Kelli Cullen has been appointed Assistant Principal at Pioneer High School. Ms. Cullen said hello to Panther Nation in a recent district newsletter.
Hello Pioneer Family!
I am so excited to introduce myself as your new High School Assistant Principal and even more excited to be back in a community that already feels like home to me.
I had the privilege of serving Pioneer CSD as a Curriculum Coordinator, and the relationships I built with students, staff and families during that time never left me. Coming back as Assistant Principal feels like coming full circle and I could not be more grateful for the opportunity to continue serving a community I already love.
A little about me: I spent 17 years in the classroom before moving into a regional leadership role. That classroom experience is at the heart of everything I do as it reminds me every day what teachers and students actually need. From there I moved into curriculum coordination here at Pioneer. In the last four years, I have served as the Community Schools Coordinator at Cattaraugus Allegany BOCES, where I had the privilege of supporting educators and students across our region in curriculum, instructional leadership, social-emotional learning, student and educator wellness and connecting schools with the communities they serve.
I am also currently pursuing my doctorate at Grand Canyon University, where my research focuses on rural teachers and what sustains them in their work because I believe deeply that when we take care of our educators, they can take care of our students.
What excites me most about this role is the chance to work alongside students, families, and staff at Pioneer every single day. I am passionate about continuing to support a school culture where every student feels known, every teacher feels supported, and every family feels welcomed as a true partner
in their child’s education. Pioneer has something special, a tight-knit community that genuinely shows up for one another, and I am honored to be part of nurturing and growing that culture in this new capacity. I reside in Cattaraugus with my husband and children, and as a parent in this region I understand firsthand how much the schools our children attend shape who they become.