Richard Kaye keeps the door to his office open. He likes to say hello to students as they walk by and eschews the idea of “the old guy sitting in the office.”

He views his role as facilitator for students: “How can we support them? How can we help them be successful? That’s what we’re here for.”

A 39-year veteran of public schools, including 20 years as principal of South Brunswick High School, Kaye is the new interim principal of the Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston, the fourth in as many years and the second since the untimely death of Rabbi Abraham Warhaftig in 2005. (Warhaftig replaced Rabbi Scot Berman, who served the high school from its inception in 1997 until 2004.)

Kaye replaces Rabbi Moshe Brand, who served for one year and is now assistant principal of general studies at Yeshiva Ketanah of Manhattan.

Dr. Leonard Bielory, president of the board at Kushner, said he could not be more pleased with the selection. “Mr. Kaye is an educator extraordinaire. He would raise the bar at any institution. We’re proud to have him at Kushner.”

Bielory pointed out the difficulty in finding an administrator who can help transition Modern Orthodox yeshivot into “the prep schools parents are looking for,” schools that offer the curriculum, advanced placement classes, and extracurricular activities they want. “There’s a paucity of individuals trained for what the parents are looking for, and it’s not a small undertaking.” He’s convinced Kaye is already helping Kushner along the way. “We would have him indefinitely. He’s dedicated, and he’s in it for the love of educating kids. There’s no one like him.” Unfortunately, Kaye formally retired from the public school system in 1999 and is not seeking a permanent position. So a search for a permanent principal for Kushner is under way.

A Conservative layperson following several Orthodox rabbis in the position of principal at the Orthodox day school, Kaye said his own religious orientation is no impediment to his job. “Orthodox Judaism is not the way I have chosen but I have full respect for what it is, and there’s nothing I do that will not support and continue the culture and experience at this school,” he said.

Bielory isn’t concerned about Kaye’s background either. He pointed out that as s’gan rosh yeshiva, or vice principal, Rabbi David Chamudot is responsible for setting the religious tone of the school together with the rabbinic advisory board and other key administrators. And in no small measure, Bielory added, parents help set the stage for what students bring to their religious studies. “Mr. Kaye always defers regarding religious issues to Rabbi Chamudot and other administrators in the building. They work together as a team to create a philosophy for the school.”

Kaye began teaching high school social studies in the New York metropolitan area in 1961. He spent the bulk of his career, from 1974 to 1994, as principal of South Brunswick High School. He continued serving as principal at Crossroads Middle School in Monmouth Junction until 1999, when he formally retired.

But retirement didn’t keep him from working in education. He was chief reader for the ETS Interstate School Leaders Licensure, and then began serving short stints as interim principal at several NJ schools. Among the honors he has garnered over the course of his career are the NJ Principals and Supervisors Association Golden Lamp Award for Outstanding Secondary School Principals and a Blue Ribbon Award from the United States Department of Education for South Brunswick High School.

He was a recipient of a principal’s grant from the Dodge Foundation and served as a summer fellow at the Harvard principals’ center. Most recently, he has served as a CAPA (Collaborative Assessment and Planning for Achievement) team member for the NJ Department of Education.

Kaye calls himself a true believer in the power of education to make the world a better place — and not just to help students get into good colleges. In an interview in his office at Kushner, he said he wants students to achieve academically, but that isn’t enough for him. “I want our kids to learn a better way to live,” he said. “I want them to be human beings of quality. I want them to be givers, not takers.”

He said he loves to teach and to learn from his students. He still remembers the name of the girl who changed forever his lesson on the United States as a “melting pot.” It was in the early 1960s while he was teaching at Manhattan’s Stuyvesant High School, his alma mater, that the student suggested the country was less a melting pot than a salad or a mosaic.

After that, her vision became part of the lesson, helping him realize his role in the classroom. “I’m a facilitator,” he said. “I don’t want students to have as their goal to learn what I know. The world would be a sad place. I want them to learn more. I just want to facilitate the learning.”

He continues to teach social studies at Kushner in addition to his role as principal.

Asked about his vision for the school, he suggested he still had more to learn about its values and culture.

“I don’t walk in with preconceived answers. If you do that, you’ll fail,” Kaye said. “You have to listen, and meet people. You have to see how they live here and who does what and what’s working. You have to ask, ‘What can we do to help make things better here? Here’s where we are. Where do you want to go next?’ It begins with trust and respect. You need teamwork.”

Kaye fell into teaching accidentally. He had planned to become a dentist but was drawn to education while tutoring a blind student to earn some money in college. “I was intrigued. And it just started to get to me. I remember saying I want to teach.”

Kaye lives in West Windsor with his wife, Judith. The Kushner position is his first in a Jewish day school and his first real experience with a private school.

“Being a principal is being a principal,” he said. “Just because the kids have kipot on their heads or wear long skirts doesn’t mean they don’t face the same issues that other kids face.”

Still, he has been struck by some of the differences between a yeshiva and a public school, from the length of the students’ day to the challenges posed by recruitment and finances.

“That’s a very, very long and demanding day on the kids and the teachers,” he said of a school day that lasts from 8 a.m. to 5:30 in the afternoon. “I’m concerned for the kids because of the impact on them. It’s a lot to put on their plate. They need time to still be a kid — time to relax. I marvel at their stamina and commitment, but a little piece of me says, ‘Be careful, they’re fragile. You can’t pile on too much and have it not affect kids.

“The question for me is how to support them and how to help them be successful. That’s what I’m here for.”