Kathleen M. Higgins
Kathleen Higgins, a CT native, holds a Sixth Year Degree in Administration and Supervision and a Master's Degree in Reading from Southern Connecticut State University. During her junior year at Simmons College in Boston she declared her major to be elementary education, changing her original plan to become a journalist and never looked back. She spent six years teaching grades 1-3 in public schools in CT and MA and nine years teaching grade 1 and reading at Hamden Hall Country Day School. During her tenure at Hamden Hall she was also Director of Admissions for the Lower School and Associate Director of College Admissions.
During her twenty-one years as an administrator for the Branford Public Schools, nineteen of those years as Principal of John B. Sliney School, Kathy interacted with countless children, parents and teachers. She particularly enjoyed getting to know the children, greeting them at the door and helping them navigate through their elementary years. She took a personal interest in each of them. She finds great pleasure in seeing her Sliney students around town and watching them grow into young adults.
Kathy is particularly proud of the community service club, The Sliney Super Helpers that she started more than sixteen years ago with parent, Janet Giordano. Kathy believes that commitment to serving your community should start at a young age. During her tenure at Sliney, support of those in need in Branford and across the world was provided by Sliney students, providing food for the hungry, toys for the Toy Closet at Yale New Haven Hospital and supplies for the animal shelter.
Kathy respects teachers in the district. She encouraged Sliney School teachers to work within district requirements, while promoting them freedom to be creative in their classrooms. She considered her staff as part of her family. Kathy was invested in their professional growth and development.
A lifelong learner and dedicated professional, Kathy held executive positions on the Board of the Elementary and Middle School Principals' Association of CT, earning the Principals' Award four times. She served on the Board of Directors of the CT Principals' Academy, the CT Academy for Educational Leaders, CT Principals' Center and the Harvard University Principals' Center.
Kathy is married to Peter Hugret, the IT Director for Branford. She is the proud mother of Carole Learned-Miller who was an elementary school teacher and principal. Carole and her husband, Erik, have two daughters, Sierra, six and Emma Kathleen, two. Kathy's mother, Margaret Higgins, a 1934 graduate of New Haven Normal School, is the first in this line of three generations of educators. Her message to Kathy was, "Continue on with your education, no one can ever take it away from you."
After her retirement in June, Kathy became a part-time professor at Quinnipiac University; supervising interns who are aspiring school administrators. She is also an Executive Coach for the CT Association of Schools and co-directed a professional development workshop for the Seedlings Teachers Collaborative. She is a member of the Branford Early Childhood Collaborative and the Sliney Super Helpers Committee.
During her twenty-one years as an administrator for the Branford Public Schools, nineteen of those years as Principal of John B. Sliney School, Kathy interacted with countless children, parents and teachers. She particularly enjoyed getting to know the children, greeting them at the door and helping them navigate through their elementary years. She took a personal interest in each of them. She finds great pleasure in seeing her Sliney students around town and watching them grow into young adults.
Kathy is particularly proud of the community service club, The Sliney Super Helpers that she started more than sixteen years ago with parent, Janet Giordano. Kathy believes that commitment to serving your community should start at a young age. During her tenure at Sliney, support of those in need in Branford and across the world was provided by Sliney students, providing food for the hungry, toys for the Toy Closet at Yale New Haven Hospital and supplies for the animal shelter.
Kathy respects teachers in the district. She encouraged Sliney School teachers to work within district requirements, while promoting them freedom to be creative in their classrooms. She considered her staff as part of her family. Kathy was invested in their professional growth and development.
A lifelong learner and dedicated professional, Kathy held executive positions on the Board of the Elementary and Middle School Principals' Association of CT, earning the Principals' Award four times. She served on the Board of Directors of the CT Principals' Academy, the CT Academy for Educational Leaders, CT Principals' Center and the Harvard University Principals' Center.
Kathy is married to Peter Hugret, the IT Director for Branford. She is the proud mother of Carole Learned-Miller who was an elementary school teacher and principal. Carole and her husband, Erik, have two daughters, Sierra, six and Emma Kathleen, two. Kathy's mother, Margaret Higgins, a 1934 graduate of New Haven Normal School, is the first in this line of three generations of educators. Her message to Kathy was, "Continue on with your education, no one can ever take it away from you."
After her retirement in June, Kathy became a part-time professor at Quinnipiac University; supervising interns who are aspiring school administrators. She is also an Executive Coach for the CT Association of Schools and co-directed a professional development workshop for the Seedlings Teachers Collaborative. She is a member of the Branford Early Childhood Collaborative and the Sliney Super Helpers Committee.