Richard Montgomery High School is no stranger to the addition of new members to their staff. Two years ago, our current principal, Ms. Alicia Deeny, began her first year at RM. Mr. Matt Martini, the new Assistant Principal overseeing the junior class, has had quite the upbringing that led him to RM. 

“I’m coming from Howard County, where I was for the last 17 years,” Mr. Martini said. He began his teaching career at Oakland Mills High School in Howard County, Maryland, where he was a math teacher. After working at Oakland Mills for 12 years he began working at the Homewood Center in Howard County, Maryland. 

The Homewood Center is a rehabilitation school that provides mental health therapists, behavior technicians and more support for their troubled students. “It was a little bit of a unique process to get placed there. It’s not like you would have one incident or even a couple incidents,” Mr. Martini said. He oversaw the math department at the Homewood Center for several years.

Prior to discovering his passion for teaching, Mr. Martini attended Lynchburg College, now the University of Lynchburg, for his undergraduate degree. There, he was an attackman for the school’s division three lacrosse team. “I was [Head Coach Steve] Koudelka’s second recruiting class. We were young; we were still developing. I was on the team that went to the first NCAA Tournament in program history,” Mr. Martini said.

The behind the scenes moments of the lacrosse team and the friendships gained from the team are unforgettable for Mr. Martini. “I just remembered they were doing this selection show and we didn’t know [if] we were gonna make it or not. And we saw our name pop up there. And just the pure joy, it was amazing,” Mr. Martini said. “[I] Gave one of my best friends just a big bear hug.”

It’s because of these teammates that he found himself working in the DMV area, as he is originally from Memphis, Tennessee. “A lot of my teammates were from Baltimore and I started my teaching career in Baltimore,” Mr. Martini said. 

In the shift from job position, the uniqueness and significantly more intimate classroom size of the Homewood Center to RM’s nearly 2400 student body, there was plenty of room for potential issues. “From the staff that I’ve been working with to the administrators who I’m on their team. It’s been a very refreshing team environment, very supportive environment,” Mr. Martini said.

Along with the supportive team environment of the RM staff, the students have welcomed Mr. Martini with open arms. “He’s honestly been great so far, super genuine guy, clearly loves his job and what he does,” junior Leah Bulson said. 

In such a short amount of time, Mr. Martini has already naturally left an impact on students with his personality and obvious passion for the job. “Seeing an administrator, like Mr. Martini, talk to us and start conversation in Main Street, enough though he’s busy, makes him really approachable,” sophomore Katy Walsh said.