Seneca Valley Names New HR Director, Principal

Seneca Valley is starting off Tuesday with a new director of human services. The district also is getting a new principal. 

At Monday’s school board meeting, officials named Kyra Bobak as the director of human resources and pupil services for the district. Her five-year contract is effective immediately and pays a salary of $103,000 in the first year.

She replaces Dr. Tracy Vitale, The school board also promoted Michelle Ellis from assistant principal to principal at Haine Elementary School. She replaces Bobak at a salary of $92,500. Linda Andreassi, the district’s director of communications, said all principals at Seneca Valley are reviewed yearly.

As for Ellis’s former position, Andreassi said Vitale would promote from within the district to fill it.

“Dr. Vitale, through her review, will determine an ideal candidate and then go to the board with that candidate,” she said.

A former assistant principal at Haine before taking on the position of principal, Bobak has been with Seneca Valley since 2006. Her work with the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program earned the elementary the designation as one of only three schools in the nation to earn the 2011 Olweus Quality Assurance Award, a statement from Seneca Valley said.

“Ms. Bobak has clearly demonstrated her abilities and skills in both human resources and pupil services. I look forward to working with her in this capacity and having her lead the human resources department,” Vitale said in a prepared statement. 

In addition to working at Seneca Valley, Ms. Bobak has administration and elementary teaching experience in the Wilkinsburg School District and as a first grade teacher in the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nev.

A member of several professional associations, Bobak also is experienced spearheading professional development opportunities for teachers and substitutes in Seneca Valley, the district said. She earned her bachelor’s of science in elementary education/early childhood from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Her principal certification and master’s in administrative and policy studies are from the University of Pittsburgh.                                                                

“She’s an extremely capable person and she’s had tremendous success at Haine Elementary,” Andreassi said.

Ellis has been assistant principal at Haine Elementary since 2007. She also worked as an English and speech teacher at and as an assistant principal at

She has a bachelor’s in secondary communication education from Slippery Rock University and her principal certification and master’s in public policy and management from Carnegie Mellon University.

In addition to athletic coaching experience, Ms. Ellis has extensive involvement with the elementary side of and has served on a number of district teams, including the diversity, data, guidance curriculum and report card committees, the district said.