FERRISBURGH — Ferrisburgh Central School Principal Rae Donovan resigned her position in writing on April 18.

Rae Donovan

Addison Northwest School District Superintendent Sheila Soule acknowledged that on Thursday morning, but said she could not comment further on Donovan’s resignation because it was a personnel matter. Donovan also declined comment on the details of her departure, but told the Independent she had enjoyed her nearly three academic years at FCS.

ANWSD Director of Learning Gabe Hamilton will serve as the FCS interim principal, in all likelihood until the end of the current school year, Soule confirmed.

On Thursday afternoon, Soule announced in a district-wide email that Vergennes Union Elementary School Assistant Principal Beth Bearor had agreed to serve as the FCS interim principal for the 2025-2026 school year.

Bearor is a Vergennes Union High School graduate who began working at Addison Northwest in 2007 as a paraeducator. In 2015, Bearor started teaching kindergarten at VUES, doing so until 2023, when she became the school’s assistant principal.

Soule wrote in her email the district was pleased Bearor will be stepping into the new role within ANWSD.

“Beth embodies all the traits we value in an elementary school leader — she is warm, grounded, student-centered, and deeply committed to fostering strong relationships with families and staff. She brings a clear understanding of early childhood education, a calm and collaborative presence, and a deep knowledge of our communities,” Soule wrote.

Soule added Bearor’s familiarity with her district co-workers at FCS and many Ferrisburgh residents should help in her new role.

Beth Bearor

“Beth already has strong working relationships with many members of the FCS staff and administration, and she knows many Ferrisburgh families,” Soule wrote. “While she will finish out the school year in her current role at VUES, we’re working to build in opportunities for her to begin connecting with the FCS community this spring.”

Those opportunities will include coming to FCS for the May 14 Community Morning. Soule said Bearor will also spend May 15 and 16 as the school’s “guest principal,” and “Additional opportunities to meet and get to know Beth will be shared in the coming weeks and throughout the summer.”

Donovan, who was 39 when she took over as FCS principal in the fall of 1992, fell about two months short of working three full academic years at the school. While not commenting on the circumstances of her departure, Donovan said she felt she had a good experience at FCS.

“I can genuinely say I love and appreciate everything about Ferrisburgh Central School, and loved my time there and appreciated my colleagues and the incredible students, and feel really grateful for the opportunity to work in such a special place,” Donovan said.

She added, “I have so much love for the school and the school community, and feel like we made such wonderful strides in terms of being able to meet the ever-changing complexities of student needs … and building strong relationships internally and with the community. And I really felt proud of our team and really excited for the work that we were doing.”

Donovan brought a diverse résumé to FCS, one that includes special education, English and Humanities teaching jobs in Africa, Brooklyn, New Orleans and Guatemala as well as locally. She also earned a law degree while tutoring on the side, was the director of special education at a Texas charter school and a Shelburne residential program for troubled teens.

The Ferrisburgh resident and mother of two daughters had before accepting the FCS position worked locally as a special educator at Middlebury Union Middle School and as the Mount Abraham Unified School District’s Social and Emotional Learning Coordinator.

Donovan has no specific plans, but said she will look for a future in the education sector, as she has for the past two decades.

“I really just love supporting meaningful learning activities and meaningful learning opportunities,” Donovan said. “And also working in a building inside of really healthy and positive communities. It’s really beautiful and, of course, complex work to do that.”

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story reported Rae Donovan had begun her tenure at Ferrisburgh Central in 1991; in fact, she was hired in 1992. The writer apologizes for the error.