Upper St. Clair School District Superintendent Retiring

UPPER ST. CLAIR, PA - After a public education career spanning nearly 40 years and more than a decade at the helm of the Upper St. Clair School District, superintendent Patrick O’Toole will retire at the end of June.

“It has been the greatest honor of my career to serve the community of Upper St. Clair,” said O’Toole, a Cranberry resident who has been superintendent since 2007. “I never imagined having this opportunity to work with such talented educational leaders, faculty, support staff and students.”

Under O’Toole’s leadership, the district has received national acclaim for several innovate programs. In 2013, the district was recognized with the National School Boards Association Magna Award for its Student Leadership Academy. The district earned another Magna Award – this time a Grand Prize Winner – in 2017 for SHOP@USC, a student-run business that’s a collaboration between students with significant disabilities and their same age peers without disabilities.

In 2017, Upper St. Clair High School was named one of only 25 schools nationwide to be selected as a national model of Innovative Successful Practices by the Successful Practices Network and AASA, The School Superintendents Association. The high school ranks among the top high schools in the nation according to U.S. News & World Report’s list of 2017 Best High Schools. For the second year in a row, Upper St. Clair School District was named among the nation’s 2017 Best Communities for Music Education by the NAMM Foundation.

O’Toole, who also led the renovation of Boyce and Fort Couch middle schools and the current capital project effort, was praised by school board president Amy Billerbeck.

“Dr. O’Toole often shares how fortunate he is to work at Upper St. Clair School District; in fact, it is our community, our staff, our school board and, most importantly, our students who have been fortunate to have benefited from his leadership for more than a decade,” Billerbeck said in a release. “He has led Upper St. Clair with vision, integrity, and professionalism. We wish him well in his retirement.”

Billerbeck said the board already has begun the work of evaluating a successor to O’Toole and hopes to appoint the next superintendent early this spring.

O’Toole previously served as superintendent in the South Butler County and Shenango Area school districts. He also has served as a high school principal, assistant high school principal and elementary teacher.

A Clarion University of Pennsylvania graduate, O’Toole holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. He earned a master’s degree in educational administration and a doctorate in administration and policy studies from the University of Pittsburgh. In 2016, Clarion University honored him with its Distinguished Alumni Award.

Photo via Upper St. Clair School District.