Karen Markeloff served as the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for the Poughkeepsie City School District for the past 20 years, but her time with the district came to an end with her retirement on June 30.
Markeloff, who has worked 31 years for the district, said she feels sad about her departure, but has worked for the past month to prepare her office for her successor, Jose Carrion, who previously served as the district’s assistant superintendent for human resources. Taking Carrion’s position is Dr. Hasna Muhammad, who began work on July 1.
“I can’t say enough about Karen’s dedication and commitment to the district,” said Carrion, who has worked with Markeloff for the past two years, and he said he’s appreciative of her organizational skills as well as her sense of humor.
“Before she left, she took care of a lot,” Carrion said. “She took care of different grants and projects. She is a person who was wonderful to work with, and really funny when you got to know her.”
Markeloff first applied in 1977 to work as a teaching assistant in the Advancing Desegregation After School program at Poughkeepsie Middle School. In the fall of that year, she began working full-time in the ESAA (Emergency School Aid Act) Title VII program at the middle school and, in 1979, moved to the administration building as a facilitator for the ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) Title I program. She began working on her master’s degree and certificate of advanced degree study at SUNY New Paltz, received both degrees in 1986 and was appointed to the position of director of compensatory programs and special projects.
One of the projects Markeloff said she is proud to have been a part of is the reopening of Smith Magnet School. She said it was closed in 1979, when the district rented the building out to the high school. It was reopened in 1987 through the help of an $830,000 competitive three-year grant, which Markeloff helped to acquire.
Many who worked closely with her said they will feel her absence in the future.
“She has been the backbone for the Poughkeepsie City School District, and we are all going to miss her,” said Superintendent Laval S. Wilson.
Wilson is one of seven superintendents Markeloff has worked with.
Future is bright
Markeloff has been involved with a number of projects outside the district even before retirement, having volunteered with the Beulah Baptist Church soup kitchen in Poughkeepsie. She was honored at a Board of Education meeting for giving her time and effort to the church.
Originally born in Tokyo, Japan, Markeloff said that in 1950 her family moved back to America and settled in Oxen Hill, Md. because her father was a civilian attached to Andrews Air Force base. In 1959, her family moved to Rome, N.Y., since her father was transferred to Griffis Air Force Base. She graduated from Rome Free Academy in 1968, seventh in her class of 560 students. She then came to Poughkeepsie that same year to attend Vassar College, where she graduated in 1972 and received certification to teach English.
The City of Poughkeepsie resident said that during retirement she looks forward to taking some vocational courses in cooking, photography, computer programs and painting.
One destination where Markeloff said she finds great solace is Cape Cod, in Massachusetts, which has also inspired her self-professed love of art.