LAKE HUNTINGTON — It's Sullivan West's loss, Croton-Harmon School District's gain as Superintendent of Schools Stephen Walker leaves to take over the reins of the Westchester County school district.

Walker's last day at Sullivan West will be Jan. 3.

“We've been very pleased with Steve Walker,” said Sullivan West School Board President Rose Joyce-Turner. “He's a great leader with a lot of vision. We're happy for him but sad for us.”

Walker arrived at Sullivan West in 2018 after serving as Deputy Superintendent at Suffern Central School in Orange County.

During his tenure here, Joyce-Turner pointed out, Sullivan West created a special middle school wing in the Lake Huntington-based high school, offering seventh and eighth graders a special focus of their own.

“He also ramped up technology,” she added. “We were far behind the eight ball in technology, and then COVID came along, creating a huge challenge.

Walker brought in a new learning platform called Seesaw for the youngest students, particularly pertinent when schools were scurrying to find ways to offer remote learning.

Joyce-Turner added that Walker was instrumental in introducing the social-emotional-wellness program called RULER into the district. RULER teaches students how to recognize, understand, label, express, and regulate emotions so that learning can take place.

This year, the District added an elementary school Spanish course so that even the younger children can learn a foreign language.

Under Walker, “We've also continued to update our facilities,” added Joyce-Turner. “Our baseball field is awesome.”

In a letter to the Sullivan West community, Walker wrote: "It has been a great honor to have worked alongside this talented faculty and staff, administrators, and parent community, under the leadership of the Board of Education, to envision and create new opportunities for our students to find inspiration, challenge and joy in our schools."

He said his move to Croton will allow him to work closer to his family. "During these three and a half years when I found myself far away from my family, so many of you have become like family to me," he said.