Geoffrey Hewitt, an administrator in the South Hunterdon Regional School District, has been chosen to become the next principal of the Ben Franklin Elementary School.
Hewitt was appointed by the Lawrence Township Public Schools Board of Education at a special meeting July 19. He was chosen from among an initial field of 35 applicants that was whittled down to three finalists.
Hewitt replaces Principal Jay Billy, whose last day in the district is Aug. 4. Billy accepted the principal’s job at the Bear Tavern Elementary School in the Hopewell Valley Regional School District.
Hewitt will earn $161,000 in his new job. His starting date has not been determined. Clifton J. Thompson III, the school district’s director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, will fill in as acting principal in the interim.
Hewitt began his educational career as a middle school science teacher in the Flemington-Raritan School District. He later became the vice principal at the Barley Sheaf Elementary School in that district.
Hewitt became a principal in the preK-6 Lambertville Public School District. When it merged with three neighboring school districts to become the South Hunterdon Regional School District, he became its preK-12 director of Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction as well as the Stockton Borough School principal.
Hewitt earned a bachelor’s degree in animal biology and a secondary teaching certificate in biology and general science from Delaware Valley University in Doylestown, Pa.
He also earned a master’s degree in educational leadership and a principal’s certificate from Delaware Valley University.