Ann Maher’s career path has followed a somewhat non-traditional pattern and has always been grounded in her passion to be an advocate for children. For many years, she balanced a successful teaching career with the needs of the family’s dairy farm in upstate New York. After 14 years of teaching, she felt drawn to administration as a way to serve more students and impact systemic improvement. Sixteen more years of experience in both urban and rural settings as an elementary school principal have further enhanced her vision and conviction that educational practice must be student-centered and inquiry-based, while grounded in critical and creative thinking. Ann finds pleasure and deep satisfaction in being a freelance writer, facilitator, and active community volunteer. Her educational efforts are built around the core belief that the successful citizens of our global society will emerge from the learning communities we create in our schools today.
Curriculum areas that have been focal points of her career include literacy, character education, technology and gifted education. As both teacher and administrator, she has led initiatives to integrate and embrace technology. In addition to building leadership, Ann’s experience includes curriculum development, grant writing and management, district technology development, character education programming, and special education implementation. She is formally trained in accountability practices, including data-driven decision making and performance-based instruction. She holds a BS from Keuka College, an MS from Nazareth College, and a Certificate of Advanced Studies from SUNY-Brockport.
On a personal level, she is an aspiring author, active community member, lifelong learner, and family caregiver. It has been her privilege to contribute to the life success of a foster child from New York City. She welcomes dialogue, debate, and discussion about any and all topics that relate to improving our educational programming for children, and looks forward to the opportunities created by this electronic forum!
