Schools
Somers Woman Appointed as Principal in Chappaqua
The Chappaqua school board appointed Jamie Edelman to become the new principal, effective July 1. In addition, Seven Bridges search is ongoing, while the board made appointments for Greeley assistant principal and athletic director.
Jamie Edelman, whose birthday was last Wednesday, was given a present of sorts when the Chappaqua school board voted unanimously to approve her appointment as the next principal of Douglas G. Grafflin Elementary School.
"I am very honored and excited to serve as the next principal of Grafflin," Edelman, a Somers resident, said to the board and audience after her approval. "Not too long ago when I was contemplating my next career move, I listed the characteristics that I would want in my next school. It was kind of a wish list."
The woman said that list included a warm, welcoming community, a dedicated, talented, caring faculty, involved parents, a thoughtful, innovative leadership team, and motivated children.
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"I believe that Grafflin has it all," she said. "I am eager to make a positive contribution to the school, the district and the community, and I thank you so much for this opportunity."
Edelman, who will take over on July 1, is coming to Chappaqua following 13 years as principal of Putnam Valley Elementary School in Putnam Valley. Before that, she was an assistant principal at Carrie E. Tompkins Elementary School in Croton-on-Hudson, and worked in New York City's school system as a teacher and assistant principal.
Find out what's happening in Yorktown-Somerswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Edelman was selected from a pool of about 150 finalists, according to Superintendent Lyn McKay, and met with teachers, parents and staff from the school, along with district officials and the school board.
"Jamie impressed us with her intelligence, her warmth, her understanding, her knowledge of instruction, her thoughtfulness about children and her confident leadership," McKay said. "We're looking forward to having her join our school community.”
School board President Victoria Tipp said that they are thrilled to have her. She added that given her predecessor, Michael Kirsch, will still be in the district, “we're not losing a principal, we are gaining a principal.”
Kirsch, who has been Grafflin's principal for 38 years, is retiring in June at the end of the school year.
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