Alumni Profiles

Dr. Bridget O’Connell has been the Superintendent of Palisades School District since 2011; she served as the Assistant Superintendent responsible for Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction prior to assuming the Superintendent’s position.  The school district she leads covers one-hundred square miles and is mainly a rural area encompassing approximately 9,000 households.  Student achievement remains an important goal for Dr. O’Connell and the Palisades School District.  To that end, Dr. O’Connell has led the charge to offer more flexible scheduling for students through providing on line course options as part of the district’s rigorous curriculum.  Under her stewardship, student achievement has continued to surpass benchmarks set for public schools by the state of Pennsylvania and the district’s standardized test scores remain high.  Preparing students for their future, whether they attend a post-secondary institution, enter the military or become part of the workforce is the mission of the district under Bridget’s leadership.

Also, in her position as Superintendent, Dr. O’Connell fosters community outreach by meeting regularly with area business leaders, students and parents, local police, firefighters, and emergency responders, township supervisors, local legislators and other stakeholders in the community.  Sharing what is happening in the Palisades schools is an important part of building partnerships and maintaining relationships to promote leadership opportunities for students.

Dr. O’Connell has received numerous awards during her tenure as Superintendent.  Most recently, she was awarded both the Leadership Excellence Award and the 2013 Real Heroes Award by the Red Cross for her commitment to providing food and shelter to the residents of Palisades during Hurricane Sandy.  She has also received the Blended Schools Leadership Award by the Pennsylvania Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development for her leadership in providing online courses and the Cooperative Leadership Award by the National School Development Council.

Dr. O’Connell continues her affiliation with Lehigh University through serving as the 1995 Class Correspondent and teaching as an adjunct professor in the College of Education.

My love of teaching began in early elementary school. As a third grader, I wanted to become a teacher and inspire children to love learning, just as my own teacher had done for me.

In 2007, I received a BA in Sociology with a minor in Spanish from Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA. Upon graduation, I worked as a Residential Child Care Counselor for KidsPeace with children experiencing emotional and behavioral difficulties, where I provide direct supervision and care to behaviorally and emotionally disturbed youth in a residential setting, facilitated therapeutic groups/meetings, provided individual counseling, assisted in crisis management, taught basic life skills, social skills, anger management skills, and conflict resolution skills, and collaborated with members of the treatment team in developing individualized treatment plans.

In 2011, I became a teacher at Bethlehem Christian School and had the opportunity to teach 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. In that role, I created engaging lessons for my students, strove to build relationships with my students, and challenged them to think critically about the world around them. Additionally, I collaborated with teachers to develop weekly chapel services, campus-wide events, and both academic and behavioral interventions for students.

In 2013, I became a teaching associate at Centennial School of Lehigh University within the Middle School Program. Centennial School serves children and youth with educational disabilities including emotional disturbance and autism. In this position, I collaborate with members of the middle school team to implement a school-wide positive behavior support system which fosters a positive, safe school environment for all students, provide direct instruction of academic materials to students through engaging and standard-aligned lessons, regularly monitor student academic and behavioral performance, and communicate with families and members of the IEP team regarding student progress on their individualized goals.