Joins Unionville-Chadds Ford School District from Penn-Delco
By Mike McGann, Editor, the Times
Shawn Dutkiewicz was unanimously approved Monday night by the Unionville-Chadds Ford Board of Education as the new principal at Chadds Ford Elementary School.
POCOPSON — Chadds Ford Elementary School has a new leader.
The Unionville-Chadds Ford Board of Education unanimously voted Monday to hire Shawn Dutkiewicz as the new principal at Chadds Ford, effective June 27. He replaced Mark Ransford, who retired in April, after there were questions about his handling of PSSA tests at the school.
Superintendent of Schools John Sanville praised Dutkiewicz, saying after a thorough hiring process that started with 58 candidates, many of whom were outstanding, it became obvious that he was right person for the job.
“Clearly, he is the right person at the right time,” Sanville said.
Dutkiewicz, a graduate of West Chester University, is an experienced building leader having served the past seven years as principal of Pennell Elementary School in the Penn-Delco School District. Prior to that, he served two years as that district’s K-6 math curriculum director.
“I want to express my excitement at joining the Chadds Ford Elementary team,” he said.
He said that the interview process — which included broad number of community members, parents and staff, along with board members and administrators — confirmed his sense that the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District was a special place to work and teach.
“It was a tremendous process,” Dutkiewicz said.
I wish him luck. I cannot imagine going from the Penn-Delco SD to Chadds Ford Elementary. The socioeconomics are very, very different and the culture is about as polar opposite as one could imagine. In Penn-Delco, problems stem from the difficulty in meeting kids basic needs. In Chadds Ford, problems stem from the affluence.