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Alumni spotlight: Chelsea Bayko

Alumni spotlight: Chelsea Bayko

by Public Relations | July 29, 2024

LATROBE, PA – Dr. Chelsea Bayko, C’11, always planned to become a teacher. “Growing up, I was that kid who always would pretend I was a teacher,” she said. “There was never anything else I thought about doing besides going into education.”

The past 11 years, Bayko has worked for the Hoover City School District in Birmingham, AL, as a special education teacher and assistant principal. Earlier this summer, Bayko got a significant promotion to principal of Rocky Ridge Elementary School.

“It’s so great to see the kids grow and evolve through the years,” Bayko said. “I love building leadership skills in kids. That wasn't something I thought about when I first went into education. But as I've grown in my career, that's really become my passion because they are our future. Preparing them for the future is critical.”

A native of Charleroi, Bayko graduated from Saint Vincent College with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She taught for two years in the Charleroi Area School District while she earned a master’s in collaborative education from California University of Pennsylvania.

Bayko met her husband, Steve Bayko, C’12, while they were students at Saint Vincent. When they were married in 2015 at the Saint Vincent Archabbey Basilica, the ceremony was performed by Fr. Phillip Kanfush, O.S.B., a professor of education in the School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

“I had a hard time leaving Saint Vincent because it has a very strong place in my heart. Our dog is even named Vinny!” Bayko said. “The [professors] at Saint Vincent poured into us from an educational standpoint and from a personal standpoint. It made me realize how I wanted to shape the lives of other people through education.”

In 2013, Bayko and her husband moved to Birmingham, where she became a special education teacher at Berry Middle School. “Working with the administrators at Berry gave me a different perspective,” Bayko said. “They encouraged me to get into administration.”

She began to rise through the ranks in the Hoover City School District as assistant principal at Simmons Middle School and Bluff Park Elementary. Along the way, she got an educational specialist degree from Jacksonville State University and a doctorate in educational leadership from Samford University.

Although she has moved out of the classroom and into the main office, Bayko remains committed to developing leadership skills, only now she focuses on young teachers who display administrative potential.

“I want to give back because somebody once saw those qualities in me and said, ‘Hey, is [administration] something you’ve ever thought about?’” Bayko said. “I try to hone in on leadership and teachers to encourage their leadership in our school district. It's about pouring back into all the good things we have going on here.”

 

Portrait Chelsea Bayko

Chelsea Bayko

 

 

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