Brownsville superintendent Savini retires from public education after 35 years
Dr. Philip J. Savini Jr. recently retired after 35 years in education. He attributes his success as superintendent to the community and staff within Brownsville Area School District.
Rebecca Devereaux|Herald-Standard
Dr. Philip Savini Jr. reflects on a book of photographs taken from earlier years that he rediscovered while cleaning out his office. The Brownsville Area School District superintendent retired at the end of June.
Rebecca Devereaux|Herald-Standard
After 35 years in education, Dr. Philip J. Savini Jr. retired as superintendent at Brownsville Area School District at the end of June.
Rebecca Devereaux|Herald-Standard
Counting down the days before retirement, Brownsville Area School District Superintendent Dr. Philip Savini Jr. walks the hallway from his office to the main office inside the high school.
A personal quest to make an impact on students saw Dr. Philip J. Savini Jr. through three school districts, numerous roles and — perhaps most importantly — countless memories.
After 35 years in public education, the Brownsville Area School District superintendent retired at the end of June. At age 57, Savini leaves the profession having served as leader of his childhood school district for nearly a decade.
“He has made great strides in education since day 1,” said Brownsville Area School Board President Rocky Brashear, who was a part of the board that hired Savini in 2009.
Brashear said Savini has made a “large impact” on the district during his tenure.
“Some of these are long-term effects that we won’t see until further down the road. He always tried to fight for the students, those were his main concerns,” said Brashear. “In my 22 years on the board, we’ve been through six superintendents. And he’s one of the best — if not the best.”
A native of Republic and a Brownsville Area graduate, Savini spent 12 years teaching high school social studies in the district, beginning in 1982. He moved to an administrative role as middle/high school assistant principal in the final two years of his first stint at Brownsville.
“As I started teaching, I wanted to have a larger impact outside of the classroom,” said Savini. “It was never my goal to be a superintendent, but I needed to take that leap to have an impact on an entire district.”
A career move to Southeastern Greene School District saw him take charge of Mapletown Junior-Senior High School as principal before taking over as superintendent of that district in 2002. Four years later, he joined Connellsville Area as director of curriculum.
Savini returned to his alma mater as superintendent in 2009.
Brownsville Area High School social studies teacher Sandy Rummell remembers Savini’s early days at the school.
“Dr. Savini started his educational career in the Brownsville school district as a fellow teacher. His career has come full circle, and he is now retiring from our district,” said Rummell, adding that Savini kept an open rapport with the Brownsville Education Association teachers union when he became superintendent.
Savini recalls growing up with educators in his family and a father who was active in the community and on the school board.
“We were always taught to give back to the community. (Public school service) was an ideal situation to teach and give back,” Savini said of his career choice.
During his time in education, he also taught students to give back.
Savini played a key role in bringing revitalization to downtown Brownsville through a multi-year, student-led project to turn a vacant area into a community park, working closely with Brownsville Area High School’s award-winning Students In Action team to renovate Snowden Square into a $300,000 facility that features an outdoor stage and green space.
“Dr. Savini was instrumental in the success of Operation Falcon Revitalization, and we would not have been able to see the fruition of the Cast Iron Amphitheater without his support and guidance,” said high school chemistry teacher and SIA advisor Kelli Dellarose.
During his tenure, said Savini, it was satisfying to see growth and positive changes in the district and community.
“What I take pride in is my philosophy that kids not only have to be educated academically, but in career planning (as well),” said Savini. “Career development and academic development are the two goals in education and I’ve seen that throughout my career and with teachers doing that now.”
Savini said the district has adapted to make changes necessary for students to thrive both during and after their time at Brownsville.
“We’ve made leaps and bounds in getting kids ready for careers,” he said, citing updated technology labs, an entrepreneurship program and game-creation courses as examples of the district adding and enhancing programs and resources for 21st century learning.
He considers his greatest achievement to be an increase in the number of Brownsville Area students attending post-secondary education and receiving college scholarships since he took over as superintendent.
“When I got here, 66 percent (of students) were eligible for post-secondary (education). This year, we hit our goal of 90 percent. Since my tenure, we’ve have had more students receive local, regional, state and national accolades, and the same with teachers.
“That tells the tale of everything we’ve done academically.”
But, he added, Brownsville’s successes over the past several years have been a team effort with the school board, teachers, administrators, students and parents.
“It’s not just because of one man, but it’s your board, your group of teachers, your cafeteria workers, your maintenance workers — it’s the whole team doing a little bit of everything in one direction.
“I feel satisfied to certain degree that we’ve been able to accomplish what we’ve done together. Being local, I feel very satisfied that everybody pulled together and worked with me and we got everything done.”