BRUNSWICK

Brunswick High School has a new principal who says he plans to be visible.

“Every morning when school starts they’ll see this face attached to this body at the door,” Troy Henninger told The Times Record on Wednesday after the school board unanimously authorized Superintendent Paul Perzanoski to negotiate a two-year contract with him.

“It’s important for the kids to know that someone in the school starts the day and if the first person they see is me, I’m absolutely thrilled,” Henninger added.

Henninger, 51, was selected from among three finalists by a search committee.

Henninger was previously headmaster for the Boston Latin Academy, a school of 1,800 students, where he’s worked since 2014. Prior to that, he served as the assistant principal at Cape Elizabeth High School for nine years. Previously, he worked in Osceola County, Florida, for 15 years.

“I’ve been in administration for 18 years and a classroom teacher for 11 years,” he said.

So what draws him to serve as principal of a high school?

“From the teaching standpoint, it’s the developmental thing — meeting the ninth grader, seeing the metamorphosis that takes place, and then the graduation and seeing how they do after that.”

The right position

Henninger said he loved working in Boston and could have continued working there. Many other positions were available in Maine, too. He didn’t apply to any of them because it had to be the right position.

“Brunswick, its mission and its vision, speaks to me,” he said, “and I think my experiences in Cape Elizabeth, and Florida and Boston and now here, really lends itself. I think Brunswick is the mix of all three of those places and I really feel that this is where I can be of service and help and carry on the great work that’s being done here.”

Another key piece that drew him to Brunswick is the strong community support for their schools, as well as the school board members vested in making sure they operate a comprehensive high school.

“That’s a big attraction for many people, whether they’re moving to the community or they live here now; having a comprehensive high school,” Henninger said. “It’s a big, big, big selling piece to kids, a big selling piece in real estate, a big selling piece in businesses — that the public school that their kids are going to is comprehensive.”

Despite budget cuts, he sees the school district continuing to commit money to kids so they can attend a comprehensive school that funds arts, athletics and academics.

Henninger said he doesn’t plan to make any significant changes soon. He’ll start by listening to students, faculty, community and school board members. He also will look at where the school is academically and financially. He plans to work with the superintendent tackling areas needing to be addressed.

“Those pieces will happen over time, but the first go-round will really be — let’s get fine-tuned and see what’s really happening,” he said.

Henninger lives in Portland and plans to commute to Brunswick.

“The energy of being in high school, after all these years, it’s still fun,” he said. “I still have a good time. Cafeteria duty is still fun.”

Before Henninger

Former principal Shanna Crofton served from July 2014 through this May. She planned to leave her post at the end of the last school year to become curriculum coordinator. She began maternity leave early so the school department brought in Anne Cass to serve as interim principal until the end of the school year.

Crofton came on board after a period of repeated leadership turnover at the school following the retirement in 2011 of Bruce Cook, who had a lengthy tenure.

She took the reins from interim principal Peter Dawson, who has taken over from acting principal Donna Borowick, who was filling the position vacated by former principal Art Abelmann. Abelmann resigned in May 2013 after less than a year on the job.

dmoore@timesrecord.com