Schools ready for new year

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    DOVER-FOXCROFT — With classes starting on Wednesday, Aug. 27 for students at the SeDoMoCha Elementary and Middle School, administrators and others have been busy getting the school ready for the start of the new academic year. Updates on a number of such happenings were presented during a school board meeting on Aug. 5.

    “I would like to get a sign on the roadway as you come in,” Superintendent Bob Lucy, who assumed the position at the start of July, said. He said a sign that at one time was set to be part of the elementary school construction back in 2007 was located and “we have all the pieces from that sign.” Lucy added that in talking with the contractor, Bowman Constructors of Newport, he was able to have the original sign blueprints sent to him.
    “I’m excited about this because I think it would be great to put up,” he said, saying an attachment could be placed on the sign to promote SeDoMoCha events. “I think it would be a nice addition to our school complex.”
    Lucy said he talked with Bowman Constructors and they recommend Johnson Foundations of Dover-Foxcroft to install the sign. “The estimate I got would be no more than $2,700,” he said, with these monies coming from the minor capital projects account. When asked, Lucy said the sign may not have been erected seven years prior due to uncertainty then of where the Harrison Avenue sidewalks would be installed.
    The school board gave Lucy the go-ahead to proceed, and the sign should be in place prior to the return of students at the end of the month.
    “The major project, as you know, was to replace the metal facade on our middle school area,” Lucy said about other campus work. He said the old metal has been replaced, and the new metal should all be installed by the middle of the month. Lucy said the former art area is being converted to have space for both a regular classroom, such as for grade 5 students this year, as well as for a new art space.
    Lucy said applications are being gathered and interviews are being conducted for a grade 5 position, and he said he learned that the librarian position will need to be advertised. He suggested the board have a special meeting prior to the regular Sept. 2 session for the directors to formally vote on any hires.
    “I can’t say with absolute certainty we would have a librarian in a couple of weeks,” Lucy said, saying a recommendation on a grade 5 teacher is the more likely of the two positions to be ready for a possible Aug. 19 meeting.
    Special Services Director Sue Watson said in her report that there was one staff resignation, but the position was set to be filled later in the meeting. The board would go on to accept the superintendent’s recommendation of Danelle Bozzelli as a special education teacher.
    Lucy said Bozzelli worked in neighboring SAD 4 the year before after previously being in RSU 68. He said she also has taught in Kansas and Arizona and “I think she is a good match for this position.”
    “We are working hard to put a pictorial tour of SeDoMoCha on our website,” Watson said, which can help new students learn about the premises in advance of classes. “How does lunch work at SeDoMoCha, where are the bathrooms, where do I hang my coat up? Those are the kind of things all kids worry about, not just special education students,” Watson said.
    “It’s going to be a work in progress,” she said, as snippets will be placed on the website when finished and the hope is to include middle school students in future clips.
    “It’s hard to believe kids will be here in 22 days,” SeDoMoCha Principal Julie Kimball said to start her presentation. “Our teachers are back at it as you can imagine,” she said, with the faculty getting their classrooms ready and making other preparations.
    “A huge thank you to our office staff and custodians for all the work done over the summer,” Kimball said. “They are really dedicated to getting things ready for the first day.”
    When asked, Kimball and Watson said the current enrollment numbers for kindergarten and pre-kindergarten are 66 and 44 respectively but both totals — particularly kindergarten — could increase in the final weeks of summer.
    Open houses for the two youngest grades are scheduled for Monday, Aug. 25 with kindergarten at 3:30 p.m., the morning pre-K class at 4:30 and then the afternoon pre-K session at 5. An open house for grades 1-8 is tentatively set for the evening of Monday, Sept. 8.
    In other business, Monson school board representative Joel Pratt said that his family has purchased a home in Dover-Foxcroft and he would be resigning from his position. When asked, Pratt said the Aug. 5 meeting would be his last.
    The meeting was the first for Lucy as superintendent, and school board member Chris Maas asked that the board officially welcome Lucy. “I’m very much enjoying the job and looking forward to working with all of you,” Lucy said, saying he has been in the position for about five weeks.
    Seven positions were appointed for the fall athletic season at SeDoMoCha Middle School. These are Ashley Jackins, athletic director; Gayle Allen, field hockey coach; Jessica Ellis, assistant field hockey coach; Davis Murray, boys soccer coach; Alexis Coleman, girls soccer coach; Matthew Spooner, football coach; and Michael Niles, assistant field hockey coach.
    The school also reelected Rich Johnston as chair and Jenny Chase as vice chair.