Sycamore Elementary School Principal Robert Chall, 53, Dies of Heart Attack : Simi Valley: The educator served 27 years as a teacher and administrator. He recently saw his campus narrowly escape closure.

A Simi Valley elementary school principal died of a heart attack in his office Monday, saddening students and colleagues who remembered him as a dedicated, caring educator who touched the lives of thousands of students in 27 years as a teacher and administrator.

Robert Chall, 53, had been principal of Sycamore Elementary School since 1986 and most recently saw his school narrowly escape a recommended closure.

“He was a good educator, a nice man, and he loved children,” said Elroy Peterson, principal of Garden Grove School in Simi Valley and a longtime friend of Chall’s. “It’s a real loss to the school district and to the school.”

Peterson, who will serve as acting principal at Sycamore for the next few days, said that just after noon, the school secretary saw Chall slump over at his desk. There was no one else in the office with him at the time, Peterson said.

Two teachers performed CPR on Chall, but their efforts and those of paramedics who arrived minutes later were unsuccessful, Peterson said. Chall was pronounced dead at 1:10 p.m. at Simi Valley Hospital. The cause was a heart attack, Deputy Coroner Jim Wingate said.

Peterson said students were informed at dismissal time by their teachers. Many wept when they heard the news, he said. “Everybody was affected by it.”

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A dozen principals and administrators from across the district came to the school Monday afternoon to help notify the 370 students and aid them in coping with the news, he said. Letters were also sent home to parents informing them of the death, he said.

Supt. Mary Beth Wolford of the Simi Valley Unified School District said that a crisis-counseling team, including social workers, will be at the school today as well.

Wolford praised Chall for the way he recently dealt with the school’s possible closure, which had been threatened as part of the district’s efforts to trim its budget.

“I thought he handled it very professionally and gave good support to the school and the parents,” she said.

When the school board spared the school last month, students celebrated by draping Chall in toilet paper. The principal called it “one of the happiest days I’ve gone through.”

Wolford said that Chall had a particular interest in working with special-education students. He was slated to take over next year as principal of Garden Grove School, which houses special-education classes and a unit for the orthopedically handicapped.

“He was very excited about that,” Wolford said.

Chall began as a teacher in the district in 1968 and had also served as principal of Abraham Lincoln Elementary School in the early 1980s.

He was a nonsmoker who appeared healthy and enjoyed skiing, Peterson said. He also fashioned himself as the school district’s unofficial chef, flipping burgers as recently as last weekend at a Junior Olympics event, Peterson said.

“I know that he was a proud man, proud about the school,” said Ron Goode, parent of a Sycamore fifth-grader.

Chall is survived by an adult son, Jayson Chall of San Diego, Peterson said.

Mount Sinai Mortuary in Los Angeles is handling funeral arrangements. Peterson said the school’s teachers were discussing plans for a memorial event at school.