OXFORD – After five years in SAD 17, Assistant Superintendent Mark LaRoach is fulfilling his dream of taking a superintendent’s job.
The 58-year-old Paris resident announced last week that he had accepted a position as head of Winthrop’s school district.
“Long-term educators hope to be a part of that partnership with the board and community to imprint the lives of young people,” LaRoach said Monday at the SAD 17 offices in Oxford. He added he has a desire to have a direct hand in helping students become the best they can be both academically and personally.
Winthrop has three schools – an elementary, middle and high school – and 1,000 students. SAD 17 has 3,600 students.
LaRoach has been working in education for most of his professional life, starting as a teacher in a public high school before taking a job as a professor at Niagara University in New York, where he taught accounting and finance.
Five years later he moved into administration and worked for Niagara University – within misting distance of the famous falls – for 27 years.
During that time, he earned three master’s degrees from Niagara University and Canisius College, as well as a certificate in advanced studies in educational administration.
When he saw this district’s assistant superintendent’s position advertised online, he interviewed and got the position, moving his family to Oxford Hills.
He built a home on Paris Hill, which he plans to sell so he can live in Winthrop, which is seven miles from Augusta.
His wife is a secretary at the Hebron Station School, and his youngest son just graduated from Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School. His other son teaches at a high school in New York.
LaRoach said that during his tenure here he has learned a lot about school budgets, the No Child Left Behind Act and Maine education standards.
“And the intricacies of staff relationships,” he added. “I had a wealth of experience in employee relations.”
LaRoach begins his job July 10. The district is in the process of finding his replacement.
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