POTTSTOWN PA – She’s been an assistant principal and a principal at two different middle schools in Ohio, handled human resources issues for a Bucks County school district, served as an assistant to a university dean, and began her career as a caseworker for mentally ill adults.

Pottsgrove’s new acting superintendent, Shellie A. Feola (left), sits with school director Nancy Landes during a February 2011 board meeting

On Tuesday (Sept. 25, 2012), in the next phase of her professional life, Shellie A. Feola – who has been assistant superintendent in the Pottsgrove School District since May 2007 – was appointed as its acting superintendent.

Feola will fill the vacancy left by Dr. Bradley Landis, who has officially tendered his letter of retirement. He is moving to become the assistant executive director of instruction for the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit in Norristown.

Pottsgrove school board President Scott Fulmer said Feola’s interim assignment, which is limited by state law to no more than a year in length, was made “in the interest of continuity in the district” and “will give us some time to determine our best path for transition planning.”

It’s too early to say when, or from where, board members will seek to permanently fill the superintendent’s job. In Landis’ case, they’ve shown a past willingness to promote from within the district, and they lavished praise on both Landis and Feola when each agreed earlier this year to new five-year employment contracts.

Feola’s informal career summary, provided Thursday (Sept. 27) to The Post, offers a glimpse of the depth of her professional experience to date.

She worked in 1997 and 1998 as assistant principal of the Davey Middle School in the Kent (OH) City School District, and then from 1998 through 2004 as principal of the Willets Middle School in the Brunswick (OH) City School District. It was at Willets, according to Ohio Department of Education records, that Feola successfully grappled with similar problems of adequate yearly progress in student reading and math proficiency that continue to face Pottsgrove.

From June 2004 until her arrival in 2007 as Pottsgrove’s assistant superintendent, Feola was director of human resources in the Pennridge (PA) School District. There, among many duties, she was that district’s labor negotiations chairperson and also handled employee development and training programs like those created in Pottsgrove during her tenure so far.

Feola earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, completed her master’s in educational leadership (administration) at Florida Atlantic University, and received her superintendent certification from the University of Akron, where she also undertook doctoral coursework in educational administration.

While gaining her education, Feola worked in 1988 and 1989 at Nova University Community Mental Health Center in Florida as a caseworker for chronically mentally ill adults, and during 1996 and 1997 as an assistant to the dean of graduate studies at the University of Akron.

Although she talks little about it publicly, Feola also is involved in helping children from socially and economically challenged families in Montgomery County. She has volunteered as a board member, and currently serves as president, of Camp Rainbow Inc. in Schwenksville. It annually provides several weeks of physically and emotionally safe overnight camping experiences to kids between the ages of 7 and 16.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Sept. 25 meeting):

• Acting Superintendent Taps Experience From FL, OH, PA
• Pottsgrove Names Shellie Feola As Acting Superintendent