Staff reporter Angela Swartz is stepping into a new role at The Almanac this month.

After five years reporting on education and small towns for the publication, she is becoming editor. She replaces longtime editor Andrea Gemmet, who is departing for Punch Magazine.

"Angela has been a fearless and dedicated reporter, with experience covering nearly every community in The Almanac's circulation area," Gemmet said. "She really knows the territory, which will serve her well as the new editor. I've really enjoyed working with Angela and I'm delighted to be able to transition The Almanac's leadership to a journalist with such deep familiarity with the key issues that will be shaping Atherton, Menlo Park, Portola Valley and Woodside in the years to come."

Swartz covered education and small towns for The Almanac up until December.

"I promise to bring the same enthusiasm, care for accuracy, aim to tell the stories of members of our diverse community and focus on holding those in power to account that Andrea and her predecessors have done since 1965," she said. "As Andrea likes to say, many of the towns in our coverage area are 'small but mighty' and the stories in our coverage area are never boring."

Embarcadero Media's Peninsula Editorial Director Jocelyn Dong said Swartz "brings the kind of well-rounded journalistic experience to the Almanac editorship that will serve readers well."

"She's proven her reporting acumen through enterprise projects like this year's 'Empty desks,' which took a deep dive into the reasons that chronic absenteeism is so high among East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park students."

Swartz, a native of the Peninsula, has been a journalist in the Bay Area for a decade. Her love of city news started in college: She was the editor of the City News desk at University of California at Davis' daily student newspaper, The Aggie.

Swartz previously reported for the San Mateo Daily Journal and Silicon Valley Business Journal, among other publications.

Swartz holds a master's degree in investigative journalism from American University in Washington, D.C., and a bachelor's degree in U.S. history and Spanish from UC Davis.