Wiscasset Elementary School Principal Mona Schlein has a baby grand at home. The one-time music teacher can’t play piano like she used to, but she intends to practice her way back. She’ll have time for that and her other artistic pursuit, in fiber arts, she said has also been on the back burner. Schlein, 60, is retiring at the end of the school year.

Education, and Wiscasset students’ education, have been her life, she said in a conference room at the school Friday. The Poughkeepsie, New York-raised Schlein reflected on her career, some of its high notes and what led her to it all: A not-great experience as a student.

She always knew she wanted to work in education. Asked why, she said she always enjoyed learning, but growing up she had a hard time reading and didn’t enjoy school. Students were labeled, which leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy, she said. She knew there must be a better way, that would excite kids and engage them. And that drew her to the profession. “Kids need to know that they can be anything they want to be, that they can do anything they want to, and that every day is an opportunity.”

Her first teaching job after graduating from the University of New York at Oswego was with inner-city students in New York City; she had a class of about 40 fourth graders, so many she could barely move around the desks. But kids are kids everywhere, she said. “And you have the exact same aspirations for them.”

Schlein was teaching at Breakwater School in Portland when she moved to the Midcoast and was looking for a job closer to home. She applied to Wiscasset but declined first grade. She wanted to work with older grades; the Wiscasset Primary School principal at the time, Jan Hoffman, persisted and Schlein took the job. “They wanted me, and it was the best decision I ever made.”

She has taught first grade and kindergarten, served as Wiscasset Primary’s assistant principal before becoming principal, and some of the time has also worked in literacy for the state. Schlein headed the primary school when voters chose to close it and she saw it through the move to the middle school, now WES. “It was (two schools) and now we are one. It’s a coming together,” a journey that continues for the school, she said.

The recent addition of teaching coaches is an investment in professional development and teaching that keeps students engaged, Schlein said. Getting to highlight that for the School Committee Jan. 26 was a moment of pride for her, she said. Asked what she is most proud of, Schlein thought of the times she has talked with students’ parents who were once her students. That’s what happens working in the same town this long, she said.

“And they’re sharing these memories of my teaching and the difference that I made, for them or their students. And for me that is the greatest gift, to hear. So that has been the legacy I’m most grateful for.”

She expects to miss the school tremendously; the students and the caring, committed staff make it an exceptional environment, and have helped in her efforts to restore something that went missing for a while around the time of the consolidation, she added: “There’s a real sense of the school being part of the community.”

But she looks forward to retirement and tapping back into her music and art. Using fabrics ordered from around the world, she spins, dyes and weaves wool, paints fabrics and designs garments.

She used to sell items made in her design studio at home, but won’t necessarily sell what she makes this time around, she said. That’s not what it’s about. “I look forward to getting back in that community (and) just to have that creative side of me back.” Due to the boom in fiber farming in the region, she can get a lot of the fiber nearby, including fine wool she used to order directly from New Zealand. Now it’s common around here, she said.

She’ll also be spending time with grandson Nat, 6 months,  and taking her time, without the morning rush. “I can eat breakfast looking out the window leisurely; I can slow down, enjoy the views more.”