Retiring Superintendent Wants To Travel, Catch Up On Reading

Graduation is over and the more than 60 members of Bristol Borough High School’s Class of 2019 are off to college, trade schools, or 9 to 5 jobs. In September, new and returning students will converge on the two campuses that make up the borough’s school district.

But September will be bittersweet for Tom Shaffer, recently retired superintendent of the district. After 19 years of serving in various school administrative positions, he will finally make time to catch up on “that pile of books I haven’t read yet” and travel back to England, where he spent time in an exchange student program during his Penn State years.

“I’m excited about moving on, but I think September is going to be hard. I love coming to work but I want to leave it that way,” said Shaffer, adding that during his teaching years, there was never any thought of being involved in school administration.

The seed for his future was planted in elementary school, where he remembers having “good role models. It was during his high school years that he knew for certain what path he wanted to forge: education.

“My school counselor kept urging me to go into business. He said I was well suited for that. But I knew what I wanted to be and that was an elementary school teacher,” Shaffer said.

After graduating in 1980, from Penn State University, Schuylkill Campus – he spent part of that time as an exchange student at Durham University in England – Shaffer taught sixth, seventh, and eighth grades at St. Clare Catholic School in St. Clair.

Then from 1983 to 1987, he was both teacher and vice-principal at All Saints Catholic School in Pottsville in Schuylkill County, where he wore a third hat: When not in the classroom, Shaffer volunteered as captain and ladder man with the Pottsville Fire Department.

“I enjoyed serving the community as a firefighter, and I liked the camaraderie among the members of the department,” Shaffer said.

He later served as elementary school principal in Shenandoah Valley School District in Schuylkill County. Shaffer earned his Masters of Education from the University of Scranton in 1985 and his Doctorate of Educational Leadership from Immaculata University in 2011.

Fast forward to more recent times. Shaffer has enjoyed being in a district with a small and vibrant sense of community, a closer rapport with school families as well as students, and the fact that, under his stewardship, Snyder-Girotti Elementary School, and the district’s high school, have what he called the highest quality teachers and the latest innovations in academics.

For example, 80 percent of this year’s graduates will go off to college at the best schools, and with a collective nearly $1 million in scholarships, he said.

The years in the borough have also had challenges. Shaffer cites changes in family structure, a more transient populations, and competition for student minds between social media and activities such as sports and school clubs, he said.

But he’s seen pushback in these trends. Teacher dedication and the 21^st Century-funded after-school and summer programs that offer free academic and recreational activities.

“Our scholastic and social environment creates a lasting loyalty in students and alumni. We’ve always have had former students who come back to visit. I will miss that,” Shaffer said.

The district’s new Superintendent Dr. Rose Minniti was slated to start on Thursday.