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Chester County Press

U-CF School Board approves principal and assistant principal

07/14/2015 09:08AM ● By J. Chambless

By John Chambless
Staff Writer

At a brief meeting of the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board on July 9, two appointments were approved for a principal and assistant principal in the district.

Clif Beaver was unanimously approved as the new principal of Pocopson Elementary School, taking over for retired principal Andrew McLaughlin. Beaver officially started on July 10, at a salary of $140,000 per year.

Beaver had been the principal at Unionville Elementary School, and district superintendent John Sanville addressed the unusual job switch.

“This was not our usual mode of gaining principals,” Sanville told the board. “When Dr. Mclaughlin announced his retirement, we conducted focus groups at Pocopson with staff, teachers and parents. We heard a desire to keep the academic rigor in place. As we discussed, we realized that the person who had the unique skill set was already on our staff. That was Clif Beaver.

“We do run a transparent and inclusive operation in terms of hiring,” Sanville continued, “but in this instance, it's a little different, so that's why we went out of the box on this one.”

The vacant principal position at Unionville Elementary has been posted. “I suspect we'll have a massive application pool,” Sanville said, “and we'll whittle that down. We'll probably bring in 15 or so folks for interviews. We expect to hire an interim principal for the start of the school year” while interviews are going on, Sanville said.

The board also unanimously approved Amy Jenkins as the new assistant principal at Unionville High School, as of Aug. 1, at a salary of $115,000 per year.

“We had over 70 applicants for the position,” Sanville said. “We conducted dozens of screenings and interviews, then six applicants moved forward. Of the two finalists, the best fit for Unionville High School was Amy. She brings a wealth of knowledge of technology and ways of integrating it into the classroom. We're thrilled to have her.”

After the vote, Jenkins told the board, “I'm thrilled to be a member of your team. I'm anxiously awaiting the opportunity to walk through the doors and jump in. I'm glad to be a part of the school district and a member of the community.”

Jenkins is filling the assistant principal position that was vacated by former assistant principal Jim Conley. He became principal when Paula Massanari retired at the end of the last school year.

To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, email [email protected].