Norwin picks North Hills administrator as new superintendent

The new leader of Norwin schools is a North Hills assistant superintendent with extensive experience as a curriculum coordinator who in the interview process touted his collaborative leadership style and vision that Norwin needs as the district continues to grow.

School board members on Monday unanimously selected Jeffrey Taylor, who has held various administrative positions at North Hills since 2006.

Taylor, a Canonsburg-area native, will take over as superintendent July 1, at an annual salary of $158,800. He succeeds William Kerr, who will retire at the end of the school year. Kerr has been Norwin’s superintendent since 2010.

As superintendent-elect, Taylor will be involved with administration orientation to help with a smooth transition, as he is available. Any work with Norwin in preparation for taking over as superintendent will be done without any compensation, said Barbara Viola, board president. He will be involved in school building tours and school safety.

Taylor will be in position to “take the Norwin School District to the next level of success,” Kerr said.

Taylor has been an assistant superintendent at North Hills since 2012. In that role, he initially oversaw curriculum, assessment and special programs, then became the assistant superintendent for curriculum, assessment and elementary education in 2016. He previously was director of curriculum, assessment and technology.

Norwin’s new superintendent supervises K-12 curriculum and assessment, professional development, integrates instructional technology into the curriculum and has been involved in various other administrative special projects.

“I see Norwin and North Hills as being similar” with multiple schools serving multiple municipalities, Taylor told the school board, administrators, teacher representatives and community and business leaders in a public meeting last month.

“I have lived and worked in a relatively high-performing school district,” like Norwin, Taylor said.

He said Norwin is known statewide for its STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering and Math — program.

Taylor, a Canon-McMillan High School graduate, earned his bachelor of science degree in secondary education-biology at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. He began his career as a biology teacher in Fort Cherry, Washington County, in 1994, before teaching at Baldwin-Whitehall in 1996. He began his administrative career in the Charleroi Area School District in 2002, where he was an assistant high school principal and high school principal, as well as the secondary curriculum coordinator.