Superintendent Ziggy Robeson is thrilled with her replacement.

At Monday’s Ripon Unified school board meeting, she introduced Cheryl Griffiths as the new principal at Colony Oak Elementary School.

Robeson spent the past year as principal at the kindergarten- through- eighth- grade campus before moving to the district’s top administrative post.

Griffiths is looking forward to her new job, having spent the past eight years as principal/superintendent at Knights Ferry School.

“My goal is to make this as smooth a transition as possible as well as becoming an integral active member of Colony Oak, RUSD and the community,” she said.

Robeson indicated that Knights Ferry, a small K-8 district in Stanislaus County, as being very similar to RUSD with “high expectations and a continuous API above the state goal of 800,” she said.

In the spring of 2013, Knights Ferry, in the last year of California Standards Tests, scored second in the region in Math and placed ninth in Language Arts.

“I’m excited and eager to get started (at Colony Oak),” Griffiths said. “I’m looking forward to meeting all of the staff, students, parents and community members – the few I’ve met so far have been very welcoming.”

She has an education career spanning 18 years, with the first 10 as a teacher.

As the sole administrator at Knights Ferry, Griffiths – she lives in Jamestown with her husband, Kirt (they have two grown children in Amanda, 25, and Colton , 23, along with two grandchildren) – fully understands some of the recent changes in education, from the Local Control Funding Formula and Local Accountability Plan to Common Core implementation and Smarter Balanced Assessments.

She’s managed to do that while maintaining the goal of educating students.

“You have to ask, ‘what’s best for students?’” said Griffiths, who, as an educator, believes it’s important to work with all stakeholders to better ensure that the needs of all students are met.

What’s her impression thus far of her new surroundings?

“Everything I’ve heard and read about Ripon has led me to believe that this is a family-oriented community – it’s one of the main reasons that attracted me to this position,” Griffiths said. “I’m looking forward to becoming a part of that family.”