RSU 29 has looked within for its next high school principal.
Tim Tweedie, a longtime employee of the district, was named the Houlton Middle-High School principal on Monday by the RSU 29 school board during an online board meeting.
“I am incredibly humbled and appreciative of this opportunity,” Tweedie said. “At this point in time, my focus remains on guiding us through the rest of this school year, whatever that may look like. My hopes are that we will be able to resume at some point this spring, as I’d really like to see all of the students again … especially the seniors.
“Of course, we have to wait for guidance from the Department of Education and the CDC before any of those decisions can be made. For now, we are focused on remote learning and I look forward to supporting the staff in this endeavor,” he said.
For the past two years, Tweedie has served as the assistant principal for the high school. Prior to that, he was a high school social studies teacher for 12 years and department chairperson for 11 years.
In addition, Tweedie served as the varsity girls soccer coach at Houlton for 14 seasons (2004-2018), helping the Shires win a state championship in 2017.
Tweedie replaces Jim Hodgkin as principal. The two became administrators at the high school starting with the 2018-19 school year. Hodgkin was named superintendent of Winthrop Public School in March.
“We are very pleased that Tim has accepted our offer to become high school principal,” RSU 29 Superintendent Ellen Halliday said. “He is a veteran member of the RSU 29 staff and brings years of experience within this district as a teacher, administrator and coach. He knows the district and the community very well and his dedication to this district is well-known. He will be a terrific leader.”
Tweedie said the school community should not expect to see any significant changes with him as the new principal.
“What we need the most right now, during these uncertain times, is stability, and I hope to provide some of that, along with our other district leaders, particularly [Superintendent] Halliday,” he said. “I am also very appreciative of Jim Hodgkin’s guidance and support over the past two years and I wish him well in his new position in Winthrop.”
The district will seek an assistant principal to fill the spot vacated by Tweedie.
