MIDDLEBURY — A 14-member committee has begun the search for a new Middlebury Union High School principal whom they hope to appoint this coming January.
The new administrative leader will succeed longtime MUHS Principal Bill Lawson. Lawson, who took the helm of MUHS in 1995, announced his retirement plans this past August in order to give Addison Central School District officials ample time to recruit his replacement.
MUHS, and indeed all schools in the Addison Central School District, are transitioning to the International Baccalaureate program. That switchover is slated to be done by next June, and Lawson, 71, realized the importance of installing a new MUHS leader with IB experience.
“It gets us in a position to have a strong candidate pool,” ACSD Superintendent Peter Burrows said.
District officials — including Burrows — believe the ACSD’s IB curriculum could serve as an inducement for prospective candidates for the MUHS job. The search committee has green-lighted an advertisement that will attract eyes throughout the country, including on websites that cater to administrators who specialize in IB. Burrows said the MUHS job could even attract applicants from other countries, given the global reach of IB.
The new panel held its first meeting on Oct. 7, and will begin screening applications when it reconvenes in December, according to a tentative timetable released by the ACSD. Plans call for the panel to pick a finalist by mid-January, which would allow the new hire to get some on-the-job tutelage from Lawson.
Search committee members include: Peter Burrows (chair/administrator), Victoria Jette (ACSD board), Catherine Dieman (MUHS administration), Cindy Atkins (IB coordinator), Courtney Krahn (IB coordinator), Kate Carroll (teacher), Lea Stannard (teacher), Brooke Jette (staff), Sarah Soule (staff), Kyle Mitchell (student), Fairley Olson (student), Lisa Rader (parent), Jason Duquette-Hoffman (parent).
“We’re excited to begin the process of talking to people and envisioning what’s to come,” Burrows said.
Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].