WATERVILLE — After spending four years as assistant principal at Waterville Senior High School, Carole Dodge now has her own school to run.
Dodge, 52, was named principal of Waterville Junior High School this week, replacing Mick Roy, who resigned last month to become principal at Bonny Eagle High School in Standish.
Dodge, whose annual salary will be $81,521, is no stranger to the junior high; she was assistant principal there for 1 1/2 years before moving on to the high school.
“I’m so excited to be back,” Dodge said from her office Thursday. “The staff here at the junior high are so terrific. They have welcomed me with open arms. I’ve received nothing but positive feedback.”
The day of Dodge’s job interview, July 11, was anything but typical.
She was admitted to the hospital three days earlier, July 8, with a painful gall bladder attack. She had surgery the next day for a blocked duct, but she still needed her gall bladder removed, she said.
“They couldn’t do it on Sunday, so they scheduled it for Monday, but I told them I couldn’t do it because I had an interview. My doctor did release me from the hospital to do my interview and I had my gall bladder out the next day, on Tuesday.”
Such devotion is one of the things Superintendent Eric Haley thinks set Dodge apart from the other 25 applicants for the job. Haley said four of the candidates, including Dodge, were interviewed by a search committee that included Haley, as well as a parent, two teachers, two members of the Board of Education and the junior high principal’s secretary.
Dodge showed a lot of enthusiasm for the position, he said.
“I think what played out well for her was the 1 1/2 years she spent at the school,” he said. “She was well-liked and did a great job.”
The School Board on Monday voted 5-0 to hire Dodge, he said. Two board members were absent from the meeting.
Dodge said Thursday that, having worked at the junior high before, she knows what students need at that level. The school houses students in grades 6-8.
“Hopefully, I can help make the transition from junior high to high school easier for students,” she said.
Dodge said she enjoyed working at the high school, where she had a great relationship with both Principal Don Reiter and Guidance Director Brenda Holt.
“She has been doing some transitioning work with the junior high this year and we just want to continue that,” she said.
Dodge said she also will meet soon with Albert S. Hall School Principal Harriet Trafford to discuss transitioning fifth graders from that school to the junior high.
Dodge started her career in education in 1982, teaching music in Surry. She taught music at schools on Mt. Desert Island and in Pittsfield before becoming choral director for Waterville schools in 1990. She directed the singing group, The Adelines, for 12 years at Waterville Senior High School.
 A search already is on for a new assistant principal at the junior high to replace Kristen Gilbert, who resigned in June to take the principal’s job at Warsaw Middle School in Pittsfield.
A search committee also is working to find a suitable replacement for Dodge at the high school, according to Haley.

Amy Calder — 861-9247
acalder@centralmaine.com

 


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.