About Dr. Karen Tyler

Karen has been Head of School at Erie Day School, a coeducational Preschool to Grade 8 school of 200-plus students in Erie, PA, since 2011. During that time, Karen transformed the learning environment, stabilized and strengthened enrollment, completed a $2-million capital campaign, oversaw a schoolwide renovation and expansion, guided multiple strategic plans and accreditations, and created new revenue streams. Karen spent her early years in the classroom as a Kindergarten and First Grade teacher in Pennsylvania public schools before becoming a Kindergarten-Sixth Grade literacy coach and reading specialist and then a Kindergarten-Eighth Grade special education literacy coach. Karen has an International Baccalaureate Educator Certification in Teaching and Learning for the Primary Years Program and Middle Years Program. Karen’s professional activities include long service at Pennsylvania Western University’s Edinboro Campus, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as an Assistant Professor, Graduate Reading Program Head, Graduate Dyslexia Interventions Program Head, and Reading Clinic Facilitator. She went on to earn her Ed. D. in Curriculum and Instruction at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Recent professional publications include topics as diverse as early intervention for dyslexia and encouraging social justice among educators. Karen has also presented on these topics and others, largely literacy-based, on the national, state, university, and community levels. 

In accepting this appointment Karen said: “I was drawn to the faculty, staff, and board of Seneca Academy. Their dedicated efforts to create an educational environment in which all members of the community feel engaged, supported, and inspired to learn offered me a sense of belonging. Likewise, the children demonstrated a remarkable respect for self and others and an intellectual curiosity that surpassed their years. The beautiful campus, with its natural invitation for discovery and play, calls me to return! I am looking forward to the wide-ranging opportunities that await our partnership in education set to begin in July 2025.”

Our appointment of Karen is the culmination of a comprehensive six-month search process. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all community members whose participation was essential to a thorough, thoughtful, and inclusive search that affirmed the qualities we identified as essential in our next Head of School. We would like to take this time to acknowledge and thank all the Search Committee members for their tireless work during this process.  Also, many thanks to Peter Barrett and Beth Dietz, our consultants at Carney, Sandoe & Associates, for their guidance and support during the Head of School search. 

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Karen Tyler on being named Seneca Academy’s next Head of School. When Karen steps into the role in July 2025, she will follow Dr. Parker’s exemplary 10-year tenure. In the year ahead, Karen, Michelle, faculty, staff, and the Board of Trustees will work together toward a seamless transition as we continue to build upon Seneca’s long history of excellence and strive to live out the high values of our mission. 

Sincerely, 

John McKew, Chair – Board of Trustees

Lili Portilla Weingarten, Chair – Head of School Search Committee