“Tomorrow evening, Tuesday, January 8, I will enthusiastically recommend that the Board of Education appoint Julia S. Chung as our District’s next assistant superintendent for pupil personnel services.

Ms. Chung, currently the director of pupil personnel services for the Rye City School District, possesses vast and impressive experience as an educator that make her a strong match to lead the Pupil Personnel Department of the Pelham Public Schools. Ms. Chung has held her current position since 2015 when she was promoted after serving as the department’s assistant director for two years. Prior to that, she was assistant principal of Rye High School for five years following a successful career as an assistant principal, teacher and math coach in Los Angeles California. She holds a M.A. in Educational Administration Leadership from California State University and a B.S. in Mathematics with a specialization in Statistics from the University of California, Irvine. Additionally, she is currently completing a doctorate in Educational Leadership at Manhattanville College.

Throughout her career, Ms. Chung has demonstrated a commitment to transparency and building meaningful relationships with parents, staff and the students she serves. In her current position, Ms. Chung collaborated with teachers and clinicians across all grade levels to develop the continuum of K-12 special education programs and address individual student needs. She also worked directly with the District’s special education parent group on a monthly basis to address concerns and led a task force that conducted a comprehensive review of the District’s services. As assistant director, Ms. Chung created IEP/504 writing guidelines and responsibilities, helping to streamline initial, annual, and re-evaluation processes and ensure consistency. She also developed a procedure to audit related services to maximize contact time and increase accountability. With leadership experience spanning both special and general education, Ms. Chung is an outstanding match to provide leadership for our special education department, oversee our counseling services, and expand our efforts on social-emotional wellness.

My recommendation of Ms. Chung is the culmination of nearly a year-long process to fill the assistant superintendent position. This fall, the District retained Hazard, Young, and Attea to assist with the search. The firm held several focus groups with key constituencies, including parents, special education staff, teachers, administrators and Board of Education members, which led to development of a leadership profile that guided the recruitment and screening process.

In addition to interviews with myself, Dr. Steven Garcia, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and personnel, and Jim Hricay, assistant superintendent for business, Ms. Chung also met with a representative group of parents, teachers, administrators and special education staff prior to being interviewed by the full Board of Education.

Throughout the entire interview process, Ms. Chung’s strong communication skills, dedication to meeting the needs of all learners, and overall breadth of experience shined, made it clear that she is an outstanding fit to lead the pupil personnel services department of the Pelham Public Schools.

Pending her formal appointment Tuesday night, I hope you will join me in welcoming Ms. Chung to the Pelham Public Schools community. A community meet and greet is being planned and details will be forthcoming shortly.”