TOPSHAM

School Administrative District 75’s administration, staff and volunteers have been busy getting the district’s seven schools ready for the first day of school on Monday, Aug. 31.

In many cases, students will meet new faces, come next week. Former Mt. Ararat Middle School Principal Bill Zima departed from SAD 75 to become superintendent for Regional School Unit 2 and former Assistant Principal Don Baker retired after 25 years with the district.

A former SAD 75 assistant principal, Josh Ottow, will be nominated for the middle school principal position at the school board meeting tonight. Ottow has served as an assistant principal at Yarmouth High School for the last four years. Prior, he was an assistant principal at Mt. Ararat High School for four years.

“His familiarity with the district will be extremely helpful in this unique transition year,” said Superintendent Brad Smith.

The other half of the new leader- ship team at the middle school is Assistant Principal Megan Hayes Teague, who comes to the district from RSU 2, where she worked as a K-12 assistant principal.

Also coming from RSU 2 is Ryan Keith, now at the helm of Bowdoin Central School following the retirement of former principal George Jenkins. Keith was an assistant principal and is excited about moving into the principal role.

Amy Hall, previously at Woodside Elementary School, has been selected as the K-5 Special Education coordinator. She will support personnel and programs for children with a variety of learning and behavioral needs. Bowdoinham Community School fifth-grade teacher Steve Howe has moved into the position of assistant principal and RTI (Response to Intervention) strategist at Woodside.

“Leadership is critical in creating effective schools,” Smith said. “After teaching, school leadership ranks as the second most important school factor in student achievement.”

Mt. Ararat High School students will likely notice the most change when they funnel back through the front doors of the school. The three dual-classroom portable buildings that have been at the school for several years have been removed. This required administrators to find spaces for the six math teachers and a program moving from the middle school.

“We did a reallocation of space throughout the building in order to make sure that math teachers were in groups so they could collaborate based on content area,” said Donna Brunette, principal of the high school.

Available space was found, though it’s not ideal space, Brunette said.

“The demographics have changed here, so our enrollment numbers have declined over the last few years,” Brunette said.

There was also concern about the condition of the portables after a snowstorm last year forced the school to vacate the structures, according to Brunette. The district was concerned about the stability of the roughly 20-yearold portables it was leasing.

Doing away with the structures should save the district about $35,000 the first year and closer to $45,000 over the next two years.

Brunette said work has been done to make sure spaces that were open now have a secure wall with an opening, as opposed to a flimsy divider. The district had materials donated by Atlantic Regional Federal Credit Union.

Everyone starts school Aug. 31, but Brunette said there is a freshmen orientation day at the high school Friday from 1-3 p.m. The students will be hosted by National Honor Society students and administrators and others will be available to answer questions for parents.

Bowdoinham Community School was spruced up over the summer. Halls and several classrooms were painted by volunteers in town using paint provided by the district.

Principal Chris Lajoie said the school’s Arts Alive elective program is expanding this year to include various related electives that will allow the school to put on a musical — which may include courses on elements like set design or auditioning.

Smith said the district is implementing a new mathematics program called enVisionmath2.0.

“We believe this program will do a better job in providing our teachers with a consistent approach to teaching mathematics,” Smith said.

The emphasis on student attendance will continue, Smith said, because while most students miss only a handful of days during a school year, some children are missing 18 or more days per year.

“Not only do these days add up year after year, but the cumulative impact on learning is clearly evident,” Smith said.

And SAD 75 will again adjust to a state assessment change now that Maine will no longer use Smarter Balanced Assessment.

“As of yet, we do not know what will be used to measure student progress toward Maine’s learning standards,” Smith said. “We will also continue to pilot the teacher and administrative evaluation system (PEPG), and focus on proficiency-based education. These initiatives, under the leadership of Assistant Superintendent Dan Chuhta, will continue to include professional development for staff and communication with parents and community.”

dmoore@timesrecord.com