BETHEL — Gould Academy has hired accomplished private school financial administrator Beth McWilliams as the new chief financial officer, effective July 1.

McWilliams will leave the Hillside School, a junior boarding school in Marlborough, Mass., where she has spent the last four years leading their business office. Prior to the Hillside School, McWilliams worked as chief financial officer for Gallup Financial LLC, an independent investment consulting start-up in Scottsdale, Ariz.

She is a graduate of Gannon University where she received a bachelor of science degree in accounting in 1990. In 2000 she earned her master of business administration degree from Robert Morris University.

McWilliams will succeed Peter Rackliffe, who has provided more than three decades of exemplary service to Gould Academy as a teacher, adviser, coach and chief financial officer.