When Darien High School Principal Dan Harron retires on June 30, he'll be replaced on a temporary basis by Arlene Gottesman, a former superintendent of schools in Wilton who also served as a high school principal in Newtown and Milford.
The Darien Board of Education unanimously approved Gottesman's appointment Tuesday as interim principal, and Superintendent Steven Falcone was ready with a news release (attached to this article).
"She is recognized as a school leader with high expectations for each person in the school community and a commitment to providing a more personalized experience for every student in the schools where she has worked," according to the news release. "People have described Ms. Gottesman as hard-working and caring leader, whose presence in the school and at school events has been noteworthy."
Gottesman retired in 2011 as assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and technology in Wilton. Before that, she was principal of Newtown High School (from 2005 to 2007), and Jonathan Law High School in Milford(from 1998 to 2005). She previously worked in Norwalk Public Schools, where she was a teacher, guidance counselor, health education coordinator, supervisor of health, physical education, and Athletics, and a housemaster at Norwalk High School.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Interested in Darien's news, events, community bulletins, blogs and businesses? Sign up for the free Darien Patch daily newsletter, "like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
________________________________________________________________________________________
According to the news release, Gottesman "has been active in every facet of school life, including program development, curriculum design, school evaluations, staff evaluation, technology programming, budgeting, state reporting and a range of other activities."
She received her bachelor's degree in physical education as well as her master's degree in counseling from the University of Bridgeport. She also has a diploma in administration and supervision from Southern Connecticut State University, and has worked toward a doctorate at the University of Connecticut.
