FARMINGTON – Richard Spencer has been appointed program manager/special education director of Western Mountains Renaissance School, a collaborative project of Evergreen Behavioral Services in Farmington and six area school districts.

Western Mountains Renaissance School in Wilton serves up to 10 students, ages 10 to 14, who have severe behavioral and psychiatric problems that have interfered with their learning in traditional classrooms. They also provide a three-week summer therapeutic recreation program for youth with special needs.

Spencer will be responsible for the school’s program development, professional staff development, and strategic planning.

Most recently, Spencer served as director of special services for SAD 39 in Buckfield.

“A goal of our school is to keep children in their own community and to return them to their regular school as soon as possible, ideally in four months to a year,” Spencer said. “We are here so these kids can have as normal a life as possible while getting the help they need.”

Spencer and his wife, Lynne Tyler, live in Wayne and are the parents of six grown children.