Superintendent wrapping up his career in June
BY JAMES ARBOUR
December 22, 2021
Every weekday morning, MSAD6 superintendent Mr. Paul Penna wakes up early and gets ready for another busy day. However, after his sixth year as superintendent and 39th year in education, Mr. Penna will be stepping down from the role of superintendent and a new head of the district will take over next fall.
“We needed his energy five years ago,” said Ms. Erin Maguire, the MSAD6 curriculum director for grades 6-12. “I don't think I ever thought Paul Penna would stop working in schools.”
Helping others is what Mr. Penna loves to do. In college he majored in law enforcement and wanted to be a police chief. After college he became a police officer in South Portland. During this time he formed relationships with the local students, and this is when Mr. Penna had a revelation: he realized that he wanted to get into education. He made connections with professors and went back to school for his new career.
“I went into education because I really like being around students and youth,” Mr. Penna said, adding that working with younger people is like “working with a fir tree” because they are much more flexible than adults and easier to talk to. He compared adults to oak trees, as they are less flexible and harder to work with. He believes that younger people are more open minded, and he truly enjoys helping them be the best that they can be.
After finishing his education, Mr. Penna was hired as the assistant principal at Portland High School. He then moved on to become principal at Gray-New Gloucester High School. There, he found many students whose parents had grown up in Portland, which made being there a whole lot easier since he already knew members of the community. However, Mr. Penna wanted to move to a bigger school, so he applied to become an administrator at Bonny Eagle High School. He was accepted and soon made himself at home.
Eventually, Mr. Penna wanted to climb another rung up the ladder by becoming the next superintendent. Ms. Maguire, who has worked with Mr. Penna in various roles over the years was “surprised when he was interested in becoming superintendent because he was frustrated by many things superintendents in the past have done.”
Mr. Penna has tried to identify flaws by observing the work of previous superintendents in order to avoid making those mistakes himself. He says he has tried to create a system where everyone can get the help that they need to find success. Everyone learns differently and people shouldn't be left behind just because they have different needs.
“I've been focused … on how we can make the system best serve the students,” Mr. Penna explained. The question he asked himself was “how do we develop support services to improve teaching and learning?”
Mr. Penna also found that it’s not just students that need support. In fact, he has put the same degree of effort into supporting teachers as he has students.
“Teachers need support as well,” he said. “You can just say: ‘Oh I want you to do all these things,’ but you have to support teachers to do all these things.” He believes that it is vital that students and teachers are on the same level of support and that both can get help if they need it.
“What's made him a good superintendent is that he's visible,” said Ms. Maguire. “It’s important that people know he's out there and an approachable figure that's reliable.”
For Mr. Penna, the toughest thing about being superintendent is not getting to know the students as well as he could as a principal. Being the superintendent of such a large district can be a big challenge since superintendents have to divide their attention between several schools at once. He tries to take some time each day to make an appearance at the high school. But because he doesn't have connections with most of the students, it is difficult to converse with them.
The MSAD6 school board has formed a committee that will be posting the position nationally in early January. The board will begin conducting interviews in March.
Everyone is different and different superintendents will have different priorities, but Mr. Penna hopes that his successor continues his efforts and ensures that students feel that they are treated as individuals.
December 22, 2021
Every weekday morning, MSAD6 superintendent Mr. Paul Penna wakes up early and gets ready for another busy day. However, after his sixth year as superintendent and 39th year in education, Mr. Penna will be stepping down from the role of superintendent and a new head of the district will take over next fall.
“We needed his energy five years ago,” said Ms. Erin Maguire, the MSAD6 curriculum director for grades 6-12. “I don't think I ever thought Paul Penna would stop working in schools.”
Helping others is what Mr. Penna loves to do. In college he majored in law enforcement and wanted to be a police chief. After college he became a police officer in South Portland. During this time he formed relationships with the local students, and this is when Mr. Penna had a revelation: he realized that he wanted to get into education. He made connections with professors and went back to school for his new career.
“I went into education because I really like being around students and youth,” Mr. Penna said, adding that working with younger people is like “working with a fir tree” because they are much more flexible than adults and easier to talk to. He compared adults to oak trees, as they are less flexible and harder to work with. He believes that younger people are more open minded, and he truly enjoys helping them be the best that they can be.
After finishing his education, Mr. Penna was hired as the assistant principal at Portland High School. He then moved on to become principal at Gray-New Gloucester High School. There, he found many students whose parents had grown up in Portland, which made being there a whole lot easier since he already knew members of the community. However, Mr. Penna wanted to move to a bigger school, so he applied to become an administrator at Bonny Eagle High School. He was accepted and soon made himself at home.
Eventually, Mr. Penna wanted to climb another rung up the ladder by becoming the next superintendent. Ms. Maguire, who has worked with Mr. Penna in various roles over the years was “surprised when he was interested in becoming superintendent because he was frustrated by many things superintendents in the past have done.”
Mr. Penna has tried to identify flaws by observing the work of previous superintendents in order to avoid making those mistakes himself. He says he has tried to create a system where everyone can get the help that they need to find success. Everyone learns differently and people shouldn't be left behind just because they have different needs.
“I've been focused … on how we can make the system best serve the students,” Mr. Penna explained. The question he asked himself was “how do we develop support services to improve teaching and learning?”
Mr. Penna also found that it’s not just students that need support. In fact, he has put the same degree of effort into supporting teachers as he has students.
“Teachers need support as well,” he said. “You can just say: ‘Oh I want you to do all these things,’ but you have to support teachers to do all these things.” He believes that it is vital that students and teachers are on the same level of support and that both can get help if they need it.
“What's made him a good superintendent is that he's visible,” said Ms. Maguire. “It’s important that people know he's out there and an approachable figure that's reliable.”
For Mr. Penna, the toughest thing about being superintendent is not getting to know the students as well as he could as a principal. Being the superintendent of such a large district can be a big challenge since superintendents have to divide their attention between several schools at once. He tries to take some time each day to make an appearance at the high school. But because he doesn't have connections with most of the students, it is difficult to converse with them.
The MSAD6 school board has formed a committee that will be posting the position nationally in early January. The board will begin conducting interviews in March.
Everyone is different and different superintendents will have different priorities, but Mr. Penna hopes that his successor continues his efforts and ensures that students feel that they are treated as individuals.