Letcher

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Hollidaysburg Area Senior High Principal Maureen Letcher has been tapped to succeed outgoing Superintendent Sean Gildea at Glendale School District, bringing more than two decades of experience in academic leadership to northern Cambria County.

Letcher was chosen from a field of nine candidates for the “leadership and ability to make decisions” she demonstrated throughout three rounds of interviews with Glendale School Board members and administrators, according to Interim Superintendent Ron Matchock.

The mixture of both large and small school experience Letcher possesses was another factor in her eventual selection, Matchock said.

Hollidaysburg, with five schools supporting over 3,000 total students in 2024-25 according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, is the second largest in Blair County and more than four times larger than Glendale, with approximately 650 enrolled pupils across two schools during the same time frame.

Experience in education

Letcher has been an educator for more than 26 years in Blair County, serving at both Hollidaysburg and Williamsburg Community School District, where she led the combined Junior/Senior High School as principal for eight and a half years before moving to Hollidaysburg Area in 2009.

During her 12-year tenure in the district, Letcher was “a very good principal and did everything we asked of her and more,” according to district Superintendent Curtis Whitesel.

“She will be sorely missed and we wish her all the best in her career,” Whitesel said.

The decision to leave her position at Hollidaysburg was “bittersweet,” Letcher said, as the faculty and staff at the senior high are “absolutely wonderful.”

“I’m going to miss the team at the senior high, but at the same time, I’m excited to get to know the team and the community at Glendale,” Letcher said.

It is a nice time to transition to another position, Letcher said, as the younger of her two sons graduated from Hollidaysburg this year.

Letcher served as the president of the Pennsylvania Principals Association from 2022-24, and is a facilitator for the state Department of Education’s principal induction program for newly minted school administrators.

Finding a replacement

Letcher’s tenure at Hollidaysburg will run until June 30, before officially taking over as Glendale superintendent on July 1.

The hunt for Letcher’s replacement at the helm of Hollidaysburg Senior High will consider both internal and external candidates, and is “wide open,” Whitesel said, noting that district administrators will seek the best possible person for the position.

Ideally, the new principal will demonstrate a strong leadership ability, a passion for education and a drive to immerse themselves in the school community, he said.

Letcher’s resignation was approved at the Hollidaysburg Area School Board’s meeting Wednesday, and her appointment is on the agenda for Glendale’s school board meeting on June 24.