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Keary Pender was appointed new Assistant Principal of Kelley School by the Newark Board of Education August 31st.
Having served as Principal of the Pre-K through first grade Victor Early Childhood School this last school year, and as Assistant Principal two years before that of the Pre-K through fifth grade Penn Yan Elementary School, Pender will replace Margo Lacure at Kelley.
Lacure left the AP position at the end of July to become the Administrative Multi-Tiered Support Services (MTSS)/Community Schools Coordinator for the Phelps Clifton Springs School District.
In an introductory letter to Kelley School staff after her hiring was announced earlier this week, Pender said she was “grateful to be chosen as your new AP.”
“I LOVED being an Assistant Principal and am very excited to return to that role. Everyone has been so kind and welcoming and I’m excited to be coming to work in Newark. I can’t tell you how many wonderful things I have heard from other educators about the Newark Central School District,” she said.
“In all three interview rounds, committee members were impressed by Keary's experiences and skill sets,” Principal Jeff Hamelinck said. “Together we look forward to leveraging the strong systems and structures that Kelley School has in place. The gifts and talents Keary brings to our district will be valuable as we focus on targeted instruction, specially designed instruction, meeting student Social Emotional Learning (SEL) needs and partnering with families and our community to become the best version of ourselves.”
"We are lucky to have hired someone with such vast and expansive experience for this role,” said Superintendent Susan Hasenauer. “It was evident in the interview process that her skill set was reflective of the needs at the Kelley School and I am confident that she will hit the ground running and not miss a beat.”
Prior to the last three years, Pender worked as a K-12 Diagnostic and Instructional Specialist for one year in the Webster Central School District. Before that, she worked for 18 years in Webster Elementary schools as both a Speech Language Pathologist and Lead Teacher.
During that time, Pender says she also brought her “passion for literacy to the community as a literacy consultant and program director, working first with the Monroe County Library System and later with GiGiʼs Playhouse Down Syndrome Achievement Center in Rochester
She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Communicative Disorders and Science and her Master of Arts degree in Speech Pathology from SUNY Geneseo, and her Administrative Certificate from the University of Rochester Warner School of Education.
Pender has two sons, Owen, 17, an Ohio State University freshman, and Hudson,14, who will be a freshman at Victor High School in September.