Hopkins House announces the appointment of Ms. DEBORAH BOATENG-BECKSON to the post of Principal at its Helen Day Preschool Academy in Alexandria, Virginia. Ms. Boateng-Beckson, who is currently Interim Assistant Principal at the academy, will assume this new position immediately. Ms. Boateng-Beckson succeeds Dawn Erausquin who left Hopkins House this past December.   

 

"The timing could not be better," said Hopkins House President J. Glenn Hopkins in announcing the appointment.  The Interim Principal, Ms. Michelle Feh, went into labor this morning and was rushed to the hospital where she delivered a healthy baby boy. "We had two pieces of really good news on this otherwise dreary day: The birth of a new child and the appointment of a new principal for our preschool academy."

 

"I look forward to this new challenge," said Ms. Boateng-Beckson. "I want to bring our educators together and work toward being the very best early care and education program in the area."     

 

Ms. Boateng-Beckson has been with Hopkins House since 2010. She holds a Master's degree in Educational Management and has over 8 years of professional child care experience. She will supervise a staff of 18 professionals.

 

Named after one of the organization's founders, the Helen Day Preschool Academy has a student capacity of 75 young scholars, is fully licensed, open year-round and full day, NAEYC accredited, and Virginia Quality Improvement rated.  In 2010, Northern Virginia Magazine named the academy among the top two in the City of Alexandria and among the top 50 in Northern Virginia.

 

The selection of Ms. Boateng-Beckson came with the unanimous recommendation of a search committee appointed by President Hopkins and chaired by Daniel R. Wilson, President of the Helen Day Preschool Academy Parents Council.  Seven finalists, including Ms. Boateng-Beckson, were chosen from a large pool of applicants. 

 

In addition to Mr. Wilson, the search committee included three other parents of academy students (Michaela Sinclair, Kelley Sparrow, and Crystal Thompson), two academy employees (Annalize Holobaugh and Elizabeth Montford), Hopkins House Chief Operating Officer Alvin T. Butler, Jr. and Trustee Wayne Wright.  

 

In a note to the search committee, President Hopkins thanked the members for their hard work and commented that he found it remarkable that they were able to identify a great candidate so quickly.