New Principal Appointed At Stamford Elementary School

STAMFORD, CT — The Stamford Board of Education on Tuesday voted to appoint Sandra Carlton as the new principal of Hart Magnet Elementary School, effective July 1.

Carlton replaces Linda Darling, who is retiring at the end of the month after nearly 50 years with Stamford Public Schools.

"On behalf of the Board of Education and the Stamford Public Schools senior leadership team, I would like to congratulate Sandra on her appointment as principal of Hart Magnet Elementary School," said SPS Superintendent Dr. Tamu Lucero in a prepared statement from the district. "Sandra has served Stamford Public Schools with distinction for nearly 30 years, never more so than this year when she served as interim principal at Scofield Magnet Middle School and Davenport Ridge Elementary School. As a leader, Sandra is a community builder and a strong advocate for her students, teachers, and staff. She will be a tremendous asset to the Hart School Community, and I wish her success in this new role."

Carlton has served as the interim principal at Davenport Ridge Elementary School since April. Prior to joining Davenport, she was assistant principal at Scofield Magnet Middle School, where she served as interim principal from August 2024 to February 2025.

Carlton began her teaching career 29 years ago at Hart Elementary, where she taught second and third grades for five years before moving to the central office to manage the Extraordinary Learner Program. She returned to the classroom as a third grade teacher at Northeast in 2003, and moved to Newfield Elementary as the Instructional Support Teacher (IST) in 2014.

In 2016, Carlton joined the staff of the new Strawberry Hill inter-district magnet school as the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IBPYP) Facilitator.

She was named the administrative intern at Strawberry Hill in 2017 and served as assistant principal from 2019 to 2024.

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Carlton earned a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in education from the University of Connecticut, as well as a master's in educational leadership from the University of Bridgeport.

Carlton is certified in K-6 elementary education (CT 013) and intermediate administration and supervision (CT 092). Shewas a Stamford Public Education Foundation (SPEF) Excellence in Education recipient in 2018 and was the Stamford Teacher of the Year in 2008.

A Stamford native, Carlton is a graduate of Stamford High School.

The school district said the principal vacancy was "filled through a competitive hiring process that attracted candidates from within and outside Stamford Public Schools."

Committees made up of teachers, staff, parents, and community members conducted two rounds of interviews, and the final candidate also met with Lucero and members of the Board of Education, the school district said.