The 2024-25 school year is a time of familiar faces in new roles in Southport. Former teacher Shawn Gallagher is the new teaching principal. He and Alternative Organizational Structure (AOS) 98 Director of Special Services Julie Hansbury were introduced Aug. 8 to the Southport School Committee. 

Gallagher taught in Southport from 2013 to 2021. He is pursuing a master’s degree in education. The school committee hired him to replace Lisa Clarke as a teaching principal. Clarke retired at the end of the school year, but agreed to work as a part-time administrator. Hansbury is a former school speech pathologist who served as Boothbay Region Elementary School’s assistant principal for the past two years. She succeeds Chris Baribeau, who served in the post from 2020 to 2023.

During the meeting, Clarke updated the school committee about her schedule and role for the upcoming school year. Clarke plans on working as an administrator on Mondays, Wednesdays and half-days on Thursdays. Gallagher reported he had met with incoming second and third grade students. Earlier in the week, he contacted parents and scheduled an at-school meeting which included story time, play and food. 

School enrollment is projected at 16: kindergarten, 1; grade one, 3; grade two, 1; grade three, 6; grade four, 0; grade five, 3 and grade six, 2. All school staff will return for the new year beginning Tuesday, Sept. 3: Nikki Tibbetts, kindergarten and grade 1; Julie Browne, grades five and six; Eileen Higgins, administrative assistant and tech coordinator; Kim Burnham, special ed teacher; Meredith Fowlie, French teacher and school counselor; Jennifer McIvor, art and music teacher; Caroline Ivens, healthy living and physical education teacher; Matt Thibault, bus driver and facilities director; and Laurie Brewer, cook and custodian, according to Clarke’s report. 

Clarke told committee members the school carpet was cleaned and floors waxed this summer. A new handwashing sink was installed in the kitchen to meet health inspection requirements. A wooden fence was erected in the nearby woods to mark boundary expectations. A large oak log is being hollowed out for a tunnel in the Wooded Play Space project.

There is no scheduled date for the September school committee meeting.