Sara Dingledy, the principal of Westchester Square Academy in New York city, has been named the new principal of the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School.

Schools superintendent Matthew D’Andrea announced Friday afternoon in a letter to the school community that Ms. Dingledy had accepted an offer of employment.

“Sara impressed me with her emphasis on the core academic 21st century skills,” Mr. D’Andrea told the Gazette Friday afternoon. “With character education she has a strong focus on students, making sure kids are prepared when they leave high school.”

The superintendent said those skills were apparent during a site visit to Ms. Dingledy’s school last Friday. On Tuesday, school leaders visited a school in York, Me., where the other finalist, David Williams, is a former principal.

Ms. Dingledy and Mr. Williams were named the finalists for the position in early January, and visited the Vineyard a few weeks later to tour the school and meeting with community members. A third finalist, David Fabrizio, withdrew his candidacy after opting to remain employed by the Ipswich School district.

“I’m thrilled with the quality of candidates we had and I’m thrilled to have Sara join us,” Mr. D’Andrea said. “I think we’re very fortunate.”

Ms. Dingledy will take the helm after a period of turnover at the regional high school. Previous principal Gil Traverso resigned in August after barely a year on the job; former principal Margaret (Peg) Regan returned this year as interim principal.

Reached by phone Friday in New York, Ms. Dingledy said she quickly accepted the job. While she’s excited to bring new ideas to the table, “I’m most excited to get into a new community and work with new education professionals,” she said.

Ms. Dingledy has been the founding principal at the Westchester Square Academy since 2012, and she has also worked as an assistant principal at the Brooklyn Latin School and a teacher at the Martin Luther King Jr. High School in New York. She and her family have spent summers on the Island.

She said she plans to move to the Vineyard in July with her husband and two children, and spend time before school starts learning more about the Island and the school.

“There’s a lot of learning to do any time you go into a community,” she said.

Ms. Dingledy said she is also excited for her children to enter Vineyard schools. “I’m excited on a personal level to plug into the Island community as a parent,” she said.

In his letter to the community, Mr. D’Andrea said Ms. Dingledy “received tremendous support from those who both served on the search committee and those who had the opportunity to meet her when she visited the high school.”

Mr. D’Andrea said there will be opportunities for the community to meet with Ms. Dingledy when she first starts, and praised the assistant superintendent Richard Smith and the principal search committee for finding highly qualified candidates.

He added: “It’s great to have it completed, and to have someone with the quality of Sara Dingledy, I’m thrilled, I’m honestly thrilled.”