Jason D’Alesio has just about seen it all during his two decades-plus of work with the Moon Area School District.
Starting July 1, though, he’ll have a view from the top.
The district board of education last week voted to appoint D’Alesio as district superintendent, replacing Barry Balaski.
D’Alesio’s roots run deep in the Moon district, as he started his career in education as a fourth grade teacher there in 2004 and climbed every rung on the education ladder. He served as an assistant principal at two district schools – Moon Area High School from 2016 to 2019 and at Moon Area Middle School from 2019 to early 2023 – before being promoted to assistant superintendent in February 2023.
He held that position until last week’s appointment.
Balaski had been under contract to serve as district superintendent through June 30, 2027, but the district and Balaski agreed to part ways through a mutual separation agreement that was approved April 21. His final day with the district will be June 30.
The separation agreement calls for the district to submit a payment of $85,000 to Balaski’s existing 403(b) account or another approved tax-deferred retirement account by the end of July.
D’Alesio said from the time he started teaching at Brooks Elementary School, “there hasn’t been another district I wanted to go to. I’ve been able to develop relationships over a number of years with teachers, administrators, school board members, support staff and community members.
“I’m lucky to be a part of the district – I’m honored to be here.”
D’Alesio said the fact that he has lived in the district for 16 years and has four children attending district schools made his decision to pursue the superintendent appointment an easy one.
“We love the area – we love the township,” he said. “For me, it was a no-brainer.”
D’Alesio, who holds a doctorate in education with an emphasis in leadership and administration from Point Park University, agreed to a five-year contract that will include an annual starting salary of $200,000, with annual raises of between 1% and 5% based on his evaluation.
D’Alesio said his past experiences as a classroom teacher, site administrator and district administrator – all at Moon – and the vantage point of a parent give him a unique perspective when it comes to analyzing problems.
“I’m able to look at everything from every angle, every perspective, and make reasonable decisions based on the facts – decisions that I and our district can defend,” he said.
“We’re all in this together. I tell the board that as well. We have one goal, and that’s to do whatever we can to help our students succeed.”
Amy Stuart, president of the school board, said the many hats that D’Alesio has worn over the past 21 years made him a great fit to lead the 4,200-student district.
“Dr. D’Alesio has dedicated his career to our district, serving at every level of education — from teacher to administrator,” she said. “That experience, combined with the strong relationships he’s built over the years with staff, students and families, gives him a deep understanding of our community. He’s highly qualified and brings a steady, thoughtful leadership style that we believe will guide the district forward.”
Stuart said several strong candidates surfaced during the search process but D’Alesio’s deep district roots made him stand out.
“He doesn’t need time to get acclimated,” she said. “With so many major projects already in progress — from facilities improvements to academic initiatives — we felt it was critical to have someone who could step in and lead with confidence from day one. D’Alesio’s experience and long-term commitment to the district made him the right choice.”
D’Alesio said that while he likes where the district is, he and his administrative team have their own set of goals that they’ll be striving to reach moving forward.
“We’re having conversations now about how to enhance our curriculum across all levels,” he said. “One thing we talk about all the time is about having high expectations for all our students. One of the consistent messages we’re sharing with principals and teachers is the need to set the bar high.
“Students come from all types of backgrounds – we understand that. But our job is to make sure the bar is set high and that we have high expectation levels for all students. We’ll support them along the way, but we won’t lower the bar. We want them to meet that bar.”
D’Alesio said it’s important for the district to keep working to improve not only academically but in other ways as well.
“We have a strong culture here and we want to make sure that the district is one that all community members, students, staff and families are extremely proud of,” he said. “We want everyone to be proud to be a Moon Tiger and to wear that red and white with pride. When people talk about the top districts around, we want to be in that conversation.
“It starts with building a positive culture, enhancing our curriculum and having high expectations for all students.”
He feels good about closing an elementary school to pay for a new admin building. My son had 25 kids in his 1st grade class and that was with 5 elementary schools, next year will be worse. He feels good about that though.