• Dr. Gary Peiffer, Superintendent

    E-mail: gary.peiffer@chartiers-houstonsd.com

    Dr. Gary Peiffer grew up in Quakertown, Pennsylvania, between Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley.  His father Douglas Peiffer worked briefly at Bethlehem SteeDr. Peifferl before enlisting in the Navy and becoming a history teacher and football coach at Quakertown Community Senior High School. His mother worked part-time as a secretary for both an attorney and then later a bank. 

    After graduating from Quakertown Community Senior High School in 1984, Dr. Peiffer pursued his Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education at Penn State University in 1988.  Dr. Peiffer subbed and worked temp jobs until 1990 when he landed his first position teaching history in an approved private school outside of Philadelphia called Carson Valley School.  While at Carson Valley, Dr. Peiffer pursued his Master of Education degree at Temple University in Philadelphia and his principal certificate. Graduating from Temple in 1996, Dr. Peiffer was hired as an assistant principal for grades 7-12 in the East Allegheny School District in North Versailles in 1997.  From 1997-2012, Dr. Peiffer served as an administrator at East Allegheny in the roles of assistant principal, middle school principal, high school principal, director of federal programs, curriculum coordinator, and assistant to the superintendent.

    Since coming to the Chartiers-Houston School District in the summer of 2021, Dr. Peiffer has worked with the School Board, Administration and Faculty to launch the STEAM program at Allison Park Elementary School, revise the Math and English Language Arts curriculum, develop the Multi-Tiered System of Support program so that students can have instructional techniques developed for their individual academic needs, brought in Star Math to help diagnose math competencies at the primary grade level and worked to expand community and regional partnerships in order to foster a rigorous and supportive learning environment for all students.  For the upcoming school year, the District will be partnering with Coursera to offer online computer science and STEAM courses for Juniors and Seniors, implement a partnership with CMU to bring the science program NoRilla to Allison Park, and implement an Alumni Hall of Fame for the District. In addition to his role as superintendent, Dr. Peiffer also serves as the President of the Washington County Superintendents Association.  Dr. Peiffer's wife Marissa has a Ph.D. in Psychology and is the school psychologist working at the Beaver Valley Intermediate Unit 27.  His daughter Elena attends the University of Pittsburgh majoring in environmental studies, while his stepson Eric is a Senior majoring in forensic accounting and music at Waynesburg University. Dr. Peiffer's stepson Charlie- who just got his driver's license- is training at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet Company in Carlisle, PA where he dedicates his time to academics and ballet.  In his spare time, Dr. Peiffer enjoys spending time with family, their dog Ohana, reading, and travel. The Peiffers most recently traveled to Ireland to visit archaeological, historical and cultural sites.