As the calendar page turns to 2025, a different page will begin to turn toward a new chapter at McConnellsville Elementary School, and for its principal, Heidi Allen. Allen has announced that at the end of March, she will be leaving McConnellsville for a new role as the Director of Special Education in the East Syracuse-Minoa School District. Her appointment was recently finalized at the ESM Board of Education’s December Meeting.
Allen is departing after four years at McConnellsville for professional and personal reasons.
Professionally, she wants to achieve a career goal of working in a District-office level role in the Syracuse area, one in which she can draw on her years of experience as an administrator, and from her prior trade as a speech language pathologist to help children in need of high-level support.
Personally, her youngest child recently finished high school, which brings up the possibility of downsizing at home, and she was interested in moving to the Syracuse area to be closer to her husband’s family, which resides primarily in Fayetteville.
To do it all, she’s had to make some difficult choices. For starters, leaving mid-year was a challenge, but was a choice she feels is necessary for all parties involved. It will give the District an opportunity to integrate an interim replacement and evaluate its permanent options, while Allen will have the opportunity to step in for ESM’s interim director and learn the ropes while school is still in session.
Then, there’s the bittersweet feeling of leaving the very District she attended school in, and the McConnellsville Elementary School community that shaped her vision of working with children. Allen attended McConnellsville in its original building, and while the building has changed, bringing this chapter of her career full circle is a milestone not lost on her.
“It’s been an incredible opportunity to be able to come back home to Camden, and especially McConnellsville,” Allen said. “This is where I grew up and went to school, and I got to work with a lot of teachers that I grew up with throughout the district. This is where I got my roots, and the place that made me the person I am.”
It’s safe to say that in four years, she has been part of a transformative era in McConnellsville Elementary’s storied history, and in building district-wide programming. She has done so while overcoming some of the lingering pandemic closure effects from very early in her administration.
Under Allen’s leadership:
McConnellsville implemented school-wide culture and climate programming through Capturing Kids’ Hearts, and was selected as a 2023-24 National Showcase School by the organization. They are currently pursuing those honors for a second consecutive year.
McConnellsville has adopted new curriculum approaches that include an increase in targeted interventions and the use of the six step lesson plan. From 2023 to 2024, that has resulted in a significant increase in competency across the board in the subject areas of mathematics, reading, and ELA. As an example, the percentage of at-or-above grade level performance in mathematics among second graders rose by 39 percent from year-to-year. There was also a significant 15 percent increase in mathematics among first graders. Representatives from other school districts have come to observe their practices.
15 new teachers were hired at McConnellsville Elementary, representing the majority of the school’s faculty.
Allen created cohesive teams of teachers with a veteran “Anchor Teacher” mentoring the new teachers in the building, while also building continuity between the primary and intermediate grades.
The Brain Gain Institute and Kindergarten Boot Camp programs were created as an extension of the academic year to prepare students with foundational skill building for the following grade level. Allen supervised the programs from their inception.
Allen has worked closely with her teachers and her intervention team to build balanced class lists.
McConnellsville now houses expanded Pre-K programming including special education and full-day classrooms.
An increased emphasis on the Multi Tiered System of Supports framework has brought about more targeted student interventions. In some cases, these plans have been successful in bringing students from special education back into the general education cohort.
With the District’s support, Allen was a featured speaker at the National Association of Early Childhood Educators’ Conference in Anaheim, California. And for Allen, none of it would be possible without the team surrounding her, and their steadfast commitment to putting the children in their care front and center.
“I always tell my team, I’m proud to lead by their side,” Allen said. “I’m super proud of the way we all work in lockstep here. We have a saying here that ‘This is how WE do it.’, and everyone really follows that. We have a way that we work with our students, a way we treat each other, and a way we work with our families.”
Members of the District’s leadership team have certainly taken notice of the changes Allen has worked to implement.
“Mrs. Allen has certainly made the most of her time with us here in the Camden Central School District,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ravo Root said. “Between boosting our early learning programs, establishing a nationally-recognized school culture and climate with the Capturing Kids’ Hearts model, and demonstrating a positive example each day for her staff and students, she has done so much for our District and the McConnellsville community. I wish her the absolute best, and my friends and colleagues at ESM will soon learn how great she will be in this next chapter.”
“Mrs. Allen and I arrived in the District around the same time, and her vision for our kids was crystal clear from the very beginning,” Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Jason P. Evangelist said. “Her ability to support and lead people forward is special, and she inspires our students to do their best every day. She’s going to be a tremendous addition in her new role. We will miss her, and know she will do great for the students and families of ESM.”
While a departure date has been established, Allen wants to make it perfectly clear that she is not slowing down until the day she walks out of the building for the final time as principal. She will be working to fill anticipated vacancies for two retiring teachers, completing the CKH National Showcase School process, and keeping the building moving toward her long-term vision.
"I’m here until I'm not here. I will keep working and moving this building forward,” she said.
As for her successor, she offered the following advice that has been fundamental to her own tenure.
“If you always put kids first and give everyone on your team a voice, it almost always lends itself to making the best decision overall for the entire organization. And also, be where your feet are. Be all in, and if you’re not, take care of yourself so that you can be. I think that’s really important, and it’s how we’ve grown as a building and as a team. We all give each other the same respect.”
Allen's last day will be March 28th, 2025. A process to identify an interim principal for the remainder of the school year will begin shortly.