The new principal at Poland Community School puts the focus on children.
POLAND – Carolyn Johnson, the new principal of Poland Community School, has introduced a principle of her own.
Cooperation, safety and responsibility were already established standards. To that list she has added “kindness.”
Be nice, she told the school’s 465 students on the first day. It will make the entire school a happier place, she promised.
It’s a place that Johnson is still getting to know.
The native Pennsylvanian took over this summer after principal Peter Campbell left to find work as a superintendent. For Johnson, the timing was perfect.
For the past five years, she had served as the principal of the Dunn School, a few miles away in New Gloucester. However, that school system was beginning a reorganization which would have sent her to another school.
It was a good time to look around, to see what else was available. The Poland Community School, still settling after a renovation and expansion, seemed like a good fit.
When she spoke with people here, they emphasized their aim to do whatever was right for the children who attend the school. That included people within the school, parents and members of the school committee.
As a principal, Johnson felt a certain kinship with that thinking. There can be many distractions to running schools, but the focus must always be on the children, she said.
Johnson, who turned 51 on Wednesday, began work as a teacher when her son was old enough to go to school. At the time, they were living in Wyoming, where her husband, a member of the U.S. Air Force, was stationed.
She taught in the third, fourth and fifth grades, first in Wyoming and then in several southern Maine towns. She became a principal to help more kids.
“I know it sounds corny, but I believed I could make a difference for more children,” she said.
And though she’s the boss, she still considers herself a teacher. She still maintains a daily connection with children.
“I’m in the classroom on a daily basis,” she said. “I’m a teacher in the building.” She doesn’t teach classes, but she sits in every day, sometimes becoming part of classroom discussions.
She wants the children to learn who she is, to want to visit her.
“I don’t want to be just the person you see when you’ve done something wrong,” she said.
dhartill@sunjournal.com
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