Hallett named new Zippel principal

     PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Christopher Hallett was approved at the May 14 SAD 1 board meeting as the new principal at Zippel Elementary School.
Hallett, who presently serves as the principal of Ashland District School, will replace Sharon Brown who will retire effective June 30.
Also during the brief meeting, which preceded the district-wide budget meeting, Superintendent Gehrig Johnson shared that he has received the 2014 school report cards from the Maine Department of Education.
According to the department’s website, the grading system “was launched last year by Gov. Paul LePage’s Administration, which believes that when parents and the public are informed and involved in schools, students benefit. Using a familiar A-F scale and based on math and reading proficiency, student growth and graduation rates, the report cards bring transparency to existing performance data.”
Grades for SAD 1 schools are: Zippel (D), Mapleton Elementary School (C), Presque Isle Middle School (C) and Presque Isle High School (B). Pine Street Elementary School students are not tested, therefore the school did not receive a grade.
“PIHS was the only high school north of Bangor that received a B, so we’re happy about that,” said Johnson. “Aroostook County did not do well … Cs, Ds and Fs. However, we know that this is tied to the socio-economic system and the wealth of communities. The poorer grades are concentrated in the poorer communities.”
One staff transfer was also announced at the meeting. Joel Hall will leave his seventh-grade English/social studies position at PIMS to teach social studies at the high school.
Directors also accepted the retirement of Anne Blanchard, principal at PIMS, effective June 30.
The next regular SAD 1 board meeting will be Wednesday, June 11 at 5:30 p.m. in the board conference room at PIHS.