Sonoma school district announces new hires

The Sonoma Valley Unified School District has announced the hiring of new staff for two key positions.

Dawn Mawhinney has been selected as the director of educational services and Maureen Vanderpool has been named director of special education.

Mawhinney joins SVUSD from Cotati-Rohnert Park, where she served as the principal of Technology High School. In addition to her five years of administrative experience at the secondary level, Mawhinney has also been a high school social studies teacher. She has been an administrator at all levels of public education from transitional kindergarten through the 12th grade, where she led various district and site curriculum research projects. She currently serves on the statewide curriculum council for California.

“Ms. Mawhinney brings extensive TK-12 knowledge and leadership to our district,” said SVUSD Associate Superintendent Elizabeth Kaufman in an announcement about the new hires. “We are excited to welcome to our team a leader with a positive track record of facilitating curriculum and instructional effort and adoptions at all levels of a public education system.”

Vanderpool comes to Sonoma Valley by way of Monterey County, where she recently served that community as the director of special services, including special education. Vanderpool has served the special education community for 20 years, focusing on inclusion, achievement for all students, student advocacy, compliance and policy.

“Ms. Vanderpool brings a collaborative approach and successful track record of working tirelessly on behalf of all students with a focus on inclusion, effective Tier 1 instruction, and strategic supports,” Kaufman said.

Both staffing decisions will be made official at the regularly scheduled Board of Trustees meeting on Aug. 17.

Contact Kate Williams at kate.williams@sonomanews.com