Kate Gurley has been fortunate to spend her entire career at the Burnt Hills - Ballston Lake CSD. She started as a 4th grade teacher in 1989 and continued this position for 19 years. She then became the Professional Development Coordinator for the district in 2008. It was a full-time position for the first year and then the position was cut in half the next year, so she taught half-day kindergarten for the other half of her time. She did that for four years until she became the K-12 ELA and Reading RTI/AIS Supervisor for the district in 2013. At BH-BL, the K-12 Supervisors also teach, and Kate was lucky enough to keep her position as the Professional Development Coordinator as her “teaching” duty. She loves every part of this custom-made position.  

As soon as Kate became the Professional Development Coordinator for the district, she received a letter from the district’s TA President, asking her to consider joining the Greater Capital Region Teacher Center Policy Board. Kate has been a policy board member since the 2008-2009 school year when she became the Professional Development Coordinator.  

In her role as the Professional Development Coordinator, Kate has coordinated, facilitated, and led many professional learning opportunities for the educators in her district. In her role as the K-12 Supervisor, she has worked on curriculum and assessments, and sets criteria for Reading RTI and AIS. Her favorite part of the job is providing enrichment opportunities for high-leveled readers in grades K-2. This year, she is also providing Reading RTI to 1st graders.

In addition to being the Co-Chair of the Greater Capital Region Teacher Center Policy Board, Kate is also on the board of directors for CAPTAIN Community Human Services. She was on the Community Human Services Board of Directors for years before merging with CAPTAIN in 2017. Here she serves as the 1st Vice President and Vice President of Programs, and is in-line to become the President in the future.