Schuylkill County Native Named Principal of St. Joseph Center for Special Learning
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — St. Joseph Center for Special Learning has named Elisabeth Hughes as its new principal, bringing an educator with 24 years of experience and local ties to lead its programs for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Hughes will serve as the center’s chief executive and educational leader, overseeing both its school-age program and Adult Program. She succeeds Bob Giba, who became principal in 2019. Experience in Schuylkill County Schools An Orwigsburg native, Hughes spent more than two decades in the Schuylkill Haven Area School District, where she taught first and third grades before serving as a Title I reading specialist from 2014 to 2024. During that time, she worked with fellow Title I teachers to develop an Orton-Gillingham reading curriculum for kindergarten and second grade. Since January 2025, Hughes has worked as a reading interventionist in the Blue Mountain School District. She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Elizabethtown College, a master’s degree in education from Alvernia University and a reading specialist certificate from Wilkes University. She also is certified in special education and the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction and has training in Science of Reading methods. “Elisabeth Hughes has spent her
Schuylkill County, PA · 2d