Luke Healey is a new assistant principal at Penn-Trafford High School, following the administrative changes that were made after last school year, in which principals were moved around the district.
Healey will be overseeing 11th and 12th grade students this year. His responsibilities involve graduation requirements, community service and Top 20 Scholarship information. Assistant principal Greg Capoccioni is staying with ninth and 10th grade in addition to his other duties of student discipline, professional development for staff, school safety and helping run the building.
“Every day is different, but I really enjoy being able to help students take those next steps toward their futures,” Healey said.
Healey also works with the Work and College Release program, specifically ensuring that all students involved submit their documentation appropriately. Healey’s outlook on his new role is reflected in his position alongside P-T principal Tony Aquilio.
“Aquilio is awesome,” Healey stated. “He has a fantastic sense of humor, he is great to work with and is just a super person.”
In addition, Aquilio stated that he is glad to have Healey here, as he and Capoccioni were the only principals for the first few weeks of school. He noted that integrating a new staff member can require a lot of effort, but that Healey was already familiar with the district’s systems like PowerSchool and Google Classroom.
“Most schools this size have at least two assistant principals,” Aquilio stated, “so it was very hectic at the beginning of the year… But the transition has been great so far.”
Healey has prior experience as both an assistant principal and a principal. Specifically, he worked at McGuffey School District as the high school assistant principal for three years and the elementary principal for about six months.
Before that, he worked at Propel Schools in Pitcairn as a middle school social studies teacher for about seven years, as well as working at Summit Academy for five years.
“Penn-Trafford has been an absolutely amazing district. It’s always been a target district of mine,” Healey said. “This is a fantastic school… I can do lots of things here and be part of the school community.”
Aquilio explained that coming to work in a new building like P-T entails learning about the culture and traditions within the school, as every school has differences.
“[Former P-T High School assistant principal Amy] Horvat was a great advocate for students — not just student growth, but mental health and making sure kids are socially okay,” Aquilio stated. “[Healey] seems to have a good balance for supporting students while holding them accountable… He really cares for the kids.”
Abby Dreistadt, Editor in Chief and Mandy Kramer, Staff Writer