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CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. – Jamie Edelman has been chosen as the next principal of Douglas G. Grafflin Elementary School by Chappaqua Superintendent Lyn McKay and district officials, the Chappaqua Central School District confirmed Tuesday afternoon.
McKay plans to bring her selection before the school board for approval on Wednesday, April 17 at the board’s public meeting. If approved, Edelman – the current principal at Putnam Valley Elementary School – would begin on July 1.
Edelman released a statement on the Putnam Valley school district's website, which informed the district of her resignation. She held her position at PVES for more than 12 years.
Edelman said her resignation "will be effective as of June 30, 2013. However, I will be available to work closely with the new administration to ensure a smooth transition."
In a letter sent out to the district's families Tuesday afternoon, McKay said Edelman ended up as the top choice of a long and thorough process.
"Jamie rose to the top of our thorough and wide-ranging search process. In the course of the last six weeks, she emerged from the more than 150 applicants for the position and met with a first-round interview committee representing all the stakeholder groups that comprise the Grafflin School community," said McKay.
During the process, Edelman spent a full day at Grafflin, meeting with groups of teachers, parents, administrators, clerical and custodial staff. After receiving positive feedback from all groups, she was brought back to meet with the Chappaqua Schools Board of Education and to walk through classrooms at Westorchard Elementary, where she had the chance to observe and debrief instruction with Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Eric Byrne and McKay.
"Throughout the process, Jamie has impressed all with her intelligence, her warmth, her understanding of instruction, her thoughtfulness about children, and her confident leadership," said McKay.
If approved, Edelman would succeed Mike Kirsch, who has been principal at Grafflin for 38 years out of the school's 50-year existence. Kirsch will retire at the end of this school year.
"It goes without saying that Jamie will face a great challenge in following Mike Kirsch, who has led Grafflin so extraordinarily well for the past 38 years," said McKay.
"I am confident, however, that Jamie is the right person to follow Mike's illustrious tenure. I look forward to inviting all of you, later this spring, to join me in celebrating all that Mike Kirsch has done for Grafflin and for our district."
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