Chappaqua Tabs Put Valley Principal to Lead Grafflin Elementary School
The Chappaqua School District is expected to appoint the new Douglas Grafflin Elementary School principal next week.
In a message sent to the school community on Tuesday, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Lyn McKay stated that she will recommend Putnam Valley Elementary School Principal Jamie Edelman to the board of education at its April 17 meeting. If her appointment is approved by the board, Edelman would replace Michael Kirsch who is retiring at the end of June after 38 years at the school.
Edelman, completing her 13th year in Putnam Valley after serving as assistant principal at Carrie E. Tompkins Elementary School in Croton-on-Hudson, would officially take over on July 1. She would become only the third principal in Grafflin’s 50-year history.
McKay said Edelman emerged as the best candidate at the conclusion of a rigorous six-week process that attracted more than 150 applicants.
“Throughout the process, Jamie has impressed all with her intelligence, her warmth, her understanding of instruction, her thoughtfulness about children, and her confident leadership,” McKay stated.
Edelman announced her upcoming resignation from her current post in a message on the Putnam Valley School District website on Tuesday. The resignation will also take effect on June 30.
She said that she’ll cherish her time in the district and the special relationships she has made with community members who want the best for their children.
“As this has become a time of reflection, I am reminded of so many successes and I am incredibly proud of all that has been accomplished,” Edelman wrote. “The experiences that I have had at PVES have helped me become a better educator, a better person and a better leader. I can’t thank you enough for that opportunity.”
Before her last two jobs, Edelman spent nine years as an elementary school teacher, literacy staff developer and assistant principal in the New York City school system. The majority of her time in the city was spent in District 2 in Manhattan, which instituted “some of the most rigorous, progressive, and influential educational reform New York City has known,” McKay said.
The pending appointment came following the second round of the search for a new principal at Grafflin. Chappaqua school officials announced earlier this year that they had re-opened the search after the previous effort failed to attract a deep enough field of candidates.
Now that the district has apparently filled one vacant principal’s post, officials now must begin another search to fill another the upcoming opening in the Seven Bridges Middle School principal’s office. Last week it was announced that Martha Zornow would be leaving Seven Bridges after four years to pursue an opportunity in New York City.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/