The Peekskill City School District Board of Education has appointed Sherrill Murray-Lazarus the new principal of Peekskill High School. She replaces retiring principal Vincent Burruano.

Murray-Lazarus is the first woman to serve as the high school's principal.

Said Murray-Lazarus, "I bring a lot of energy and enthusiasm to Peekskill and I want to build bridges and make connections."

Murray-Lazarus brings many years of teaching and administration experience to her new position. She served as principal of the Roy C. Ketcham Senior High School in the Wappingers Central School District from 2003-2009. She was Ketcham's assistant principal from 1996 to 1998 and then Wappingers District Coordinator of Social Studies and Second Language from 1998 to 2003.

During her tenure, Ketcham and its 2,000 students frequently earned regional recognition as a "Hudson Valley's Best" High School.

Prior to her career in administration, Murray-Lazarus began her teaching career in Newburgh as a Spanish teacher.  In addition to speaking English, Murray-Lazarus speaks four languages, Spanish,French,Italian and Hebrew.

Murray-Lazarus graduated from SUNY Oswego and received two graduate degrees from SUNY New Paltz. She is a doctoral candidate in educational administration at North Central University.