The City School District of Albany Board of Education appointed veteran district educator Jennifer Houlihan as the new assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at its meeting Thursday night, elevating her from the interim role in which she has served since October.
Houlihan, previously the district's secondary instructional supervisor for ELA, reading and library media, now permanently replaces Karen Bechdol, who retired in December.
"As an educator who has spent my entire career in this district, it has always been my goal to be in the position where I can be of most service to our students and this community," Houlihan said. "I am deeply humbled to have been selected for this particular role and profoundly grateful for a process that required me to authentically earn the chance to lead in this new capacity.
"I intend to bring the same values, work ethic and resilience forward with a resolve deepened by the chance to further support my amazing colleagues in service to our amazing kids."
The district is continuing its process to fill the open assistant superintendent for secondary instruction position. Ken Cioffi is serving in that role on an interim basis. The district also will initiate a process to fill Houlihan's previous instructional supervisor position on a permanent basis. Please watch for more information about those positions.
Houlihan started her career in Albany in 2001 as a long-term substitute at both the former Harriet Gibbons High School and William S. Hackett Middle School. She was hired as a full-time English teacher at Harriet Gibbons the following year.
She transferred to Albany High School in 2006, where she taught English until she became an instructional coach in 2012.
In 2013, she was appointed principal of Albany High’s Leadership Academy, and she moved to her instructional supervisor position in 2016.
Houlihan earned a bachelor’s from Binghamton University, where she double-majored in literature and rhetoric, and political science. She went on to earn a master’s in English from Rhode Island College and holds school district and school building leadership certifications from The College of Saint Rose.
