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MSSM Seeks Executive Director

2010-03-24

Download the ED Search Profile as a PDF

The Maine School of Science and Mathematics (MSSM) seeks an Executive Director (ED) to lead one of the nation’s few publicly established, residential, magnet schools. MSSM was established by the Maine Legislature in 1995 as a pioneering school of excellence, serving talented high school students from across the state. Specializing in the sciences and mathematics, but also including rigorous courses in the humanities, MSSM is Maine’s first and only public statewide high school. It is also the first school of its kind in the northeast and one of only about a dozen statewide public high schools of math and science in the country. U.S. News & World Report's Best High Schools has placed MSSM in the top 100 in the nation for three consecutive rankings.

MSSM is directed by a 19-member Board of Trustees and receives an appropriation each year from the Maine Legislature. As a result, the School is tuition free for all Maine students, but charges for room and board with approximately one-third of the students currently receive financial assistance toward that fee. Total enrollment for the current school year is roughly 135 students, all living on campus. There are 10 full-time faculty members and another 11 part-time teachers, residential staff, and administrators. The FY10 budget of $3.56 million is balanced, but under pressure as Maine copes with the recession.

The ED position corresponds to that of a superintendent of schools or the principal of an innovative high school. He or she reports to the Board of Trustees and oversees the full operation of the School, balancing the role of educational visionary and leader with that of seeing that MSSM is managed well and continues to grow.

We seek in this appointment a proven educator and highly effective manager, open in management style, respectful of alternative points of view, comfortable in a collegial environment, capable of decisive action and leading by persuasion, and willing to appreciate MSSM’s active, quirky culture. The ED must be at home in a public school and with the culture and people of Aroostook County and the State of Maine.

The search is actively under way, will remain open until an appointment is announced, and is currently scheduled to conclude in the late winter or early spring of 2010.

Inquiries, referrals, and resumes are encouraged by email and in confidence, with a cover letter from applicants sent to reillyc@mssm.org. The search may be also contacted as follows: Kate Reilly, 49 Sheridan Street, Apt 2, Portland, ME 04101; tel: 207-554-9919.

MSSM is an equal opportunity employer and hires staff without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, or disability. Diverse candidates are encouraged to apply.