The Berlin Central School District welcomes Kimberly Brownell to its Administrative Team. Mrs. Brownell joins the Berlin Middle/High School as Principal starting July 12, 2021. However, Mrs. Brownell has been spending time at BMHS since the start of summer and is ready to hit the ground running.  Learn more about Mrs. Brownell in her own words.

I graduated from Palmyra Area High School, a small community, right next door to Hershey, PA (yes, the sweetest place on earth). After high school, I attended and graduated from Messiah College with a BA  in Communications with an emphasis in public relations and advertising.

Upon college graduation, I worked in a local nonprofit organization and started tutoring in an afterschool program in the city of Harrisburg, PA. It is there that I discovered my passion for helping young people reach their fullest potential in school.

I decided to take a job as a concierge at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, which gave me a more flexible schedule so I could earn my certification as an English teacher in grades 7-12.

In 2008, I graduated from Wilson College and upon graduation, was hired as a 7th/8th grade teacher within the Harrisburg City School District.

Four years later, I earned tenure in this district and also met my husband, who was born and raised in West Hoosick, NY and who graduated from the Hoosick Falls Central School District.  After we married in 2011, I moved into the farmhouse that has now had five generations of Brownells growing up inside of its walls.

I began my career in this area by teaching 9-12 English in a residential placement school in Bennington, VT and then moved on to Brighter Choice Charter Middle School for Girls in Albany, NY where I taught 7th grade girls.

In 2012, I earned my Master’s Degree in Reading K-12 through Edinboro University and also have my Professional Literacy certification in NYS for grades 5-12. For the last seven years, I have taught English 7 in the Hoosick Falls Central School District. Finally, I earned my Post-Master’s Certificate in Educational Leadership through Stony Brook University in June of 2021.

I live with my husband, Mark, two children, Wesley Charles (age 8) and Evelyn Grace (age 5) and Golden Retriever, Echo, on our grass-fed beef cattle farm in West Hoosick, NY. My husband is a heavy equipment operator for the Rensselaer County Highway Department and I am looking forward to him and the crew plowing the roads on those snowy days to help us all get to school safely this winter. Wesley is going into 3rd grade and enjoys helping on the farm, creating epic Lego sets, participating in cub scouts and playing with friends. Evelyn is starting Kindergarten and also loves to help on the farm, attend dance classes, play soccer and paint her nails. As a family, we enjoy spending time together through completing various farm/house projects or hiking, biking, swimming, traveling, playing games, reading or snuggling in for a movie night.

Outside of school, I enjoy soaking up every moment I can with my family and friends. I am also very involved in our local church and am on the Cheney Library Board in Hoosick Falls. In the summer, you can find me at the Town of Hoosick Community pool or in the winter at the Bennington Rec Center, swimming laps in the early morning or late evening, as that was my main sport growing up and still my favorite way to exercise.