Susquehannock Hires a New Dean Of Students

New Dean of Students Jennifer Smith walks into Susquehannock High School filled with excitement and a smile.

Smith started at the high school around the end of the first marking period, taking the place of former assistant principal Melissa Bell.

Before starting at Susquehannock, Smith worked at York Tech where she was very involved with her students.

“I worked at York Tech for 19 years…,” Smith said. “I was the social studies department chair. I ran summer school. I ran an organization called The Hub, which was basically just like this room where we kept everything students need.”

Smith has been a welcome addition to Susquehannock.

Principal Kevin Molin described important traits that she has that make Smith a good fit for the dean of students position.

“…based on conversations and interviews with her, it was obvious that she loves working with kids, which is huge,” Molin said. “She has the ability to build relationships with adults and students, which is also another big piece to that.”

Nick DeLuca, a chemistry teacher at Susquehannock, also worked with Smith at York Tech and took graduate classes with her.

DeLuca knew she would be a great assistant principal because of conversations they had together and time they have spent together.

“[Taking graduate classes with her] kind of showed me just how her brain works in terms of things like student discipline and how to work with the community and parents,” DeLuca said.

Smith enjoys working with high school students.

“…we can talk about real life…I love that part,” Smith said.

Smith also admits that her job is rewarding because of the change she can make to the school community and the impact that she can leave on student lives.

“[The Dean of Students is] …a cool job. I mean, who gets to say they get to help students get ready for life?” Smith said.

The reason that she moved from her job at York Tech in the first place was in order to help more people.

“I loved teaching, but I thought it would be really cool to be in a position where I could help make decisions that would help more kids or help teachers help their kids, so I could have hopefully more of like an exponential effect,” Smith said.

Smith will also be able to use her background at York Tech to help students with career readiness, according to Molin.

“I think especially for the career piece…I think that’s a unique piece that she brings to the puzzle that I don’t have and Dr. Sterner doesn’t have…she just brings a different viewpoint,” Molin said.

With her unique perspective and desire to help her students succeed, Smith will be able to improve Susquehannock, and Molin, as well as other staff, are excited to have her as a new addition to the community.