When the Pine Bush Central School District begins the new school year on Sept. 8, it will be without longtime teacher and administrator Donna Geidel for the first time in 33 years. She retired from the position on July 24.

Geidel spent her entire career in education within the district. After graduating from the State University of New York at Oswego, she was an academic intervention services reading teacher at Pakanasink Elementary School. Afterward, she taught second and then first grade at Pakansink before becoming the school’s assistant superintendent for five years. She then spent five years as the principal at Pakansink and then became the district’s assistant superintendent of instruction, filling that role for the last seven years.

“I love children...,” Geidel said. “They just light up the world… In fact when I went to be an administrator that was my biggest regret that I missed working with the children.”

As an administrator, she made every effort to be involved with the students. Geidel attended sporting events and helped plan the Homecoming Dance last year.

During her tenure, she was involved in multiple curriculum initiatives. Among them was the implementation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative her first year as assistant superintendent of instruction. She helped introduce the common core curriculum in grades pre kindergarten through 12 in English/Language Arts and math.

Geidel assisted the board in adopting the Next Generation Learning Standards in social studies and science for grades pre kindergarten through 12. She recently brought in a new literacy series called Fountas and Pinnell reading levels. In this program students progress through the levels as they improve their reading abilities.

“It has leveled readers for elementary students and interactive read alouds and shared readings,” Geidel said regarding the Fountas and Pinnell reading levels. “It transformed the way we taught literacy in the district.”

During her retirement, Geidel aims to plan her daughter’s wedding. She hopes to continue to be involved in education on a part-time basis either as a supervisor of student teachers or as an interim administrator.

Pine Bush has named Amy Brockner, the longtime principal of Circleville Elementary School (CES), as its new assistant superintendent for instruction. She took over the position on July 24.

“We are just thrilled to have Amy Brockner step up as our new assistant superintendent for instruction,” said Superintendent of Schools Tim Mains. “She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this integral position in our district. Amy has an exceptional ability to evaluate instructional programs. She has successfully collaborated on program development, implementation and monitoring, all vital roles for the assistant superintendent for instruction.”

Brockner was a classroom teacher in the Pine Bush and Tri-Valley Central School Districts before serving as assistant principal in the Liberty Central School District for more than a decade. She returned to Pine Bush as assistant principal for one year before taking the helm at CES the following year.

“I’m excited about this new opportunity to work with the entire Pine Bush community in a different capacity as we continue to build upon a strong foundation that enables our students to achieve personal success,” Brockner said.