SAD 6 school district will be scouring resumes this summer to replace Principal Sheila Jepson, who recently announced her resignation from Bonny Eagle High School.

Jepson will be leaving the largest school administrative district in Maine to become assistant principal at Deering High School in Portland in the fall.

“We consider ourselves incredibly fortunate to take Jepson on,” said Kenneth Kunin, principal at Deering High School.

According to Kunin, it was “good fortune” that brought Jepson to Portland.

“(Jepson) was looking for a new challenge, and we happened to be looking for an experienced educator at the time,” he said.

Jepson, who is eager to begin a new phase of her career, said, “I have worked with supportive, caring teachers and hard-working, student-focused administrators. My experiences in the last 20 years have certainly made me the educator I am today.”

As for her experience in education, Jepson received her bachelor’s degree in special education from the University of Maine at Farmington in 1986, and went on to get her master’s degree in education from Plymouth State College in 1994. In 1986, Jepson began at Bonny Eagle as a special education teacher, became assistant principal in 1997 and principal in 1999.

“I have made some great friends and colleagues while I was at Bonny Eagle,” she said. “I will truly miss them and in my education work and travels I will continue to connect with them often.”

David Hopkins, a member of SAD 6 board of directors, said Jepson, like many in her profession who have worked in one place as long as she has, thought it was time to look for something different.

“She did a wonderful job. She developed a lot of creative programs and now she’s looking to move on. I’m sure she’ll be very successful at Deering,” he said.

David Ezhaya, a social studies teacher who has been at Bonny Eagle for 35 years, has known Jepson since she began her work as a special education teacher.

“I was very happy with her leadership. She’s an innovator. She organized us into a very cohesive group and was able to establish an effective learning plan as well. We’re going to miss her. She was a good leader, and a good friend,” he said.

Class of 2006 President Griffin Sherry said Bonny Eagle will have a tough time finding a suitable replacement for Jepson.

“It’s a shame for the Bonny Eagle community. It’s going to be hard to find a principal that’s going to be as dedicated to the students as she was,” he said.

Griffin said it did not take long to develop a relationship with Jepson when he first attended Bonny Eagle.

“When I first got there, I didn’t really know her… she was seen as the “big, bad guy” because she was the principal, but it didn’t take me long to realize how much she meant to the school,” he said.

However, according to some students, Jepson was a strict principal who could seem distant at times.

“She could have been a lot more personable,” said Emily Larrabee, a 2006 graduate of Bonny Eagle.

“I felt she was a little detached from the students, and she could have been more involved in student life. But it’s also a hard school to manage, and I have to give her credit for that. Hopefully it’ll work out for her (at Deering High School). I wish her the best of luck,” she said.

According to Kunin, a principal’s job “is to be tough,” a characteristic Jepson uses to the advantage of the school.

“Students need to know clearly where the school stands. And Jepson will also use that toughness to advocate for the students. Down the road they’ll say she really helped with their education,” he said.

Jepson said when she looked back on her time spent at Bonny Eagle, there was always one aspect of the school that remained constant.

“While regulations and state and federal requirements have changed, what has not changed in my 20 years is the dedication of the teachers… they have been willing to think beyond the classroom, and have made some great strides in personalizing teaching for the students,” she said.

And as for the students she served, Jepson said they are “involved, thoughtful, and just great kids. I’ve been here for 20 years and I can safely say that our kids stack up against any in the state. They do great things for the community and for the school. I’ll miss them.”

After 20 years at Bonny Eagle High School