![\"Pete](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/BESTCYPapageorgePeteDSC00868copy.webp\")
Pete Papageorge (Photo courtesy of Lower Merion School District)<\/p>\nPete Papageorge (Photo courtesy of Lower Merion School District)<\/p>\n
LOWER MERION \u2014 Lower Merion School District Superintendent Dr. Frank Ranelli has announced the recommendation of two administrators to fill leadership roles within the district.<\/p>\n
Ty Ross, the current principal of Cynwyd Elementary School, has been tapped to lead Black Rock Middle School. Concurrently, Cynwyd\u2019s assistant principal, Dr. Pete Papageorge, is being recommended as the interim principal to ensure leadership continuity at the elementary school. Both appointments are pending final approval by the Lower Merion Board of School Directors.<\/p>\n
A New Chapter for Black Rock Middle School<\/p>\n
Ty Ross brings more than two decades of educational experience to Black Rock Middle School. Ross is a familiar face to families across the district, having served as the assistant principal at Lower Merion High School from 2018 to 2022 before taking the helm at Cynwyd Elementary in 2023.<\/p>\n
Prior to his tenure in Lower Merion, Ross held administrative roles in Philadelphia, including serving as principal at Charles W. Henry School and assistant principal at John Bartram High School. He holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in history from Cabrini University, a master\u2019s degree in education from St. Joseph\u2019s University, and specialized credentials as a licensed trainer in Restorative Practices.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Ross\u2019s selection is the result of a rigorous process that incorporated input we received from nearly 1000 Black Rock students, staff members, parents and guardians. I truly appreciate the time you took to share the qualities you most value in a school leader. Mr. Ross embodies the priorities you expressed. He is warm and approachable, a great communicator, and a collaborative leader who has a proven track record of building and maintaining a positive school culture and academic excellence,\u201d Ranelli wrote in a letter to the school community.<\/p>\n
Continuity and Stability at Cynwyd Elementary<\/p>\n
To maintain administrative stability at Cynwyd Elementary following Ross\u2019s transition, Dr. Pete Papageorge has been recommended to take over as interim principal. Papageorge has served as Cynwyd\u2019s assistant principal since the start of the 2023\u20132024 school year.<\/p>\n
In addition to his building-level duties, Papageorge serves as a districtwide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) coach, leads Cynwyd\u2019s cultural proficiency team, and oversees special education services. Outside of the school district, he is an adjunct professor of School Law and Ethics at Rosemont College.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrior to coming to Cynwyd, Dr. Papageorge was an assistant principal and acting principal at the Walter M. Senkow School in Upper Darby, a teaching and learning specialist at the Delaware County Intermediate Unit and a fourth-grade teacher,\u201d Ranelli wrote in a letter to the school community. \u201cHe received his bachelor\u2019s degree in sociology from Penn State, master\u2019s degrees in education and educational leadership from Rosemont College and his doctorate in education from Immaculata University.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next Steps for the School Board<\/p>\n
The administrative changes will be brought to the school board for a formal vote during their upcoming public session. If approved, the district is expected to share transition timelines and the subsequent plan to fill the vacant assistant principal position at Cynwyd Elementary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pete Papageorge (Photo courtesy of Lower Merion School District) LOWER MERION \u2014 Lower Merion School District Superintendent Dr.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219558,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[182,183,185,184,186,200,139,28],"class_list":["post-219557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lower-merion","tag-local-news","tag-lower-merion","tag-lower-merion-headlines","tag-lower-merion-news","tag-lower-merion-township","tag-montgomery-county","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}