RANGELEY – Rich Curley of Rangeley has been hired as the new dean of students and kindergarten through eighth grade principal at Rangeley Lakes Regional School.
Curley was chosen for his years of experience, knowledge of elementary education, knowledge of curriculum and instruction and background in counseling, interim Superintendent Bill Richards said Monday.
The school board voted unanimously June 14 to give Curley, a 35-year educator, a two-year contract with a starting salary of $65,000 a year, plus benefits, Richards said.
Curley is no stranger to the Rangeley school system, having been director of guidance and a math teacher at the school from 1975 to 1986, Richards said.
“It’s going to be a huge challenge,” Curley said Monday.
He said he doesn’t know the incoming superintendent/high school principal, Phil Richardson, but he knows of him and looks forward to working with him.
“I thinks he’s going to be a strong, committed leader,” Curley said. “I think we’ll make a good team.”
He’s currently the principal at Southport Central School in Southport, near Boothbay Harbor. Curley, who commuted from Rangeley to Southport each week, said there are couple of reasons he was interested in the Rangeley job.
“I want to live at home and second, I see a challenge ahead and I’m up to that challenge,” Curley said.
He wants to give the school system some consistency in leadership and some stability, he said.
“My expectation and what I’m looking to do is increase academic achievement. That would be my primary goal,” Curley said.
His second goal, he said, is to help the community have a better understanding of what needs to happen under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Curley said he wants to open communication between the community and school personnel.
“I’m a proactive kid-administrator versus the paper-administrator,” Curley said.
Curley earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Jacksonville University in Florida and a master’s degree in counselor education from Long Island University in New York, Richards said.
When he started in 1970, his first teaching job was at a middle school in New York.
A number of people applied for the position, Richards said, but he didn’t know the exact number Monday because a lot of the interview process was overseen by the incoming superintendent. sA committee helped with the interviews and Richards said that he, as the current superintendent, made the recommendation to the board.
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