AllentownSchool District

Allentown School District Selects Four New Elementary Principals; Additional Leadership Changes

Allentown School District Selects Four New Elementary Principals; Additional Leadership Changes
Posted on 07/25/2019
The Allentown School District is excited to announce several strategic leadership changes that promote long time ASD employees and create dynamic, highly qualified administrative teams at all levels. 

Building level leadership who will temporarily join the administrative team in the central office include Jennifer Bryant, as the Acting Director of Literacy and Tiffany Polek as the Acting Director of Student Services.

“Ensuring that we have talented and dedicated leaders in both the Literacy and Student Services departments to kick off the school year is crucial to the academic success of our students,” continued Parker. “As a district, we are working towards ensuring that all students are reading on grade level by grade 3, while also meeting the social and emotional needs of all students.”


Jennifer Bryant spent a portion of last year serving as the acting principal of McKinley. In addition to her classroom experience, she has spent time as a Supervisor of Instruction at Trexler Middle School and as the assistant principal at Mosser Elementary.  Her literacy expertise has been an asset in supporting both students and staff.

Tiffany Polek has been the principal of Mosser for the last six years. She began her career as a paraprofessional and was a long-time teacher in ASD before moving to administration. Polek is a graduate of William Allen High School and a resident of Allentown. She is passionate about helping students grow and develop through high quality educational and support programs.

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At the elementary level, ASD welcomes four new leaders including: Daria Custer at McKinley Elementary School, Jeffery Fries at Muhlenberg Elementary School, Deanna Maguire at Mosser Elementary, and Shannin Peters at Roosevelt Elementary School.

Daria Custer will move into the open principal position at McKinley Elementary. She is a William Allen High School graduate who began her journey in education as a middle school art teacher in ASD. Custer gained administrative experience at South Mountain Middle School before joining the team at Harrison Morton Middle School in 2012.

Jeffery Fries previously served in the Allentown School District in a number of roles including teacher, principal and administrator. Since 2013, he gained additional experience in the Upper Perkiomen and Exeter Township school districts. Fries is enthusiastic about his to return to ASD and looks forward to developing relationships and engaging all members of the Muhlenberg community.  

Deanna Maguire will serve as acting principal at Mosser Elementary. Maguire has taught at a number of ASD elementary schools and joined the leadership team at Union Terrace Elementary School in 2017. Maguire is a proud graduate of William Allen High School and instills Canary Pride in all the students she supports, finding creative ways to help them reach their full potential.

Shannin Peters has been the assistant principal at Ramos Elementary since 2015 and has spent her entire teaching career in ASD. Peters is a Dieruff High School graduate, former Husky cheerleader and active member of the theatre department.  She is eager to return to Roosevelt Elementary, where she spent several years as a third-grade teacher.

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Patrick McNulty, current Dieruff assistant principal, will now lead the team at Harrison Morton Middle School. McNulty brings an east side connection to HMMS and has been at DHS since 2011. He also served as Dean of Students at Mosser Elementary. McNulty returns to the middle school setting where he began his teaching career in ASD many years ago.

“In a District as large as Allentown, it is exciting to see so many of our own staff thrive internally and welcome back educators who have decided to return to the district as we move forward with a renewed commitment to excellence for our students,” said Superintendent Thomas Parker. “One of the goals outlined in ASD’s Strategic Framework includes calibrating leadership and learning at all levels – that includes creating passionate leadership teams that will successfully collaborate and innovate to best meet the needs of all students.”

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