Dr. George Cunningham is giving plenty of advance notice.
By Gail Geraghty
Staff Writer

FRYEBURG – Dr. George Cunningham told the SAD 72 Board of Directors Wednesday he will retire as superintendent effective June 30, 2005.

In an interview on Thursday, Cunningham said he wanted to give the district plenty of time to plan for the transition and choose his successor.

“I wanted to give everybody an opportunity to plan,” he said. “Just to make it clear this is my last contract.”

There has been no discussion by the board regarding the upcoming search process.

Cunningham, 67, looks forward to spending “more time on the ski slopes and in the outdoors in general,” he said in a news release. He and his wife live in Fryeburg, and have a camp on lake Webster in New Hampshire.

He also plans to catch up on some reading and writing he has long been putting off.

He said he also wants to spend more time with his family and grandchildren in Rochester, N.Y., and in Charlotte, N.C.

Cunningham has been an educator for 46 years, serving as a high school English teacher, a director of curriculum, a college professor, and as superintendent of schools in New York and Connecticut, as well as 12 years at SAD 72.

During his time in the district, Cunningham developed the district’s current ARISE curriculum, which integrates all teaching efforts and encourages teacher growth through the Applications/Reform in Secondary Education model.

“The district has, in this regard, gained state-wide recognition and a reputation as one of the more advanced school systems of the state,” Cunningham said.

Other innovations that Cunningham brought to the district include an outdoor environmental education model program in partnership with the Tin Mountain Conservation Center in Conway, N.H.; adoption of the Reading Recovery program, and providing a training site for teacher interns.

Cunningham serves on the board of directors of the New England Association of School Superintendents. He is a former president of the Fryeburg Area Rotary Club and a Paul Harris Fellow, a trustee and choir member in his church, and active in a number of other areas of community service.