The City School District of Albany Board of Education appointed veteran district educator Jennifer Houlihan as interim assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at its meeting Thursday night.
Houlihan, currently the district's secondary instructional supervisor for ELA, reading and library media, will take over from Karen Bechdol, who is retiring in December. Houlihan starts in her new role on Oct. 15 and will serve for the duration of the current school year.
The district has initiated a process to fill Houlihan's instructional supervisor position on an interim basis for the remainder of the school year as well.
Houlihan started her career in Albany in 2001 as a long-term substitute at both the former Harriet Gibbons High School and William S. Hackett Middle School. She was hired as a full-time English teacher at Harriet Gibbons the following year.
She transferred to Albany High School in 2006, where she taught English until she became an instructional coach in 2012.
In 2013, she was appointed principal of Albany High’s Leadership Academy, and she moved to her current position in 2016.
Houlihan earned a bachelor’s from Binghamton University, where she double-majored in literature, and rhetoric and political science. She went on to earn a master’s in English from Rhode Island College and holds school district and school building leadership certifications from The College of Saint Rose.
