New principal is up for the challenge
Mr. Greg Applestein is Bonny Eagle's new principal. Staff screenshot.
From staff report
Sitting in his assistant principal’s office on the morning of March 16, with Scarborough High School shut down for at least two weeks because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Greg Applestein decided to email MSAD6 superintendent Paul Penna. He inquired if the job as principal, which had been filled on an interim basis by Mr. Michael Johnson in 2019-20, was still open.
“I knew sitting in my Scarborough office that I would be involved in the reimagining, the restructuring, and the retooling of high school education in Maine regardless of which office I would be sitting in, either as an assistant principal or as a principal,” Mr. Applestein said during an August interview. “And I thought, number one, what a great opportunity, just the principalship alone….And secondly, what a great time to be serving as an administrator where, through the teamwork I totally believe in and the collaboration with not only administrators but kids and staff and families and stakeholders, how much of a blessing that would be to be a part of something that we’ve never ever done before.”
After an exhaustive search, which included interviewing five candidates from inside and outside the state of Maine, Mr. Applestein was chosen to lead BEHS in this most unusual and challenging year.
“Mr. Applestein was the overwhelmingly favorite candidate of the selection committee because of his professional experiences in education,” said Mr. Penna. “His enthusiasm and desire to be the principal of BEHS was well articulated, as was his passion for students.”
Mr. Applestein says he had done his homework on Bonny Eagle and had come to realize that it would be a great place to start his career as a high school principal after five years as an assistant at Scarborough High School. Before Scarborough, Mr. Applestein was an assistant principal at Ellsworth High School for three years. Prior to completing his Masters in educational leadership at USM, he taught English and video production for 22 years at Belfast Area High School.
Mr. Applestein says he was impressed with the plan for remote learning that Bonny Eagle administrators and staff put together virtually overnight last spring. He believes our Hybrid plan is working extremely well.
“Students, staff, and families have done a fantastic job adhering to the 6 DOE, CDC, and State mandates we need to uphold to keep BEHS open,” he said. “We all know the Hybrid isn't as ideal as being in person in school 5 days a week. But given what we are up against, I believe the entire BEHS school community has risen up to the challenge and we've all made the best of it!”
Mr. Applestein says our staff, students, and families have shown “great resilience in addressing and overcoming” the challenges, especially when it comes to the remote learning days.
“Again, 42-minute remote classes on Fridays is not ideal, but it's better than having no interaction at all,” he said. “We're so blessed to have the dedicated faculty and staff we have here at BEHS and I can't thank them enough for all they have done and continue to do on behalf of our students every day! Students and families have also contributed to our Trimester 1 successes by re-arranging their homelife schedules and adjusting their lifestyles to accommodate the Hybrid plan. Lastly, our fully Remote Learning Plan instructors, students, and families need to be applauded for their efforts. We've never tried all of this before on such a big scale, and it has certainly been a learning process for all of us!”
Mr. Applestein participates in a weekly Google Meets session with other high school principals in southern Maine. He says it’s been helpful to compare experiences, although it would be unfair to rate one school’s efforts over another’s.
“I have no doubt each school and district is doing what they believe is best for their stakeholders and we're all adjusting things as we move forward and learn more about COVID and how it impacts all of us.
”Moving forward, Mr. Applestein expects the goal of “synchronous learning” to be the focus for BEHS. “It's clear to me that many folks want us to look into how we can provide more in person and/or remote instruction to all students in what's commonly called a ‘synchronous learning environment.’ This involves the blending together of students who are in person and in classes at BEHS with students who are tuning into those classes remotely from home through Google Meets and the use of other technology,” he explains. “We all know students do best in an in-person learning environment, and we have to continue to try and find ways to make that happen as best we can for all students, given our current COVID mandates.”
Sitting in his assistant principal’s office on the morning of March 16, with Scarborough High School shut down for at least two weeks because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Greg Applestein decided to email MSAD6 superintendent Paul Penna. He inquired if the job as principal, which had been filled on an interim basis by Mr. Michael Johnson in 2019-20, was still open.
“I knew sitting in my Scarborough office that I would be involved in the reimagining, the restructuring, and the retooling of high school education in Maine regardless of which office I would be sitting in, either as an assistant principal or as a principal,” Mr. Applestein said during an August interview. “And I thought, number one, what a great opportunity, just the principalship alone….And secondly, what a great time to be serving as an administrator where, through the teamwork I totally believe in and the collaboration with not only administrators but kids and staff and families and stakeholders, how much of a blessing that would be to be a part of something that we’ve never ever done before.”
After an exhaustive search, which included interviewing five candidates from inside and outside the state of Maine, Mr. Applestein was chosen to lead BEHS in this most unusual and challenging year.
“Mr. Applestein was the overwhelmingly favorite candidate of the selection committee because of his professional experiences in education,” said Mr. Penna. “His enthusiasm and desire to be the principal of BEHS was well articulated, as was his passion for students.”
Mr. Applestein says he had done his homework on Bonny Eagle and had come to realize that it would be a great place to start his career as a high school principal after five years as an assistant at Scarborough High School. Before Scarborough, Mr. Applestein was an assistant principal at Ellsworth High School for three years. Prior to completing his Masters in educational leadership at USM, he taught English and video production for 22 years at Belfast Area High School.
Mr. Applestein says he was impressed with the plan for remote learning that Bonny Eagle administrators and staff put together virtually overnight last spring. He believes our Hybrid plan is working extremely well.
“Students, staff, and families have done a fantastic job adhering to the 6 DOE, CDC, and State mandates we need to uphold to keep BEHS open,” he said. “We all know the Hybrid isn't as ideal as being in person in school 5 days a week. But given what we are up against, I believe the entire BEHS school community has risen up to the challenge and we've all made the best of it!”
Mr. Applestein says our staff, students, and families have shown “great resilience in addressing and overcoming” the challenges, especially when it comes to the remote learning days.
“Again, 42-minute remote classes on Fridays is not ideal, but it's better than having no interaction at all,” he said. “We're so blessed to have the dedicated faculty and staff we have here at BEHS and I can't thank them enough for all they have done and continue to do on behalf of our students every day! Students and families have also contributed to our Trimester 1 successes by re-arranging their homelife schedules and adjusting their lifestyles to accommodate the Hybrid plan. Lastly, our fully Remote Learning Plan instructors, students, and families need to be applauded for their efforts. We've never tried all of this before on such a big scale, and it has certainly been a learning process for all of us!”
Mr. Applestein participates in a weekly Google Meets session with other high school principals in southern Maine. He says it’s been helpful to compare experiences, although it would be unfair to rate one school’s efforts over another’s.
“I have no doubt each school and district is doing what they believe is best for their stakeholders and we're all adjusting things as we move forward and learn more about COVID and how it impacts all of us.
”Moving forward, Mr. Applestein expects the goal of “synchronous learning” to be the focus for BEHS. “It's clear to me that many folks want us to look into how we can provide more in person and/or remote instruction to all students in what's commonly called a ‘synchronous learning environment.’ This involves the blending together of students who are in person and in classes at BEHS with students who are tuning into those classes remotely from home through Google Meets and the use of other technology,” he explains. “We all know students do best in an in-person learning environment, and we have to continue to try and find ways to make that happen as best we can for all students, given our current COVID mandates.”