IN Ross Township Fall 2019 | Page 30

Administration moves! NHSD welcomes new (and familiar) faces! T he North Hills School District central and building administrations will look a little different when students return to the classroom later this month. Former North Hills High School Principal Dr. Beth E. Williams takes over as assistant superintendent, replacing Dr. Jeff Taylor who was hired as superintendent of the Norwin School District. Dr. Williams served as principal of the high school for the last four years. She joined the district in 2006 when she was hired as assistant principal of North Hills Middle School. She served as principal of Highcliff Elementary School from 2009 to 2011 before returning to the middle school where she was principal until 2015. Longtime McIntyre Elementary School Principal Amy Mathieu is now the district’s director of elementary education. Mathieu served as McIntyre’s principal since she was hired by the district in 1998. In her new role, she will oversee all aspects of the elementary instructional program and supervise the principals and professional staff at the district’s four elementary schools. Kevin McKiernan joins the district as principal of North Hills High School. McKiernan served as principal of West Allegheny High School for the last two years. Previously, he was West Allegheny High School’s academic principal from 2015 to 2017 and assistant principal from 2009 to 2015. McKiernan has two new assistant principals for 2019-20. Hanna Mincemoyer joins the North Hills School District from Sewickley Academy where she taught honors algebra and geometry and served as House Cavalier Dean. She will serve as assistant principal of the high school for students with last names A-M. John Lesjack will serve as assistant principal of the high school for students with last names L-K. He joins North Hills from the Brookville Area School District where he spent the last three years as assistant principal of the district’s four buildings. Patrick Weber, former assistant principal at the high school, is the district’s new director of athletics. Weber joined the district as a physical education teacher at Highcliff Elementary School in 2011. He was promoted to high school assistant principal in 2015. Weber replaces Amy Scheuneman who was hired by the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL). Michelle Spingola, the district’s assistant elementary school principal since 2017, is now principal of McIntyre Elementary School. Spingola joined the district as a guidance counselor in 2006 and worked at various district buildings including the middle school and Ross Elementary prior to her appointment as assistant elementary principal. Dr. Jessica Sapsara is North Hills’ new assistant elementary school principal. She joins the district from neighboring Shaler Area School District where she was a teacher and head of the seventh and eighth grade mathematics department for the last six years. Dr. Sapsara’s office is at McIntyre but she will split her time across the district’s four elementary schools. Congratulations to the Class of 2019! N orth Hills High School awarded 334 diplomas last year. Of those, more than 44 percent graduated Cum Laude or better with a GPA of 3.5 or above. Forty-three students graduated Summa Cum Laude (4.0 or higher), 46 graduated Magna Cum Laude (3.75-3.99) and 58 graduated Cum Laude (3.5-3.74). More than 87 percent will be continuing their education beyond high school. Of those, 65% will be attending a 4-year college or university. The other 35 percent or about 97 students will be entering a 2-year program or technical school. The total scholarship money awarded to the class of 2019 exceeded $4.5 million 28 ROSS TOWNSHIP this year, 60 percent more than last year’s class. Sixteen students are enrolling in the military post-graduation (5 Army, 1 Navy, 4 Marines, 2 ROTC Army, 1 ROTC Navy, 1 ROTC Air Force, 1 U.S Military Academy, 1 Naval Academy) and 16 students will be playing a collegiate sport. Congratulations to the class of 2019! We wish you all the best in your future endeavors! 2019 commencement exercises were held at Martorelli Stadium on May 31, 2019. 16 NORTH HILLS GRADS PLAYING COLLEGIATE SPORTS Sixteen members of the Class of 2019 are playing collegiate sports this fall. The student-athletes were recognized during a reception in May where attendees heard from then-North Hills Director of Athletics Amy Scheuneman, incoming Director of Athletics Patrick Weber and 2018 North Hills grad turned Edinboro University lacrosse player Samantha Welsh who offered tips and words of advice about being a collegiate athlete.