When students at Pottsville Area High School return to school Aug. 27, some might feel a bit of deja vu.
Tiffany L. Reedy, who was principal at D.H.H. Lengel Middle School since 2010, is the new high school principal.
"A lot of the students know me as 'Mrs. Reedy,' " she said last Monday morning.
Jacob Shoener, Pottsville, who will be a sophomore this year, remembers the woman who guided the middle school.
"She was our principal when I was in sixth, seventh and eighth grade, and I think it will be kind of neat to have her as our principal in the high school because she knows us, and that's a good thing. She did a really nice job. She's a good leader who's very intelligent," he said Wednesday.
All three of the schools on the Pottsville Area campus will have new principals this year.
The former assistant principal at Lengel, Raymond R. Yost, is taking over Reedy's former office. With Jeffrey S. Zwiebel, the former principal at John S. Clarke Elementary Center, becoming district superintendent in April, Jared A. Gerace has been hired as elementary principal.
"I'm confident in the leaders that we hired," Zwiebel said. "I believe they all have the same philosophy as I do; that is, we want to lead this school district into the future."
In a meeting with Zwiebel last Monday, the three new principals discussed their goals for the new school year. In particular, Zwiebel encouraged them to work with teachers and students to meet the goals of the federal "No Child Left Behind" and strive to score well on state-standardized tests.
"Our biggest challenge is our state assessments and just improving the overall achievement level by our students, and responding to the changes the state is making regarding those tests as they come along," Reedy said.
The principals are also setting up their offices on their new turfs.
Pottsville Area High School includes grades 9 through 12 and serves an average of 1,100 students, Zwiebel said.
Reedy is no stranger to the high school. She previously worked there as a teacher and as assistant principal.
"For me it's almost like going home. I'm new to the job, but not new to the building," she said. "I've been there for the bulk of my career. As a result, I feel that I know the faculty pretty well. I dealt with every grade level in the high school as a teacher, and I was assistant principal at the high school for one year so I saw how the operation ran.
"Since I was principal at the middle school, I got to see how the middle school was run. And even thought we're in the same district, the high school and the middle school have little interaction with each other. So it was nice to be there for three years to see the building that feeds into the high school. It gave me a good perspective, to see how they fit together. And for the most part and a lot of students I'll have in the high school now have been our students at the middle school," Reedy said.
"I'm in a similar situation," Yost said. "I taught in the Lengle Middle School for nine years, then was assistant principal for three years. So I'm familiar with the building and the faculty and I'm excited.
"But now there's more responsibility, the pressures of making sure the building's ready to go for the start of the school year. As the assistant principal, you're dealing more with the children. As principal, you're dealing a lot more with faculty and the preparation of schedules," Yost said.
D.H.H. Lengel Middle School includes grades 5 to 8 and serves an average 850 students, according to Zwiebel.
John S. Clarke Elementary includes grades K through 4 and serves an average of 900 to 1,000 students, according to Zwiebel.
Gerace is new to Pottsville Area. He was previously the assistant elementary school principal at Blue Mountain Elementary East.
"I'm very excited to be working with the faculty at John S. Clarke Elementary and I'm excited to work in this district, which has such a good tradition," Gerace said.
Tiffany L. Reedy
Education: Schuylkill Haven Area High School, 1990; bachelor's degree in political science with a minor in business, Penn State University, 1994; bachelor's degree in secondary education, social studies, Bloomsburg University, 1999; master's degree in education, Wilkes University, 2005; principal certificate, Alvernia University, 2007
Employment: Full-time history and government teacher, Pottsville Area High School, 1999 to 2008; assistant principal, Pottsville Area High School, 2008-2009 school year; principal, Pottsville Area D.H.H. Lengel Middle School, 2009 to 2012.
Raymond R. Yost
Education: Pottsville Area High School, 1994; bachelor's degree in history, Susquehanna University, 1998; master's in special education, Bloomsburg University, 2001; administrator certification, Alvernia University, 2008
Employment: Teacher, North Schuylkill Ashland Area Elementary, 2001; learning support teacher, Pottsville Area D.H.H. Lengel Middle School, 2002 to 2009; assistant principal, D.H.H. Lengel, 2009 to 2012
Jared A. Gerace
Education: Nativity BVM High School, 1994; associate degree in building construction technology, Pennsylvania College of Technology, 1996; bachelor's degree in technology education/industrial arts, Millersville University, 1999; master's in teaching and curriculum, Penn State, Harrisburg, 2003; currently studying to earn an educational doctorate in education administration at Immaculata University
Employment: Technology/industrial arts teacher, Panther Valley Middle School, 1999; technology/industrial arts teacher, Blue Mountain Middle School, 2000 to 2008; assistant elementary school principal, Blue Mountain Elementary East, 2008 to May 2012