Sarah Hubert has been elevated to interim principal at Wiscasset Middle High School, School Superintendent Kim Andersson announced Hubert’s appointment Jan. 16 in an email to staff members. Hubert has been serving as WMHS assistant principal and athletic director since her hiring this past September.

“Over the past two and a half months, Sarah has been the steady lead our middle high school has needed to guide us through some turbulent waters. She is a clear choice for Interim Principal,” wrote Andersson. “Since September, Sarah has worked tirelessly to increase our school’s ability to meet student needs by building and strengthening close community partnerships with the Wiscasset Community Center, Teens to Trails, Hearty Roots, and the Chewonki Foundation,” added Andersson.

“The School Committee truly  appreciates Sarah Hubert stepping up to officially be our interim WMHS Principal, a job she has already been performing as well as her responsibilities as Assistant Principal and Athletic Director. She has also been securing educational grants for our students’ benefit. She is a great asset to our school,” wrote Jason Putnam, chairman of the Wiscasset School Committee in an email to the newspaper.

In an interview with the Boothbay Register-Wiscasset Newspaper on Wednesday, Jan. 24, Hubert said she was settling into her new role. “As far as my day-to-day responsibilities go, not much has changed for me; I’m continuing to work with the staff and students the way I have been. One change we recently made at the staff’s request is that all students are now required to have a hall pass when they leave the classroom. It’s also been suggested the student body eat their breakfast in the cafeteria which hasn’t been the case. I’m still serving as athletic director, and continue to be responsible for the discipline of students the way I have been since the start of the school year,” she said.

“The biggest change,” she continued, “is that I now have the added responsibility of developing a WMHS budget for the 2024-2025 school year. I had my first meeting with the school committee last night (Tuesday, Jan. 23) to review with them what our staffing needs will be for next year. This includes hiring a certified health teacher in additional to adding additional resource staff. At this point next year’s WMHS budget is about two percent less but that of course could change since we’ve just started.” The school committee and administration have set a goal of having little or no increase in WMHS’s budget, she added.

Hubert said for the present the school department has no immediate plans to replace the vice principal’s position. Sandy Aloisio from Guidance has taken on the responsibility for tracking student attendance, and the school’s Character Counts Committee lead by Guidance Counselor Shaye Paradis will continue its role in mitigating student behavior.

The staff, added Hubert, has been very supportive. “They understand the situation and know this hasn’t been easy for any of us. I’ve made it clear to everyone – staff, students and the community as a whole – that if they have a concern to contact me and share it and we can talk. We have 238 students in grades 6 through 12 at WMHS and I care about each and every one of them.”

Hubert grew up in East Pittston where she continues to reside with her son. She was asked by the newspaper whether she’d like to stay on as WMHS principal. “Yes, I plan to apply when the position is advertised,” she said.

Hubert’s education career has spanned more than 20 years. After graduating from the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor in 2001, she worked as a Title 1 educational technician helping first and second graders with their literacy skills. In addition to her earlier administrative tenure at Wiscasset as athletic director, she worked four years for the state department of education, worked at Kieve, and spent a year as a dean of students in Augusta. In 2021, she returned to the Wiscasset school system to teach 7th and 8th grade English language arts and social studies. Prior to becoming WMHS vice principal/athletic director she served as a counselor at Winthrop High School.

She holds a master of science in school counseling, a master of science in educational leadership, and a bachelor of arts in ecology, plus she is a registered Maine Guide with a strong love for the outdoors.