Palmerton Area School District tabbed Kelly Beblavy as its new supervisor of curriculum and instruction on Wednesday with a unanimous board approval.

Beblavy, who has served the district for 16 years as an educator and most recently in fifth grade at Towamensing Elementary, will begin her new role July 1 at an annual salary of $96,000.

According to Superintendent Angela Friebolin, Beblavy brings a comprehensive educational background to her new administrative position. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Scranton and initially worked in the public relations sector in Philadelphia for several years before transitioning to education.

After deciding to pursue teaching, Beblavy earned her teaching certificate from East Stroudsburg University and is certified to teach kindergarten through sixth grade. She later added to her resume by obtaining a master’s degree in instructional technology.

“Throughout her 16-year tenure with the district, (Beblavy) has demonstrated versatility in the classroom, having taught across multiple grade levels including kindergarten, first grade, third grade, fourth grade and fifth grade,” Friebolin said.

Beyond her classroom responsibilities, Beblavy has taken on various leadership roles within the district. She has served as a member of the curriculum advisory board, worked as a Student Lighthouse adviser, and functioned as a computer coach. Beblavy recently obtained her administrative leadership endorsement in 2022 from Delaware Valley University, positioning herself for her new supervisory role.

“I’m very excited to get started,” Beblavy said following the vote. “I look forward to working with all of our administrators, the teachers and our school board in creating and delivering quality curriculum for our district.”

The appointment received enthusiastic support from board members, with one member sharing personal experience with Beblavy’s teaching abilities.

“I had the pleasure of having one of my daughters be taught by Kelly. We’re definitely getting a good one here,” director Erin Snyder said.

Beblavy’s appointment represents a natural progression, board member Sherry Haas said, from her previous involvement in district curriculum initiatives.

“You were part of our curriculum focus group here and now look where you’ve gone,” Haas told Beblavy. “You really gave a lot of good information and shared a lot of insight and input for that. So it was very, very good to see that you were the name on the agenda tonight.”