Tom Tolen / news@whmi.com


Hilton Elementary School in Brighton will have a new principal for the fall term.

At its regular meeting this week, the Brighton Board of Education unanimously appointed Erin Belanger, a 4th grade teacher at Hornung Elementary School, to be Hilton’s new principal. Belanger has been at Hornung for the past five years.

Belanger told WHMI she is “thrilled with the opportunity to be the principal at Hilton.” Although originally from Kalamazoo, Belanger taught in California for several years before coming back to Michigan to be closer to her family, and says she has been “working toward becoming a principal even before teaching in California.”

In introducing her to the board this week, Superintendent Matthew Outlaw said that Belanger “has such great skills, (is) smart and talented, and has a quiet strength.” Furthermore, Outlaw said, “People listen to her because they respect her, and she’s an instructional leader…a teacher leader.”

There were originally 29 candidates, out of which 14 were invited by a committee to be interviewed. That figure was narrowed down to four semi-finalists who were given interviews by a committee composed of teachers and administrators. Those people were whittled down to two finalists, with Belanger getting the nod as the committee’s recommendation for the position. On Monday night, the board approved the hiring of Belanger on a unanimous, 7-0 vote.

Belanger received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Michigan State University and her master’s from MSU in curriculum and school psychology. She got her administration certification — a two-year program with internship — at Eastern Michigan University. Belanger will replace Hilton Principal Cody Rudolph, who will become a grade level principal next fall at Scranton Middle School.

Belanger is married, and she and her husband, Ted, have a 6-month infant son.