Career Educator Rides Into Sunset After 4 Decades O’Neil Was Asst. Principal at AHS, Led Special Ed at SHS
ACCENT ON EDUCATORS
By Chloe Kieper Special to Today Magazine
FOR 40 YEARS, Dr. Eileen F. O’Neil made it her professional objective to be “an effective, equity-driven educational instructional leader.” Educators often find themselves in a range of diverse roles throughout their careers — O’Neil is no exception, having taken on job positions ranging from assistant principal to department coordinator to special education teacher, working with a range of ages and responsibilities. 62 years young, O’Neil was an assistant principal at Avon High School from 2014-21 and a special education teacher and department coordinator at Simsbury High School from 2000-2014, working with thousands of Farmington Valley students in these roles. A Simsbury resident, O’Neil originally hails from Dracut, Mass., and is a graduate of Dracut High School. She stayed in Massachusetts throughout her college career, gaining her bachelor’s degree in education from Boston University in 1981. O’Neil started her career with a focus on special education after gaining her certification in the field from BU, beginning as a special education teacher for grades 7-8 in her hometown of Dracut in 1981. O’Neil taught at Dracut Junior High School from 1981-92 before moving to North Carolina in 1992. For the next four years, she worked in Charlotte, N.C., taking on teaching and supervisory roles in the Behaviorally/ Emotionally Handicapped (BEH) Program at Myers Park High School and Providence High School before heading back to New England. She first came to Connecticut in 1996, continuing her career in special education at Dwight Elementary School in Hartford and then at South Windsor High School.
“Access to education has become easier for many because of technology, and those with learning challenges can really benefit from technology — the challenge is balance” — Eileen O’Neil O’Neil began her tenure at Simsbury High School in 2000. After moving to Connecticut, she gained her master’s degree in education from Central Connecticut State University in 2002. O’Neil displays an essential trait for educators — the ability to never stop learning. She gained her doctorate in education in 2017 from CCSU. In 2014 O’Neil became an integral member of the Avon school system, being appointed to the intense administrative role of assistant principal at Avon High School and continuing in that role for seven years until 2021. She helped see the school through the turbulence of the COVID-19 pandemic, working with other administrators to guide the school system through the difficulties and extreme changes faced during this time. Her most recent role for the Avon Public Schools was as the district’s family and student services coordinator during the 2021-22 school year. After spending two decades working in Valley school systems, O’Neil officially left education behind and
FOR THE SENIORS Eileen O’Neil donned her official robe as an administrator one last time — at the Avon High School graduation ceremony in June — before retiring, aka riding into the proverbial sunset
TODAY MAGAZINE – www.TodayPublishing.net – SEPTEMBER 2022 17 Courtesy Photos