job has been connecting with people who love education. Looking ahead, she said she’s hoping split her time between her family and potentially teaching part-time at the college level. She said she loves teaching beginning teachers how to set up their classroom and what to expect in a classroom setting.
Karanjia said working as principal has been her dream job second only to being a mother. She said she’s grateful for her time at South Valley but is also looking forward to her next chapter.
“I’m going out on top of my game,” Karanjia said with an effusive smile. “I always told myself that I would go out on top because then you’ve accomplished what you set out to do, then it’s time to think about what’s next.”
