At the Sept. 28 meeting of the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board, it was announced that Michelle Lafferty has been named the new principal at Unionvllle Elementary School. The board unanimously approved her appointment to the position, which will pay her $125,000 per year.

Lafferty was a fourth-grade teacher at Unionville Elementary, and will be replacing Clif Beaver as principal. Beaver moved to Pocopson Elementary in August to take over as principal there. Lafferty is currently on maternity leave, but will assume her new position at Unionville Elementary on Jan. 26. Until then, John Nolen, the district's Director of Curriculum and Instruction, will be acting principal at the school. 

“I think this is the only case where one candidate was so outstanding that she was sent to the final round of interviews alone," board member Jeff Hellrung said at the meeting on Monday night. 

Board member Kathleen Do said, “We recognize that is was a difficult time for the Unionville Elementary School community to know that there would be a transition and we know how much they loved their principal, but it’s important for them to know that the board has made this a top priority and we are thrilled to have Michelle there.”

Lafferty, who was at the board meeting, said she was “very, very excited and honored to be the next principal at Unionville Elementary.”

District Superintendent John Sanville told Lafferty, "We are so lucky to have you on board and this is the way things work in organizations. You have great people, and people move into new positions, and the other thing that happens in organizations is that great people are with us and then they go on to their next great adventures.”