RANGELEY — The hallways and rooms of Rangeley Lakes Regional School were filled with cleaning supplies and large machines last week when Sue Pratt, the new superintendent, opened her office for an informal interview.

“Yes, we’re working like crazy to have everything ready for the opening on Sept. 3,” Pratt said. “The whole staff has impressed me with their total commitment to the system. We’ll have an intensive training week before Labor Day, working toward the standards-based curriculum.”

Pratt commutes from Strong, where she has lived with her family for 35 years.

“I love Rangeley,” she said. “Every day, I drive up and think, ‘what a beautiful place.’ Another thing that attracted me is the school’s size. With the small size of the classes, they’re already doing much of the work of customized learning.”

A Farmington native, Pratt graduated from the University of Maine at Farmington in 1980, majoring in secondary math, with a minor in chemistry. She received her master’s degree in education leadership at Orono and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in the same major from the University of New England.

She is working on her doctorate from Walden University.

She started her career at Madison High School in 1981. Pratt took some time off to raise a family, then taught grades six, seven and eight in Strong for 14 years.

Her two children are grown and married, and she has two grandchildren. The Pratt farm raises beef shorthorn cattle for a custom market.

Pratt has served on the Strong Board of Selectmen, was superintendent in the Jay-Livermore Falls school district and was superintendent agent for Rangeley Plantation, “so I already know a lot of the people around here!

“I’ve been traveling around to all the townships, getting to meet the assessors and selectmen,” Pratt said. “I think keeping the lines of communication open between all the communities is of prime importance.”

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