Executive Director
Angela Pohlen

Angela has been leading the Catholic Academy of Bridgeport since 2019. Her prior experience includes being a preschool-8th grade administrator for 17 years and leading schools in Southern California and Vermont. While in Vermont, she also served as Assistant Interim Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington where she led the diocese’s curriculum revision in English & Language Arts and Mathematics.

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Angela is originally from California, and received a BA in Communications and an MA in Catholic Inclusive Education from Loyola Marymount University. Her masters was in a program that focused on special education designed for a Catholic school model, and deeply influenced Angela’s educational philosophy. She has instituted formal academic and behavior intervention programs at schools where she served as principal, targeted at helping teachers get the support required to meet the individual needs of the learners in their classrooms, thus broadening the population able to be served in her schools.

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Angela has spoken nationally for organizations including the National Catholic Education Association  (NCEA), The National Inclusive Catholic Education (NICE) conference, and the Federal Women’s Professional Network. She served on several boards including the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington’s teacher licensing board, and the Vermont Independent Schools Association (VISA), and served for 11 years  as a Commissioner on the Commission on Independent Schools for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), and three years as the Chair of the Commission. 

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She brings a wealth of instructional and systematic know-how to the role of Executive Director and is passionate about the unique ability Catholic schools have to be game-changers for children.