Mark Thibodeau, left, Laura Johnston, center, and Jodi Ellis talk Wednesday at Mountain Valley High School in Rumford after Regional School Unit 10 directors hired Thibodeau as assistant principal of Meroby Elementary School in Mexico and Johnston as assistant principal of Rumford Elementary School. Ellis, who is principal at Meroby, was hired in May as principal at Rumford Elementary also. Marianne Hutchinson/Rumford Falls Times
RUMFORD — Regional School Unit 10 directors on Wednesday hired Laura Johnston and Mark Thibodeau as assistant principals for Rumford Elementary School and Meroby Elementary School in Mexico, respectively.
They begin their positions immediately.
Johnston has been a teacher in Regional School Unit 56 in Dixfield for 16 years, most recently for fifth grade at Dirigo Elementary School in Peru.
Thibodeau was recently the athletic director and a seventh and eighth grade social studies teacher at Tripp Middle School in Turner, part of Maine School Administrative District 52 where he has worked for 23 years.
Speaking after the board meeting at Mountain Valley High School in Rumford, Thibodeau said he sought the assistant principal position, in part, to have the ability to “spread out his skills and do more good for more people.”
Johnston said she is “ready for the next step; I’m ready for more responsibility.” The Rumford school has lots of community involvement “so I’m excited to be there.”
RSU 10 recently made other key administrator hires. Carrie Luce, former Rumford Elementary School principal, was named principal of Mountain Valley Middle School in Mexico starting July 1. The school includes students in grades five through eight. Jodi Ellis, principal of Meroby Elementary School, will also be principal of Rumford Elementary School.
The two schools will close when Mountain Valley Community School in Mexico opens in August 2025. The new school is planned for the site of Mountain Valley Middle School at 58 Highland Terrace and Meroby Elementary School at 21 Cross St., both in Mexico. It will serve more than 1,000 students in prekindergarten through eighth grade in Mexico and Rumford. The estimated cost of the building project is $91.8 million.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
