News Feature

Deer Isle
Originally published in Island Ad-Vantages, May 5, 2022
A bittersweet departure
Principal McKechnie to leave DISES

Photo courtesy of Deena Staples

by Maggie White

At the end of this school year, Principal Tara McKechnie will leave her post at Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary School to become assistant superintendent of Central Lincoln County School System, AOS 93, in Damariscotta, effective July 1. According to McKechnie, the transition came by way of happenstance: “I have loved being principal here. I was actually recruiting for us when I found the job in AOS 93…I had no thought of leaving. But sometimes in life you see a next step that you should do. The job description is such a perfect fit.”

Her successor can expect good things from the staff at DISES. “I am a high expectation principal and they rise to those expectations every day…I absolutely adore my office team. Whoever comes here next is quite lucky; they have a wonderful support team in the office and in the building.”

School Union 76 Interim Superintendent Mark Hurvitt wishes McKechnie well. “She’s been here for five years and has done a wonderful job. I’m sure she’ll be very successful in her next position.”

Hurvitt is currently organizing a committee to select DISES’s next principal. Applications for the position will close May 27 and interviews will take place in early June.