Principal Dr. Marmor will retire in February 2026 after 25 years in education, including 13 years leading Francis Lewis High School. Students and staff say his leadership has shaped both academics and daily life at FLHS.

“I couldn’t believe it because Dr. Marmor was literally the icon of the school,” Senior Haewon Noh said. “I guess all teachers retire, but Dr. Marmor’s retirement went more, like, surprising to me because he always wanted to connect with our school and the community.” 

Dr. Marmor left FLHS after serving as a teacher and assistant principal for FLHS. He transferred to Queens High School for the Sciences to serve as principal. Mr. Shama, the former FLHS principal of FLHS left and Dr. Marmor decided to come back to serve a larger community with better and improved resources as principal. 

“I’ve been nothing but fortunate to have an amazing school community to be supportive of everything that we do,” Dr. Marmor said. “I think that the success of Francis Lewis is the people, the students, the staff members, and the full community that we have built, and none of those things are dependent on me or my retirement.” 

Dr. Marmor’s work has gone beyond the classroom for students. One of the many examples of his dedication to serving the students in dressing up as Santa and tossing candy canes everywhere during FLHS annual Holiday Show. 

‘I feel like he has more impact on the clubs and stuff,” Junior Adelina Vuong said. “Whenever anyone needs help, I know the first person we would go to is Dr. Marmor. He helps with whatever he can help. I’d probably say the clubs and school spirit-related things.” 

Dr. Marmor worked to enforce various schools rules including making sure the cellphone policy was followed, and cracked down on inappropriate accounts on social media. These were major pressing issues that needed to be addressed to help with the FLHS community. 

“He took something that I think a lot of people are afraid to get involved with and kind of take an action on, and he was bold and brave and had a lot of people challenge that decision, but he knew what he was doing was on the right path,” Social Studies Department Assistant Principal Ms. McGuirk said. 

Dr. Marmor has also helped improve the academics of FLHS with the groundbreaking for the annex in May 2019 and opening in September 2022. Dr. Marmor assisted in the creation of the culinary department Ms. Babbar explained. These classes have been able to potentially pave pathways for future careers. 

“He has definitely helped bring more opportunities for students to be successful in, you know, in the workplace and have more ideas about different career paths that they may be able to take.” Ms. Babbar said.

Dr. Marmor was forced to adapt to Education Law 2803 which banned all personal devices in school in September 2025. To accommodate these changes Dr. Marmor re-opened the courtyard in October 2025 to allow students to spend their free periods with different activities. 

“I think it was a courtyard because during my freshman year we had the courtyard open but for some reason it was shut down,” Noh said. “But then when Dr. Marmor brought it back, so many students were in the courtyard socializing with their charter in their free period and it was such a wholesome thing to watch.” 

Ms. Babbar, the current Assistant Principal of the Science Department, will take over as Interim Acting Principal until a new principal is found. Finding a permanent principal is a   process outlined in Chancellor’s Regulation C-30 a process that governs the appointment of new principals. 

“I’m very excited,” Science Department Assistant Principal Ms. Babbar said. “I’ve been at Francis Lewis for a very long time. I came here as a teacher in 2007. I had already taught five years prior in a different school. Then I became the Assistant Principal in 2011. “I have a great deal of admiration for this school and this community, and I hope that I’m able to do great things for our school community.” 

Dr. Marmor’s work has been appreciated by students, staff and the administration of FLHS. The legacy of Dr. Marmor is what many students hope to see be carried on to the next administration and beyond at FLHS. 

“I think the new administration, I really hope that they would also connect with our students and the community like how Dr. Marmor did since the way Dr. Marmor approached every single student was very considerate and careful and I hope that the new administration could also do that,” Noh added. 

Dr. Marmor has formed many core memories during his tenure at FLHS. These memories have helped shape career and time at FLHS. One of these memories was watching his first freshman class graduate four years later. 

“One of the things that really sticks out to me the most is standing on the stage at graduation for that first group that I had for all four years and shaking their hand on the stage and knowing that I had seen them develop and grow all the way from the first day of freshman year to the time they were walking across the stage and shaking my hand,” Dr. Marmot added. 

As the day approaches for Dr. Marmor’s retirement reflects on his time at FLHS and the impact the FLHS community has had on him throughout the years. 

“I just want to thank everybody for allowing me the opportunity to work with them and to see you guys grow and develop over time,” Dr. Marmor said. “I’m very proud of everybody that’s here, everybody that’s graduated, and everybody that works here.”