Leslye S. Abrutyn, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Penn-Delco School District
Dr. Leslye S. Abrutyn was appointed superintendent of the
Penn-Delco School District in 1997. As superintendent, she oversaw the
direction, growth and educational effectiveness of four elementary
schools, a middle school and a high school. Dr. Leslye Abrutyn was also
the liaison for the three municipalities that comprise the District,
which is home to about 26,000 residents. Located about 15 miles
southwest of Philadelphia in Delaware County, Pa., PDSD is the
community’s largest employer. The District has an operating budget of
more than $44 million, a staff of 25 administrators, and more than 500
employees to serve a student population of 3,300.
Penn-Delco School District Responsibilities and Achievements
Dr. Leslye Abrutyn’s responsibilities included oversight of the
development and implementation of the educational curriculum,
technology, finance, human resources, legal, transportation,
facilities, public relations, and community outreach. In addition, Dr.
Leslye Abrutyn ensured the District’s compliance with state and federal
policies and mandates.
As the District’s educational leader, Dr. Leslye Abrutyn analyzed
academic performance and initiated steps for continuous educational
improvement. Reporting directly to the Penn-Delco School Board of
Directors, Dr. Leslye Abrutyn conducted monthly public school board
meetings and provided information to the community via local cable
television as well as through community newsletters, seminars and
special events. Dr. Leslye Abrutyn was also a member of community-based
boards and committees.
Dr. Leslye Abrutyn helped raise the national profile of the
Penn-Delco School District, in part through her presentation of a paper
entitled “Using Technology to Improve Achievement, Accountability and
Public Support” at the 2001 Technology + Learning Conference. The
T+L Conference is an annual event focusing on educational technology
for district leadership teams, organized by the National School Boards
Association.
Under Dr. Leslye Abrutyn’s leadership, the Penn-Delco School District
was selected by the Milken Foundation as a case study for effective use
of technology in schools. Four of the District’s schools were among
only 18 nationwide to be named in the Computer Curriculum Corporation’s
Honor Roll in 2001.
Awards and Publications
Dr. Leslye Abrutyn has achieved many personal honors over the years.
Among them:
• Recipient of the “John Kresovich Award for
Innovation and Instruction in the Use of Technology” from the
Pennsylvania Association for School Administrators, and induction into
Temple University’s Education Hall of Fame “Galley of Success,” 1999;
• Recipient of the Friends of Delaware County Women’s
Commission Spirit of Excellence Award for Individual Business
Achievement, 2003;
• Recipient of the March of Dimes Delaware County
Salute to Women of Achievement Honoree for Education, 2003;
• In 2006, Dr. Leslye Abrutyn was selected from more
than 35,000 School of Education alumni of Boston University to receive
the Dean Arthur Herbert Wilde Society Award for service to the
profession;
• In 2007, Dr. Leslye Abrutyn was invited to be one
of the nation’s first superintendents to testify before Congress on her
views on the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act.
Dr. Leslye Abrutyn has authored and co-authored numerous publications.
Two outstanding examples are a book co-written with famed educational
expert Charlotte Danielson titled “An Introduction to Using Portfolios
in the Classroom” (1997, published in English, Spanish and Chinese);
and “The Teacher Newsletter and Parent Involvement: A Case Study of
Content Defined by Parents and Teachers” (1997). In addition, in 2007,
the Association for Curriculum and Development published Dr. Leslye
Abrutyn’s article “The Most Important Data” in its flagship
publication, Educational Leadership.
Board Positions and Association Activities
Dr. Leslye Abrutyn has actively contributed to the field of education
and to her community by holding a number of board positions and
memberships in numerous organizations over the years. Among them:
• Dr. Leslye Abrutyn served as the president of the
Women’s Caucus of the Pennsylvania Association of School
Administrators.
• Dr. Leslye Abrutyn served as an executive board
member of the Standard and Poor’s School Evaluation Services (SES), was
an Advisory Board member for the Middle States Accreditation For Growth
(AFG) Commission on Secondary Schools.
• Dr. Leslye Abrutyn served as an Advisory Board
member for the first International Technology and Learning Conference
in 2001, Atlanta.
• Dr. Leslye Abrutyn served as an editorial advisory
panel member for District Administrator magazine.
• Dr. Leslye Abrutyn was a member of the Association
of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), the National
Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), the Pennsylvania
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (PASCD), the
Pennsylvania Association of Secondary School Principals (PASSP), and
the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA).
• Dr. Leslye Abrutyn was a charter member and served
on the assessment sub-committee for the New Standards Consortium, a
five-county consortium of school districts working in conjunction with
the Center for Greater Philadelphia to secure grant monies and bring
higher standards to schools through the use of the New Standard
program.
Educational Background
Dr. Leslye Abrutyn received her bachelor’s degree in elementary
education from Boston University, and a master’s degree in special
education and a doctorate in educational leadership from Temple
University. Dr. Leslye Abrutyn has also earned certification in reading
from the University of Pennsylvania and secondary school administration
from Temple University. She has completed a certification program for
Letter of Eligibility from Arcadia University.
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