Dr. Alicia Henderson, a school superintendent in Northern California the past five years, has been hired to lead the Aberdeen School District.

Henderson accepted the job late Friday night after the School Board voted unanimously earlier in the evening to offer her the position. Contract details are expected to be finalized next week.

“I’m totally impressed with her analytical and critical thinking, and her personal skills were just wonderful,” said School Board President Sandra Bielski. But it was Henderson’s experience as a superintendent that tipped the decision in her favor, Bielski said.

Bielski said Henderson has strong experience in the broad integration of technology in the classroom, experience with special needs students and comes from a district with many low-income families. She also has strong personal skills and can help the district tell its success stories to the community, Bielski said. “She organizes her thoughts really well and speaks well in front of people. Several of the other board members have been wanting someone who would really sell the district. We really do have a lot going on for ourselves, and we just need people to realize that.”

The board interviewed four finalists last week. One took herself out of the running. They deliberated for several hours Friday evening, Bielski said, and the choice quickly narrowed to Henderson and one other.

“Both would be great additions to the district,” Bielski said. “In the end, the one thing that really stood out, was her experience. The other candidate didn’t have experience as a superintendent. … Both of them had a lot of energy and passion.”

Henderson is currently superintendent of Bellevue Union School District in Santa Rosa, Calif., a district of about 1,900 students. She’s in her fifth year as superintendent.

Henderson was also a finalist for the superintendent’s job in Ashland, Ore.

She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Humboldt State University, with emphasis in speech pathology, and a doctorate from the University of California, San Francisco. She worked initially as a speech pathologist and has been a grade school and middle school principal and held several other positions in school administration. Through the University of Southern California, she also has higher level training in business, as it applies to school administration.

According to her Linkedin profile, Henderson has working proficiency in Spanish.