LMSD Taps New Principals For Middle, Elementary Schools

LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA — The Lower Merion School District announced two new principals will take over at Bala Cynwyd Middle School and Merion Elementary School.

The district said Sarah Stout is the new principal at Bala Cynwyd Middle School. She replaces interim principal Dr. Mark Pellico.

Dr. Toby Albanese is the new principal at Merion Elementary School. He replaces longtime Merion principal Anne Heffron, who retired at the end of the 2018-2019 school year.

Stout served as assistant principal at Welsh Valley Middle School from 2013 until her appointment to BCMS.

She began her career as a 7th and 8th grade social studies teacher in the Cheltenham School District and was an assistant principal in Hatboro-Horsham. She joins veteran BCMS Assistant Principal Jeffrey Hunter and new Assistant Principal Christine Fleming. Fleming replaces Gail Brown, who retired from her position as BCMS Assistant Principal at the end of last year.

Albanese joins Lower Merion from the Wissahickon School District, where he was principal of Shady Grove Elementary School and, prior to that, a middle school assistant principal. Prior to that assignment, he was an assistant middle school principal in Radnor and a junior high school assistant principal in Souderton. He began his career in education as a counselor and history teacher in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Stout and the BCMS Home & School Association will be hosting two events where students and their families will be able to meet their new principal.

They are a Back-to-School Barbecue on Aug. 22 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and a Coffee and Conversation event on Aug. 27 at 7 p.m.

Albanese and the Merion HSA are hosting a Meet the Principal night, where families are invited to enjoy free water ice on Aug. 13 at 6 p.m.