SABATTUS — The RSU 4 schools will gather about 80 people representing a broad cross-section of the communities to meet for two days in January to create a common vision for the district’s future, according to a statement released by RSU 4 officials.

Business leaders, municipal officials, students, parents, school employees and representatives from nonprofit organizations have been invited to participate in the event on Jan. 8 and 9 at the Sabattus Central School. Additional members of the public who would like to participate should e-mail Michelle O’Connell at [email protected] or call her at 375-4273.

The two-day event will start with a session on Friday, running from 3 to 8 p.m. Dinner will be provided. Saturday’s session will begin at 8 a.m. and conclude by 4 p.m. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. Anyone interested in participating will need to commit to the entire time.

Judy Enright, an experienced moderator and former public school administrator, will lead the discussion using a process known as Future Search. Limestone and other Maine communities have made major, positive changes in their schools using a similar visioning process, according to the release.

“I have seen amazing things happen as a result of a community coming together in this way to dream about what their schools could become,” Portland Superintendent James Morse said in the release. He was serving as superintendent of Limestone when the Air Force base closed in that town, resulting in a huge loss of population. Limestone’s visioning process led to the opening of the Maine School of Science and Mathematics on the former base.

RSU 4 Superintendent Jim Hodgkin sees the timing of this process as ideal. “RSU 4 is in its first year of operation and opportunities now exist that did not exist before. I am excited to bring members of the three communities together to see what they want for their schools. Some of this work has been done in the past because the towns share a high school. Now they need to look at the system as a preschool through 12th grade program,” Hodgkin said in the release.

The goal is to create a shared vision for the future of the RSU 4 schools that can be implemented during the next five to 10 years.