York Town News
Vermont educator named new Coastal Ridge principal
By Jennifer L. Saunders
Sean Murphy
YORK - Following an executive session at its meeting last Wednesday, May 2, the School Committee agreed unanimously to appoint Sean Murphy as the new principal of Coastal Ridge Elementary School.
And in a phone interview Tuesday, Murphy said Coastal Ridge is exactly where he wants to be.
"I was ecstatic," Murphy said of learning last week that he had been selected as the new principal. "My whole family is excited. I certainly have big shoes to fill in Jane Stephenson's, but I have been preparing for this my whole professional life."
Murphy was chosen from a field of 25 candidates who applied to fill the post when longtime Coastal Ridge Principal Jane Stephenson retires after more than two decades with the York School Department. He comes to York from Londonderry, Vermont, where he has been the assistant principal of Flood Brook Union School since 2005.
Murphy's wife Liz, who works in interior design, has family in the Maine, he explained, within two hours of York, and this move is wonderful news for them, both professionally and personally. Along with their children, Emma, 3, and Will, 6 months, they will be relocating to the York area in the next few months.
"We're looking forward to raising our two kids on the water," Murphy said. "Wherever it was going to be next, it was going to be long-term, and we're so happy it's going to be York."
Prior to his administrative position at Flood Brook, Murphy taught at the elementary level at the Dexter School, an independent school in Brookline, Mass., and the Mid-Valley Elementary School in Odell, Ore.
"Mr. Murphy brings his varied experience, strong educational background and positive energy to his new position in York," Superintendent of Schools Dr. Henry Scipione said in his announcement of Murphy's appointment. "His background and commitment to elementary education provide him with a strong foundation as he assumes his responsibilities as principal of CRES."
Murphy holds two Master's degrees, Scipione noted, with the first in educational leadership and the second in curriculum and instruction from Simmons College in Boston, Mass. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from St. Lawrence University in New York.
Meanwhile, Scipione said, "Mrs. Stephenson will be retiring and is anticipating spending well-deserved time with her family including her two new grandchildren, whose arrival is imminent."
The School Committee members, too, have praised Stephenson for her years of service. Stephenson worked with the selection committee in the search for a new principal.
Murphy will begin his work in York on July 1, and said he can only describe his feeling about coming to Coastal Ridge as one of excitement.
"Through the whole interview process I got to know the school more and more. The dedication on the part of the five-member group that came to visit me on the site visit, the organization with which the superintendent ran the whole process, the number of parents that came to meet me the night I was at Coastal Ridge, it all speaks of how caring this community is," he said.
Murphy said Coastal Ridge is a very special place, as is evidenced by the student artwork that decorates each hallway, the student achievement, the commitment of the teachers and staff, the support of the parents and the enthusiasm of the students about school and learning.
"It's all impressive, everything about it," he said of the school. "I am just so excited to be a part of it."
