Susan Polojac is the Early Childhood Education Apprenticeship Director at Carlow University in Pittsburgh, PA. Susan joined the Education Department at Carlow in March 2020. Susan’s role as the HUB Director is to support the Apprenticeship HUB and education team, and keep abreast of the local, state, and national trends of the apprenticeship model and early childhood education. In addition, Susan mentors, creates program policy, recruits and on boards new students. Susan’s passion is teaching courses at Carlow and loves it when students can connect theory to practice and have the AH HA moments when the students are validated in the coursework. The apprenticeship program at Carlow was piloted in the fall of 2019 and was rolled out to interested childcare centers in the fall of 2020. The Education Department at Carlow is committed to providing students with the tools needed to be successful in obtaining a degree and be set on a strong career path.

Susan has 30 years of ECE experience in childcare, Head Start, and state government. Susan has held many positions in ECE. Her earliest positions were at a local YMCA where she was a teacher, program director. Susan then was a kindergarten teacher briefly. Head Start was the next experience for 5 years, where Susan was the Early Childhood Education and Development Manager for the Private Industry Council Fayette County Head Start Program. Susan has also worked at Trying Together as the Co-Director of Quality Initiatives, where she focused on grants associated with financial literacy, digital media literacy, and community and family engagement.

Prior to coming to Carlow University, Susan worked at the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) as the Race to the Top (RTT) and then Preschool Development Federal Grant Director (PDG). While at OCDEL, Susan was responsible for the programming and fiscal management of $65 million in federal grants that supported systems changes to the PD Registry, Keystone STARS Revisioning, Family and Community Engagement, Stronger connections between Institutes of Higher Education and Early Learning Programs/Community Partners, Early Childhood Mental Health, Pre-natal-Grade 3 alignment, research and evaluation of the true cost of care in early learning programs, shared services, and many others.

Susan obtained her BA and MEd in Early Childhood Education from Carlow University and has presented at conferences all over the country on a variety of topics. Susan lives in Monroeville with her husband John, and their Yorkie Oliver. Susan enjoys baking, gardening, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

Education

• Master’s Degree – Early Childhood Education, Carlow University, Pittsburgh, PA (2016)
• Bachelor’s Degree – Early Childhood Education with Pre-K to 4th Teacher Certification, Carlow University, Pittsburgh, PA (2006)
• Associate Degree – Early Childhood Education, Westmoreland County Community College, Youngwood, PA (1992)

Professional Memberships

• Pennsylvania Early Learning Resource Center Region 5 – Allegheny County
• Pennsylvania Early Learning Resource Center Region 4 – Washington, Westmorealnd, Fayette, and Greene Counties
• Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Professional Development Organization (PASSHE PDO)
• Southwest Pennsylvania Hi 5 Transition to Kindergarten Kindergarten Transition – Trying Together
• Pennsylvania Early Childhood Education State Advisory Council Subcommittee member (Childcare Certification and Quality Rating State Advisory Council (SAC) – The Pennsylvania Key
• National Head Start Association (NHSA) Work Circle on Early Childhood Apprenticeship Programs
• National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)

Research

Interests: Early Childhood Education; Workforce Development; Teacher Retention and Diversification; Family and Community Engagement; Systems Building and Change

Awards & Recognition

• Pennsylvania Higher Education Consortium for Early Childhood Education, Co-Chair, Representing 4-Year Institutes of Higher Education
• National Head Start Association (NHSA) Work Circle on Early Childhood Education Apprenticeship Models
• Co-Author of the Pennsylvania Department of Education Family Engagement Birth through College, Career and Community Ready Framework. Parent and Family Engagement
• Co-Principal Investigative Lead on a variety of federal grants issued by The Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation (OPRE) to the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL)
• Remake Learning Feature Article in Pittsburgh Magazine (April 2015)
• Recognized in Article – Education Week (January 2015)
• Co-Author, “Digital Media Literacy and Technology Tools for Early Childhood”, Pennsylvania Digital Media Project “Professional Development Instructor Institute” series, (2015 – 2013)
• Co-Contributor of the Pennsylvania Digital Media Literacy Project – “Checklist for Identifying Exemplary Uses of Technology and Interactive Media in Early Learning”
• Oversite of the National Head Start Association 2010 Center of Excellence Grant Award to the Private Industry Council of Westmoreland/Fayette Inc. (2010)