With the promotion of Katie Hawes to the superintendent’s position in July, and interim Superintendent Kevin Crowely returning to his job as principal of Mildred L. Day school, Regional School Unit 21 now has a fresh face in the assistant superintendent’s spot.

Phillip Potenziano, who has previously served as director of pupil services and instructional support in RSU 14, has been tapped for the position, and has an extensive entry learning plan to get to know the Kennebunks – before school starts, and the shovels hit the dirt on the $50 million building renovations.

Potenziano got to know Hawes when she was in Gorham schools through the Sebago Educational Alliance, a voluntary cooperative between Gorham, Windham, Bonney Eagle and Scarborough schools that meets to share best administrative practices.

“I find her to be a real open communicator,” Potenziano said while praising the administrative team of RSU 21 as a whole after attending a few meetings. “I look forward to working with them.”

Before Windham, he worked at Bonney Eagle as a special services co-director, and his career in education stretches back 20 years. He recently finished a doctorate in education at Boston College, and he has high praise for RSU 21.

“It is a great district, high performing, one of the highest performing districts in the state of Maine,” Potenziano said. “I think initial thoughts, you hear repeatedly how staff are committed to students and how the community supports education … and I think the last one is how excited people are about the building projects.”

His new job will be to take up where Hawes left off on programs like Reading Streets and Everyday Math, as well as to provide support to the superintendent on curriculum questions. He says his entry plan will make sure he’s up to speed and familiar with the culture of RSU 21.

“I have a pretty robust entry learning plan … I think I’ve met with about 35 administrative staff and a few community members,” Potenziano said. “Basically it’s an opportunity for an administrator to get to know the district.”

The biggest items on the legislative agenda are what will replace the NECAP state assessment, which he says he will be watching closely. There is a task force investigating alternatives that will convene again in September to provide an update.

“All of us are anxiously waiting for that to happen,” he said.

In the meantime, Potenziano says he will be focused on getting to know as much of the district as possible, and that means hitting the community circuit as much as he can.

“I hope to really integrate into the community as much as I can and participate in as many community activities,” Potenziano said. “Whether that’s a sports game or an arts night or any kind of community function, I’m excited to do it.”