Dr. Karolyn Dahlstrom, principal of Middlesex Middle School, will be resigning effective June 30 to accept a new position with North Branford School District, Darien Schools Superintendent Alan Addley announced Monday.
Her replacement will become the ninth top administrator of one of three of Darien schools in just over a year, as principals and interim principals are coming and going from Ox Ridge and Hindley elementary schools and now Middlesex Middle School.
Photo from Karolyn Dahlstrom's page on LinkedIn
Middlesex Middle School Principal Karolyn Dahlstrom is resigning, effective June 30, to become principal of Branford Intermediate School in Branford.
Dahlstrom will become the next principal of North Branford Intermediate School.
Darien Public Schools will immediately post a permanent principal vacancy with a July 1, 2024 start date and a full search will commence,” Addley said in an email to Middlesex staff and parents. “Staff and parents will be part of the interview and selection process. I will keep the Middlesex Middle School community apprised as we move through the processes of appointing a new principal.”
Middlesex school administrators will be working together during the final six weeks of school “to ensure a smooth and successful end of the school year for students, staff and families,” Addley wrote.
“We thank Mrs. Dahlstrom for her dedicated service and leadership over the past three years and wish her continued success in her new educational endeavor,” Addley said.
Nine Darien Principals/Interim Principals for Three Schools in Just Over a Year?
You can’t tell the principals without a program:
Dahlstrom is the third of seven principals or interim principals in the school district to have announced a resignation this year: Two of Darien’s five elementary school principals/interim principals — at Ox Ridge School and Hindley School — resigned and will be replaced on July 1.
MIDDLESEX (2)
When Dahlstrom [1] is replaced by an interim principal or principal this summer, that person [2] will be the ninth top administrator of a Darien school in just over a year.
HINDLEY (3)
Ross Cooper [3] has been appointed to run Hindley School. Former Hindley Principal Keri Snowden [4] resigned in March to become the director of teaching, learning and assessment for Regional School District No. 12 in northern Connecticut. Hindley Assistant Principal Jennifer D’Amico [5] temporarily replaced her as interim principal.
OX RIDGE (4)
Chris Melillo [6] will be the next principal of Ox Ridge School. Former Principal Melissa Kay [7] resigned last fall and was replaced by interim Principal Harry Laub [8]. Kay resigned in November 2023 “for personal and professional reasons,” she said. She had replaced Luke Forshaw [9] on July 1, 2023, after he left the district for a job at Cooperative Educational Services.
When Melillo officially becomes principal, he will be the fourth top administrator of Ox Ridge in just over a year.