North Hills School District has hired Jim Cassell as its new assistant principal of the North Hills Middle School and Katie Fanelli, who will serve as the school’s new interim assistant principal through the end of the 2021-22 school year.
Jim Cassell
Mr. Cassell joins the district from the Brentwood School District where has served as middle school and high school assistant since 2018.He previously worked as the Distance Learning Coordinator for the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit and as both a Support Center Coordinator and Student Achievement Coordinator for Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School.
Mr. Cassel holds a Master of Education in Curriculum Design and Instruction from Clarion University and a Master of Education in Leadership from California University of Pennsylvania. He received his Pennsylvania Principal Certification from California University of Pennsylvania.
As an undergraduate, he studied secondary social studies education and special education at Slippery Rock University.
Mr. Cassel lives in Moon Township with his wife and their two sons. He will begin in mid-February.
Katie Fanelli
Ms. Fanelli, a North Hills native and 2010 graduate of North Hills High School, joined the district as a special education teacher at the middle school in 2019.
Prior to North Hills, she worked as a middle and elementary school special education teacher in Charleston, South Carolina.
Ms. Fanelli graduated from Slippery Rock University in 2014 with her dual teaching certificate in early childhood education and special education, and received her Master of Education in Leadership and Administration and her K-12 principal certification from The Citadel Graduate College.
Ms. Fanelli has assumed her new role effective immediately. She is also currently the co-director and choreographer for the middle school’s musical production of “Moana Jr.,” which will be showing next month.
Ms. Fanelli resides in the Pittsburgh area with her fiancé and their three animals.