Bay Laurel elementary welcomes new principal





 

 

Jacqueline O’Sullivan was announced as the new principal of Bay Laurel Elementary School in Calabasas and introduced by Las Virgenes Unified School District Superintendent Dan Stepenosky at the June 17 Board of Education meeting.

O’Sullivan is replacing Susan Wachtel in the leadership role, who is retiring.

With more than 25 years of education experience, O’Sullivan will start in her new position at the beginning in the 2014-2015 school year in late August.

O’Sullivan is currently the principal at Washington Elementary in the Redondo Beach Unified School District, a position she has held for three years. In this post, she facilitated the implementation of Common Core state standards and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and was responsible for launching a Spanish dual immersion program.

She also managed and supervised construction processes, site budgets, professional development workshops, student enrichment programs, academic intervention and discipline programs and technology acquisition and implementation.

Stepenosky thanked Wachtel for her contributions to Bay Laurel while she was “at the helm of the mighty ship” for five years. He said the district conducted an international search for her replacement and O’Sullivan rose to the top.

In addition to her role as principal, O’Sullivan is an adjunct professor at Concordia University where she teaches courses in educational leadership, curriculum design and instruction, and schools as diverse learning communities.

She has also contributed to various professional educational committees and earned numerous awards, including the honor of Redondo Beach Unified School District’s Administrator of the Year, Association of California School Administrators Principal of the Year and Association of California School Administrators State Principal of the Year.

O’Sullivan launched her career as an elementary school teacher, working in the Los Angeles and Lawndale unified school districts. She also worked in curriculum and staff development, and as assistant principal and then principal at Birney Elementary School in Redondo Beach before accepting her position at Washington Elementary

O’Sullivan earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education/ psychology from State University of New York at Potsdam and a master’s degree in educational administration from Loyola Marymount University, where she graduated with honors.

“Jacqueline O’Sullivan has an outstanding reputation as a student-focused educational leader,” Stepenosky said. “Her extensive experience in Common Core curriculum and professional development made her the ideal choice for us. She has demonstrated tremendous skill in developing her staff into a collaborative team. She will be a tremendous asset to the LVUSD team.”

School Board President Jill Gaines “pinned” O’Sullivan at the meeting, making her appointment official. “We’re very excited to be working with you,” Gaines said.

O’Sullivan was a woman of few words at the meeting. She said she was “beyond thrilled to be part of the Las Virgenes family.”


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