ADMINISTRATION BUILDING 835 OLD CLAIRTON ROAD • JEFFERSON HILLS, PA 15025 PHONE 412.655.8450 • FAX 412.655.9544 www. wjhsd. net est Jefferson Hills WEST JEFFERSON HILLS SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS
On behalf of the WJH School Board of Directors, I am delighted to announce Dr. Michael Ghilani as Superintendent of Schools and the newest member of the West Jefferson Hills School District family. Dr. Ghilani was appointed the new superintendent with a unanimous vote at a special board meeting held on January 31, 2017. He began his duties as superintendent on March 6, 2017 with a 4-year contract running through June 30, 2021.
Dr. Michael Ghilani was previously the Superintendent of the Montour School District. Prior to that, he was an assistant principal and principal of Upper St. Clair High School for 14 years. During that time, Dr. Ghilani was named the PAESSP Pennsylvania Secondary Principal of the Year in 2013. Dr. Ghilani received a bachelor’ s degree from Washington and Jefferson College in Psychology and Education, a master’ s degree from the University of Pittsburgh in School Counseling, a doctorate from Duquesne University in Counseling and Supervision, principal certification from Carnegie Mellon University, and a Letter of Eligibility from Gannon University. He serves on Carnegie Science Center’ s STEM Advisory Board and under his leadership the Montour High School was named the # 3 STEM High School in PA by Shell Oil Company. Dr. Ghilani is also an Adjunct Professor at California University of Pennsylvania where he teaches in the Counselor Education and Administrative Studies programs.
52 West Jefferson Hills
WJH ADMINISTRATORS
MESSAGE FROM THE WJH School Board of Directors
WJH SCHOOL BOARD
On a personal level, Dr. Ghilani has strong ties to our district. His mother, Dorothy Ghilani taught mathematics at TJ High School from 1966 to 1997 and he attended preschool in the district. Dr. Ghilani currently lives in South Fayette with his wife Lauren, a teacher in the Upper St. Clair School District, and their three daughters, Nora, Nina and Natalie.
The Board would like to thank our students, staff and community for their patience and understanding as we moved carefully and diligently through the search process to ensure the best possible fit for our district. The Board interviewed many candidates, many of whom certainly could have done the job, but none emerged as the ideal leader for our district until we met Dr. Ghilani. We are confident and extremely optimistic about Dr. Ghilani’ s appointment as superintendent and look forward to working with him to move our district forward. Welcome to the WJHSD family, Dr. Ghilani!