Move to Zippel will allow Hallett to focus

     PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — A former guidance counselor-turned-administrator will take the helm of Zippel Elementary School when classes resume tomorrow.
Chris Hallett, who had been the principal at Ashland District School for the last four years, replaces Sharon Brown who retired June 30.
“I’ll now be able to narrow my focus from a pre-K to grade 12 school, where I was in charge of all the state initiatives and everything that was going on, to a grade 3-5 school. I’ll be able to fine-tune my focus by working with just those three grade levels. That was appealing to me,” Hallett said of his decision to accept the Zippel post.
“The move also allows me to have less nights out and be able to spend more time with my family,” he said. “My wife, Andrea, and I have two young kids (Jack, 9, and Emily, 5), and at a pre-K to grade 12 building, you’re out all the time and I was missing out on things that I didn’t want to miss out on. If we had a ball game, I wouldn’t go home. I’d stay through until 5:30 p.m. when the JV game started and then the varsity team would play at 7 p.m. I’d leave at 9 p.m., would be home by 10:30 p.m. and the kids were asleep … I didn’t see them. I did that for six years. It was exhausting.”
Location, Hallett said, was also a factor in his decision to take the new position.
“For six of the years I was in Ashland, I was living in New Sweden. Last year we sold the house in New Sweden and rented here in Presque Isle. We just bought a house in Mapleton and have been living there for a couple of weeks now,” he said. “I’m really appreciating a shorter drive to work as I had been traveling an hour and a half every day.”
Despite the long hours and the commute, Hallett said he thoroughly enjoyed his years in Ashland.
“The faculty and staff, students and the communities were wonderful,” he said, “and they will be missed. Working at Ashland District School was a great experience.”
Originally from Washburn, Hallett graduated from Washburn District High School in 1994. He received his bachelor of science degree in counseling from the University of Maine at Farmington in 1998.
“When I first started working I was not in education,” said Hallett. “I worked in mental health counseling for a little while. In 2000, I was hired as a guidance counselor at Messalonskee High School in Oakland. While at Messalonskee, I got my master’s degree in school counseling from the University of Maine at Orono, and from there I worked online on different programs for my administrative degree.”
From 2005-07, Hallett worked as a guidance counselor at Washburn District High School before becoming the assistant principal/athletic director at Ashland District School. He held that position for three years and then became the school’s principal.
Recognizing that Brown was a “veteran administrator,” Hallett said he plans to let things run their course.
“Unless it’s an obvious thing that needs to be taken care of, everything will pretty much stay as it was when Mrs. Brown was here,” he said. “As a new principal, you’ve got to come in and see how things go and make sure things work for you and then make some changes.
“Right now our focus is on the proficiency-based education system and getting that implemented, as well as the new teacher evaluation system. We don’t have any choice whether we want those to be our goals or not; they’re being mandated by the state,” said Hallett. “As principal, my goal is to come in and get to know my students, parents and teachers, and set up a school where kids want to be at and feel safe, are well taken care of, and are getting a good education.”
The son of Frank and Pam Hallett of Portage Lake, Hallett said he’s looking forward to working with the other administrators in the district.
“In Ashland, we had a small administrative team of three. Here [SAD 1] we have a team of administrators who meet regularly,” he said. “That’s nice to be able to sit around a table with 10-12 other people and talk about these different initiatives and what we need to do as a district in moving forward. I never really experienced that before. I’m looking forward to that.”
Hallett said he’s excited for the school year to begin.
“We’ve got a fantastic staff. We’ve got a few new teachers coming on board, and some who were SAD 1 employees who were working at other schools. We’ve got a really strong veteran staff, and everyone is excited about coming back and excited about the possibility of changes. It’s been a really good vibe,” he said. “As a former guidance counselor, I feel like the foundation of everything has to be built on strong relationships and making connections with people. That’s my focus right now … getting to know everybody and make them feel comfortable with who I am and let them know that I’m here for the kids, that I care about kids, and want them to enjoy coming to school.
“I like being in a school when the kids are here and there are things going on,” said Hallett. “When you’ve been here all summer without kids and teachers, it makes you look forward to getting things going. I’m excited about it. The kids bring life back into a building.”
In his free time, Hallett enjoys following New England sports teams, hunting and fishing.