News Release

2002 grad new Gettysburg High School principal

August 13, 2008

Mark Blanchard, who earned a master’s degree in Teaching and Curriculum from Penn State Harrisburg in 2002, is the new principal of Gettysburg Area High School.

A former English teacher who earned his undergraduate degree from Baptist Bible College in Clarks Summit, Blanchard began his career in education at Baptist Bible School in Shiremanstown, Cumberland County.

Blanchard, 34, then joined the faculty at Central Dauphin High School before being named principal at Cumberland Valley High School in 2005.

Among his biggest challenges, he told the Gettysburg Times, is making sure students are prepared for post-secondary education. Fifty years ago, one could “get by” solely on a high school diploma, but that is no longer the case, he said.