Patrick Keeley stepped into his new role as Mountain Empire Unified School District Superintendent recently after five years as principal at Mountain Empire High School.
Prior to that, he served as Grossmont Union High School District principal as well as an alternative education administrator, assistant principal, and high school dean with Grossmont.
Mountain Empire School Board president Tina Heimerdinger said the board was unanimous in its decision to promote Keeley to the superintendent position on July 7.
“At the start of the search our search consultant met with board members and others to gather views on what criteria we should be looking for in our next superintendent. Pat exceeds those criteria. He has an excellent record as an educator and as an administrator,” Heimerdinger said in a July 13 press release.
Keeley has been recognized as a high school Teacher of the Year and currently serves as the East County Leadership Charter President for
Region 18 for the Association of California School Administrators. He has been a featured presenter at regional, state and national educational conferences, and served as an educational consultant in San Diego county and across the state of California.
Keeley, a 1990 Mountain Empire graduate himself, said in a 2017 statement he was “proud to be one of the many successful Mountain Empire alumni raised in the community in which he now serves” and was excited to return to the district.
More recently, Keeley said, “one of my strengths is being able to connect with students and I think it is because of my teachers and growing up here… I am humbled and honored that the Board has selected me to be the next Superintendent.”
He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Social Studies from California State University, San Marcos, and both a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from San Diego State University.
Keeley’s professional credits also include service as a member and chair on the Western Association of Colleges and Schools committees. That association monitors, evaluates, and accredits education institutions in California, Hawaii, and some territories including Guam and American Samoa.
He succeeds Kathy Granger as superintendent of Mountain Empire Unified School District.
