This article was updated on Nov. 20 at 5:50 p.m.
The Rye City School District has hired Eunice Chao-Forest as the high school’s new assistant principal.
High School Principal Andrew Hara announced Chao-Forest’s appointment in an email to the community on Wednesday morning. Her hiring was approved at a city Board of Education meeting Tuesday night.
Chao-Forest joins the school district after 11 years as an assistant principal in the New York City public schools system. For the past six years, she served as assistant principal and interim principal at the Bronx Academy of Letters, which serves students in grades 6-12.
Chao-Forest’s role in Rye will begin Dec. 18. Her appointment is for a four-year period and comes with an annual salary of $185,000, according to Board of Education documents.
“Throughout the [search] process, Ms. Chao-Forest demonstrated a strong skill set as an instructional leader and administrator, an approachable demeanor and collaborative nature, a proven ability and commitment to building relationships with students, and deep experience working in partnership with teachers and staff,” Hara said in the email.
Chao-Forest has a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a master’s degree in Secondary Science Education from Pace University. She is a former Division I tennis athlete, a concert pianist, fluent in Mandarin, and proficient in Spanish.
Chao-Forest taught high school chemistry and biology as a Teach for America Corps member. She then went on to become the resident principal at Bronx Expeditionary Learning High School, which was part of a year-long school leadership training program.
She lives in Scarsdale with her husband and four children.
Chao-Forest’s hiring is the latest move for a school district in the midst of significant transition.
She follows Interim Assistant Principal Mark Bayer, who was hired over the summer after retiring from his 33-year career in public education. He temporarily took over the role after William Meyer stepped down from his post in June to join the Eastchester school district. Bayer’s contract was set to expire on Jan. 31, 2025.
Hara came on board in August following the abrupt resignation of Suzanne Short in June, who was Rye’s high school principal for two and a half years.
And the school board is also in the process of searching for a new superintendent, following Schools Superintendent Eric Byrne’s announcement in October that he will retire at the end of the school year.
Parents will have an opportunity to meet Chao-Forest on Thursday, Dec. 19, at 10:30 a.m., and on Tuesday, Jan. 7, at p.m. in the Rye Middle School multipurpose room.