After less than a year at the helm of Saucon Valley High School, principal Beth Guarriello is heading back to Southern Lehigh High School–where she was formerly employed as a ninth and tenth grade assistant principal–to take charge of that school.
Saucon Valley High School Principal Beth Guarriello (FILE PHOTO)
The Southern Lehigh School Board meeting agenda for Monday, April 23 lists Guarriello’s appointment as a voting matter under the Personnel section of the agenda.
If approved, Guarriello will earn an annual salary of $126,000, with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2018, per the agenda.
She will fill the position due to the resignation of longtime Southern Lehigh High School principal Christine Siegfried, the agenda indicates.
“I will be here at Saucon through the end of June,” Guarriello said in an email. “It has been my pleasure and my honor to work here this year. The staff and the students are absolutely wonderful and everyone has been very welcoming to me.”
“Please know that I will continue to give 110 percent to SVHS until my last day. I cannot work any other way, and the staff and students deserve that,” she added.
Guarriello noted the “tremendously dedicated and outstanding faculty and support staff (at Saucon Valley)” who she said warmly welcomed her when she arrived almost a year ago.
“I hope the entire community realizes what a caring, expert staff they have to help shape the minds and hearts of the children entrusted to their care,” she said. “I will miss the very special people here at Saucon.”
In welcoming her to Saucon Valley in May 2017, former school district Superintendent Monica McHale-Small noted that Guarriello–who also formerly worked as an assistant principal at Bethlehem’s Liberty High School–was highly qualified for the position of high school principal.
“Mrs. Guarriello has had a wide variety of experiences including teacher supervision and improvement, creation and implementation of school-wide professional development; curriculum development, writing and articulation; master schedule and enrichment period scheduling; test administration, student discipline and guidance coordination,” McHale-Small said at the time.
“My passion for education and for the success of all students has been shaped over the past 28 years as a science teacher, assistant principal, and mother of three grown children,” Guarriello states in her welcome message on the Saucon Valley School District website.
A request for comment on Guarriello’s decision from Saucon Valley Superintendent Dr. Craig Butler last week has not received a response.
Monday’s Southern Lehigh School Board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the board room at Southern Lehigh High School, 5775 Main St., Center Valley.
The next Saucon Valley School Board meeting will be held Tuesday, April 24 at 7 p.m. in the high school Audion room. Meetings are also livestreamed on YouTube.
View the current board agenda posted on the Saucon Valley School District website here.
I’ll never understand the inner workings (read: musical chairs) of the highest levels of upper management in school districts that appear to be relatively free of “inner-city” issues (e.g. Allentown). The rubber meets the road IN THE CLASSROOM and teacher’s pay is debatably low and yet that population seems rather stable despite the daily issues they face every day. I wish I could appreciate the contributions of Superintendents and Principals to our educational system that affords these positions the salaries that they garner…and better understand why it seems that their loyalty to a district doesn’t mimic the longevity of the folks in the trenches. Not sure that I was able to articulate my total discontent within this post. Also, to be honest, maybe my perceptions/assumptions are flawed…even though I am married to a woman who taught for 20+ years.