10 Years of Leading LHS with Cardinal Pride: A Spotlight on Dr. Adam

Written by: Adam Tyberg (‘27)

The friendly presence you see in the hallways and the friendly voice you hear over the loudspeaker is none other than Dr. David Adam, the very proud principal of Lawrence High School. As our building principal, Dr. Adam has a lot to do and manage on a daily basis, but alongside his fellow administrators, staff, and faculty, he is the man making sure everything is running smoothly behind the scenes.

Dr. Adam grew up in nearby Hamilton Township and graduated from Steinert High School where his favorite subject to learn was American History.  From there, he completed his undergraduate studies at University of North Carolina–Wilmington where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Secondary Teaching Certification in Social Studies. Afterward, he went directly to graduate school at East Carolina University and earned his Masters of Arts degree in Education with a concentration in American History.

After Dr. Adam graduated, he became a history teacher at Hamilton West High School, and then at Northern Burlington High School where he also coached football, girls track, and girls lacrosse, noting that “the teams [he] coached [were] all pretty successful.” After years of teaching high school, Dr. Adam went back to school to earn his Administrative Certification from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Adam was first hired as an Assistant Principal at Lawrence High School in 2007 and worked in that role for three years.  In 2010, Dr. Adam transferred to Lawrence Intermediate School as an Assistant Principal for one year before being appointed as the head principal in 2011. In 2016, Dr. Adam returned to Lawrence High School as Principal, and has been working here ever since. This year is his ten year anniversary working here!

As Principal of Lawrence High School, Dr. Adam is the “academic leader of the building,” and has a leadership team that acts as his “presidential cabinet,” working together to make sure all teachers, students, faculty, and staff are “successful.” Specifically, Dr. Adam makes sure the student body is able to be successful inside the classroom and be prepared for life outside of the classroom.  To begin each morning at Lawrence High School, Dr. Adam welcomes students and staff into the building at the front doors.  Afterwards, he goes around touching base with staff and teachers, and makes sure the high school is operating as usual.

On a weekly basis, Dr. Adam reaches out to Lawrence community members to discuss new plans and ideas as well as to coordinate with the other schools and events happening in the district. Dr. Adam is always evaluating the school to see how he can improve things.  For instance, he will look at current academic processes and look for ways things can be improved, such as sitting in on classes and having teachers demonstrate their nuanced lesson plans.  He also makes sure to schedule “professional development days” throughout the school year to continue to improve and modernize the way teaching is done at the high school.  Dr. Adam also makes sure to continue improving the student experience at the high school, such as setting up “Career Day,” where sophomores get to spend a day at Rider University learning about career opportunities and the college lifestyle.  Dr. Adam always makes sure events such as “Back to School Night” are planned and scheduled.

There are many other tasks that Dr. Adam does, such as being involved with various clubs, viewing the high school’s standardized test scores, and making changes accordingly by meeting with teachers and student leaders to hear their opinions on how to better the school. In addition to his involvement with the high school, Dr. Adam is deeply involved with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, with this year marking his 13th year promoting and fundraising for it.  The St. Baldrick’s Foundation is an organization dedicated to fighting childhood cancer.  Dr. Adam, along with other people at the high school who volunteer, shave off their hair to raise money for childhood cancer research.  Overall, Dr. Adam always has a lot to do, which is why he keeps a large white board on his office wall, with the entire school year planned out up to a year in-advance.  He is the man in charge of planning out the school’s future and always has his “vision looking forward.” 

When asked what he enjoys most about his job, Dr. Adam said he enjoys being here with the faculty, staff, and students the most. Specifically, he enjoys seeing students grow, graduate, and then come back and work at the high school.  He enjoys “seeing students grow and mature and become awesome people in the world.” When asked why he chose to go into this field, he said it was because he wanted to “give back to the kids.” He loves teaching, coaching, and working with them and watching them become the individual people they are.

Regarding his personal life, Dr. Adam has been married to his wife for twenty-three years. He has two daughters and an Irish Doodle dog named Fin.  When he (rarely) isn’t busy working, Dr. Adam is watching and rooting for his Seattle Seahawks and Philadelphia Phillies.  His favorite hobby is baking sourdough bread, which he shares with everyone around him, as well as spending time with his family.

Dr. Adam, thank you for all that you do every day to keep Lawrence High School a safe, engaging, and educational environment. Congratulations on 10 years of being our school’s principal!