THORNDIKE, Maine — There’s going to be a change at the top for Mount View Middle School and Mount View High School, as principals of both schools have announced their intentions to leave at the end of the academic year.
The 11-town school district in western Waldo County already has found someone to take the helm of the middle school, where outgoing principal Martha Witham previously had announced her intention to retire this year, according to Superintendent Heather Perry.
Quinton Donahue, currently a math teacher at Hampden Academy, will technically start his new position at the middle school on July 1, Perry said. The district hired him after a search that began about a month ago, and she said he has been working on making the transition go smoothly even before his start date.
“He’s highly energetic, very positive, highly organized and has excellent teacher leadership experience,” she said Monday. “He’s been great to work with and he’s hit the ground running, absolutely.”
District officials just learned that high school principal Cheri Towle, who is in her third year at the high school, will be stepping down in order to take the same position at Wiscasset High School, which is just 15 minutes from her home.
“That is absolutely fresh information,” Perry said. “We’ll be looking to conduct a hiring process. It likely will take a few weeks. My hope is to have someone in place by the middle to the end of June.”
She said that the district will seek somebody with “great experience” to head the high school, which serves students from Brooks, Freedom, Jackson, Knox, Liberty, Monroe, Montville, Thorndike, Troy, Unity and Waldo.
“We’re seeking somebody … who’s able to really work well and collaboratively with staff to initiate and guide ongoing change processes, and somebody who’s really good at engaging the community in conversations,” Perry said. “We’ve been undergoing some significant change. That’s strenuous in any community or organization.”
Some of the changes are federally or state mandated, including the ongoing switch to proficiency-based education. According to state law, the incoming freshman class should graduate with a proficiency-based diploma. But Perry said the deadline to comply has been extended. She said that Mount View is about a year behind the state statute requirements, and has been working on switching from the traditional grade-based diploma for about three years.
“We feel this is going to have a positive effect on education,” she said. “In fact, we felt that way before the state passed the statute.”
Otherwise, the district is staying focused on having a “really positive” graduation, Perry said, despite the personnel changes that are being made.
“Overall, we’ve got an extremely supportive community and an extremely supportive staff,” Perry said. “Our staff truly cares about kids.”