AMHERST — A new interim principal and assistant principal are in place at Fort River School following the recent departure of the school’s new principal.
Tammy Sullivan-Daley and Julio Fernandez were named to the positions after Michelle Hernandez, who was appointed to the principal position in July following her tenure as assistant principal at the Dr. Marcella R. Kelly School in Holyoke, resigned last month.
Families were notified about the changes in a letter from Superintendent Michael Morris.
“We are pleased to announce that an interim administrative team has been put in place for Fort River Elementary School for the remainder of the 2021-2022 school year,” Morris wrote.
Sullivan-Daley, as interim principal, has been a member of the Fort River faculty since 2003, serving as a special education teacher before being tabbed the interim assistant principal. She earned her master’s degree in education from the University of Massachusetts and has been a leader in inclusive practices.
Fernandez, who assumes the new role Nov. 9, came to the Amherst public schools in 2017, initially as a district translator and paraeducator in the Fort River Building Blocks program and, since 2019, as a special education teacher at Amherst Regional Middle School. He earned a master’s degree in education from Mount Holyoke College.
“We are fortunate to have two well-respected members of the ARPS community, who are familiar with the students, families and staff, able to step into these interim roles for the remainder of the school year,” Morris wrote.
Hernandez had initially dropped out from one of two searches the district conducted to replace Diane Chamberlain, who announced last winter she would be leaving after five years at the helm. But Hernandez reconsidered and assumed the principalship Aug. 2.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
