WATERVILLE — The principal at a Winterport middle school has been named principal of Waterville Junior High School, beginning July 1.

The Waterville Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to hire Don Roux, 49, of Thorndike to succeed Carole Gilley, who retired this year. Gilley had been principal nine years at the junior high school, which enrolls about 400 students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades.

Roux, now principal at Samuel L. Wagner Middle School in Winterport, said in a telephone interview Tuesday he was drawn to the Waterville Junior High School for several reasons.

“I love the size of the school and the community,” he said. “I’m in Waterville all the time for various activities and so forth. For me, it’s like our go-to spot.”

Roux will be paid an annual salary of $107,000, plus $17,024 in benefits.

Roux grew up in the Somerset County town of Moscow and graduated in 1990 from Upper Valley Kennebec High School in Bingham. He earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education, with a concentration in mathematics, from University of Maine at Farmington in 1994, and a master’s degree in educational leadership from University of Maine in 2004.

Roux has worked in education 27 years, including as a middle school principal for 13 years in Newport-based Regional School Unit 19 and four years in Hampden-based RSU 22.

Roux has been principal at Samuel L. Wagner Middle School in Winterport for the past four years, and before that was principal at Reeds Brook Middle School for two years.

Before working in RSU 22, which includes Frankfort, Hampden, Newburgh and Winterport, he was principal for 13 years at Somerset Valley Middle School in Hartland. Hartland is in RSU 19, which also includes Corinna, Dixmont, Etna, Newport, Palmyra, Plymouth and St. Albans.

Roux started in education as a mathematics teacher at Mount View Junior High School in Thorndike. He was in that job for eight years before being asked to become dean of students at Searsport District High School.

Roux told the Waterville Board of Education on Monday he is certified as a superintendent, assistant superintendent and principal.

Roux and his wife, Lisa, who is principal at Troy and Walker elementary schools in Unity-based Regional School Unit 3, have three children, ages 24, 21 and 16.

Roux said his daughter, a high school student, has spent much time in Waterville for gymnastics, and his son attended Thomas College, also in Waterville.

“It’s almost like a second home to us, in many respects,” he said.

Roux said his father, Lawrence Roux of Moscow, grew up in Waterville, and taking the job at the junior high school feels like coming full circle.

“I remember as a kid coming in to visit my aunts and uncles in Waterville,” said Roux, who plans to invite parents to a meet-and-greet before school begins in the fall.

“I’m looking forward to being able to meet the faculty and the families in the area,” he said.

Roux will be involved in the hiring of an assistant principal at the junior high school to succeed Douglas Frame, who recently became the school district’s facilities director.

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