Long Beach Public Schools has appointed two new vice principals at the secondary level and an assistant principal at Lido Elementary School, official as of July 1. Elizabeth Walsh-Bulger and Lorie Beard will join the district at Long Beach High School and Middle School, respectively, while current teacher-in-charge and longtime staff member Sharon Weiss takes on her new title at Lido.

A Long Beach High School graduate herself, Ms. Walsh-Bulger will return to the district from the North Babylon School District, where she currently serves as principal of Robert Moses Middle School. During the past three years, she has developed and refined curricula and programs, infused 21st-century skills and technology into instruction, increased academic rigor, led professional development, cultivated community and corporate partnerships and served on committees and task forces. She held similar responsibilities during her seven years as an assistant principal of North Babylon High School, where she also collaboratively designed and implemented an Alternative High School Program and directed an annual Shakespeare Festival. 

Prior to her work in North Babylon, Ms. Walsh-Bulger spent eight years at West Islip High School as a dean of discipline, Academic Center coordinator and Alternative School coordinator. There she also implemented and designed an Alternative High School program and additionally advised a student newspaper and taught English and remedial classes. She is familiar with the Long Beach community, having chaired and taught within the English department at the Harriet Eisman Community School.
 
“Ms. Walsh-Bulger has over a decade of experience as an instructional leader,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jennifer Gallagher said. “We are confident that she will make a valuable member of our team at the high school and welcome her ‘home.’” 

Ms. Beard, presently an instructional coach at the Amityville Union Free School District’s Northwest Elementary School, also brings a strong background as an educational professional. She has facilitated professional development surrounding best practices in instruction, developed data trackers to utilize data to inform instruction, developed Units of Study and served as a resource for curriculum and technology implementation in the classrooms. She has also been instrumental in the Response to Intervention process and an overall school improvement plan. 

Before this, Ms. Beard was an English language arts instructional coach for Western Suffolk BOCES where she coached elementary, middle and high school teachers. She mentored colleagues, created numerous professional development workshops, introduced instructional plans and determined needs and strategies. Earlier on, she taught grades 4-6 for 10 years in the Harborfields Central School District. Over the course of her career she has been recognized with the Association of Suffolk Supervisors for Educational Technologies’ Bright Lights Award, New York State English Council’s Educator of Excellence Award and Special Education Parent Teacher Association’s Distinguished Service Award. 

“Ms. Beard’s work in building a learning community, supporting the social-emotional development of students and fostering a growth mindset make her a perfect match for the middle school,” Dr. Gallagher said. 

Ms. Weiss’ experience in the Long Beach Public Schools spans back to 1988, when she began her career as a teacher at East Elementary School. She went on to serve as teacher-in-charge at East for 14 years before accepting the same position at Lido in 2016. She has coordinated schoolwide events, managed daily assignments of staff members, chaired the Instructional Support Team, participated on many committees and implemented the Teacher Assistant Academy. She has collaborated with the district’s instructional coaches, built communication with parents, organized social-emotional learning initiatives, mentored new staff members and designed a teacher/mentor training program. 

An instrumental leader in the district’s pre-K services, Ms. Weiss designed and implemented Lido’s Pre-K Orientation Program and has led faculty meetings with pre-K teachers. She also serves as Long Beach High School’s Summer School principal and was a Summer School dean and director of the Saturday Academy in the past. She has presented at national, state and local conferences and has led many professional development meetings. Ms. Weiss additionally co-authored a districtwide reference guide as well as a local history book.  

“We look forward to Ms. Weiss making the change in role from teacher-in-charge to assistant principal,” Dr. Gallagher said. “She has worn many hats in the district and we appreciate her many ongoing contributions.” 

Ms. Walsh-Bulger earned her advanced study certificate as a school district leader from the College of Saint Rose, her master’s degree from City University of New York at Brooklyn College and her bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at New Paltz. Ms. Beard holds Master of Science degrees from LIU Post and Dowling College and a Bachelor of Science degree from Adelphi University. She completed Stony Brook University’s certificate program in school building/school district leadership. Ms. Weiss achieved her certificate of staff development from the College of New Rochelle and her Master of Science degree from Syracuse University.