MONKTON — Monkton Central School students will see a new principal walking the halls next year.
The Monkton School Board on June 12 voted unanimously to appoint Betsy Knox as interim principal. Current principal Susan Stewart is taking a one-year unpaid leave.
Knox earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the State University of New York and is licensed in Vermont as an elementary school English and language arts specialist.
Knox has a decade of classroom teaching experience, and has also taught literacy courses and supervised student teachers at the University of Vermont, Addison Northeast Supervisory Union Superintendent David Adams said.
For the past 10 years, Knox has worked as a literacy coordinator at Hinesburg Community School.
Knox will begin as principal on July 1, the start of the 2015 fiscal year.
Stewart broke the news of her leave to parents in the school’s May newsletter.
 “MCS is a very special place,” Stewart said. “Your support, first of your children, also of the teachers and staff, of the school’s budget and of the school as a whole is an invaluable asset that contributes to the overall success of Monkton Central School.”
In the June newsletter, Stewart said she has accepted a one-year teaching position, and that she looked forward to returning to the classroom.
 “Walking in the shoes of a classroom teacher again will definitely refocus my practice as a principal,” Stewart wrote. “I expect to gain fresh perspective on professional educational practice — both teaching and administrating — while the Monkton Central School community has an opportunity to refocus some of its energy.”
Stewart said she intends to return to MCS for the 2015-16 school year. She did not respond by press time to requests for more details about her new teaching position.