MANCHESTER — If anything is needed to survive as a principal in Manchester schools, it is respect, with a pinch or two of love thrown in at critical moments.

Just ask Xitlali Marroquin, an eighth grader at McLaughlin Middle School.

“He has to keep everybody on the same page; he can't let things get out of control. He's the main boss,” she said about McLaughlin Principal Barry Albert.

She quickly added that Albert earns that control by respecting students.

Or ask students at Beech Street School, where “be respectful” is the first of the four dictates laid down by Principal Elinor Murphy, followed by “be responsible, be careful and be safe.”

“Miss Murphy brought out the best of our ability,” said Yaritz Guardado, a Beech Street fifth grader. “She tells us what's right, to keep on doing better, to focus on what we do, and to have fun.”

Two of the longest-tenured — and arguably most respected — principals in Manchester retire this month. Albert leaves McLaughlin after 13 years on the job, as the one and only principal at the city's newest school.

Murphy leaves after 11 years, only the third principal to lead Beech Street, all three having served double-digit tenures.

“This is my passion, my love,” said Murphy, who nonetheless said it is time for her to go.

Murphy's 630-student school has a reputation as the most difficult in the district. Ninety-four percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunches. Interior walls are lacking, so bookcases and shelves serve as makeshift classroom dividers.

Four trailers are used for classrooms. While the school didn't make Adequate Yearly Progress this past year, it did meet requirements for attendance and test participation.

But the outside reputation of the school, Murphy said, is starkly different from reality. Students sit attentively in the classrooms. They note that Murphy constantly encourages them to read, even to their pillow at night.

She kissed a student's pet hamster to fulfill a dare related to a 1 million word reading challenge.

“I'm very sad. I hope she comes and visits,” said third grader Naido Mambo, 9, who came to Beech Street School from Kenya.

Murphy said she is proud of the academic and recreational after-school programs that keep the school open until 5 p.m. She also is impressed with parents. They helped put on a pot-luck International Night. One volunteered to run the box-top program for the school. Nearly all walk the children to and from school.

She said handing out six layoff notices was one of the most difficult things she had to do this year.

At McLaughlin, Albert said middle school has been his favorite, despite the early adolescent behavior that continually stalks McLaughlin hallways.

“The kids are challenging, but they're fun. They want to learn, but they'll tell you they don't,” he said.

He said a middle school principal needs patience, has to listen and can't be judgmental. “If you give them respect, you usually get it back tenfold,” he said.

Albert works bus duty every morning; it helps him know whether it will be a good day or bad day. And he frequently pops into classrooms. He knows his eighth graders inside and out, he said.

“He's always there for everybody,” said Giacomo Tuttobene, an eighth grader. He said a trip to Albert's office can be scary, and he's been yelled at a few times.

But he credits Albert for turning him around. And he cherishes a pin with a cougar, the school mascot, that Albert gave him.

Albert, who is 65, said he was considering retirement when the proposed budget cuts — the worst he's seen in Manchester — were announced. That helped make up his mind.

“When I saw this coming, I thought 'My God, it's going to be a difficult year,'” he said. “We're going to lose so much. It's going to take years to get it back.”