Penn-Trafford hires new assistant principal after shuffling of administrators

Luke Healey is excited to go back to high school.

Healey, 39, of Murrysville will start as an assistant principal at Penn-Trafford High School in the fall. It means he’ll have less of a commute than the 60 miles he’s traveled daily to an administrative position at Washington County’s McGuffey School District.

When a shuffling of the Penn-Trafford’s principals left an assistant principal position open at the high school, Healey could not pass up the opportunity to apply.

“I’m eager and excited to start at Penn-Trafford,” he said. “It’s a fantastic district — one of the top in all of the county.”

Healey has worked at McGuffey since 2021, serving as assistant high school principal for 2¹⁄₂ years. He took over as assistant principal of the district’s Joe Walker Elementary School in February.

“I’m excited to go back to high school,” he said. “I enjoy high school a lot, and that’s kind of what I spent my entire career doing.”

Healey started his education career as social studies teacher for middle school students at Propel Pitcairn and high school students at Summit Academy, a school for adjudicated youth in Butler County.

Although Healey has had a positive experience at McGuffey, he looks forward to being closer to his children, who attend Franklin Regional.

Healey will step into former assistant principal Amy Horvat’s role with the high school’s Student Assistance Program, which she held for eight years. Recognized in 2023 as the best of its kind in the state, the program helps students struggling with academic and personal issues such as fulfilling graduation requirements and mental health concerns.

“This is something I’ve learned over time — that students are carrying bags to school that are more than just academic,” he said. “It could be that parents are getting divorced, parents are fighting, food insecurity.”

Healey comes to Penn-Trafford with a strong understanding of how to run a Student Assistance Program, said Superintendent Matthew Harris.

“He had a great understanding of the Student Assistance Program and a lot of the needs of the students, and I could see that he was really student-focused. He has a strong curriculum background in K-12,” Harris said. “I like that he kind of knows where the kids should be coming from when they get to the high school.

“He had a lot of ideas with his other school and what they’ve done to help children. It’s not a cookie-cutter approach. Everyone needs something different.”

Harris said high school Principal Tony Aquilio will also be more involved with the program now that Horvat is leading Trafford Elementary.

5 administrators to start new positions next week

Parents were notified in April that five longtime educators, including Horvat, would be shifted to different schools in the district for the 2024-25 academic year.

Karin Coiner, who taught at Sunrise Elementary for 17 years, was shifted to McCullough Elementary, and Jeff Schwartz will serve at Level Green Elementary after 18 years at Harrison Park.

After 19 years at McCullough, Joe Marasti will be moved to Harrison Park. Dan DiNapoli is being moved to Sunrise after 16 years at Level Green. For more than 10 years, he served as principal at both Level Green and Trafford elementary.

Roger Sullivan will retain his position at Trafford Middle School, which he has held for about 13 years. So will Penn Middle Principal Jim Simpson and high school Principals Aquilio and Greg Capoccioni.

Part of Healey’s interest in working at the high school level comes from opportunities to help with student clubs and sports. When a student approached him about starting an esports club at McGuffey High School, he organized a tournament for students.

“I realized I had about 60 kids come out with teams to participate,” Healey said. “There was a lot of interest, and it just grew and blossomed from that.”

Penn-Trafford was one of the first high schools in Westmoreland County to start a team for esports, competing against other players in video games, often in front of a livestream audience. Four years later, Penn-Trafford’s esports lab houses between $50,000 and $75,000 worth of tech, including PCs and monitors.

Healey will start at Penn-Trafford at the end of September or beginning of October, he said.

“I’m just excited to be able to get started at Penn-Trafford and help make a difference,” he said.