PARIS — Oxford Hills School District students will see new faces and improved facilities when they return to classes next week.

Students in grades kindergarten through seven and students in grade nine will return Tuesday, Aug. 30. Students in grades eight, 10, 11 and 12 go back Wednesday, Aug. 31.

“We have had an unusually busy summer as we prepare for the opening of school,” Superintendent Rick Colpitts said.

From making repairs, including major paving and roof projects, to hiring more than 45 new staff members, SAD 17 staff have been busy this summer, he said.

“We are excited by the quality of the candidates we’ve engaged and look forward to seeing them in action with students,” Colpitts said.

The majority of the districtwide renovations have been completed, but some will take a while longer, Colpitts said.

“We still have several projects that have been delayed in order to take advantage of a competitive bid process,” he said. “The Agnes Gray School bus loop and parking lot project will begin after school opens. The bleachers at the Gouin Athletic Complex are scheduled to be replaced in late October. The track will be resurfaced this fall or early spring,” he said.

Colpitts said students will be released one hour early every Wednesday so staff can focus on developing a proficiency-based diploma.

At Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School, Principal Ted Moccia said staff will be busy with professional development this year.

“The staff will focus on instruction and formative assessment this year and will be dedicating almost all of our professional development time to this issue,” he said.

At Oxford Hills Technical School, Director Shawn Lambert said the staff is “recharged and ready to go.”

“We’re especially excited to offer our new plumbing program,” he said. “The instructor is Tom Cassidy, a master plumber who has taught at the high school and professional level in Massachusetts for years.”

At Oxford Hills Middle School, Principal Troy Eastman said some highlights of the new year include the addition of a Chinese exchange teacher, returning to the team model for instruction and the implementation of a new positive behavior support system.

Hart said there will be 15 new staff members – three math and reading interventionists and coaches, interim head custodian and 11 classroom teachers. A total of 58 teachers and support staff will be on hand to greet the incoming 508 pre-kindergarten through grade six students this year.

A new math curriculum, which involves hands-on, technology and student-centered learning tasks and activities, will be introduced this year, he said.

Hart said school renovations include upgrades of the cafeteria tables, painting stairwells, hallway door frames and walls, and ceilings of several classrooms. Also there are new roofs, parking lot paving, fencing on the front playground and Main Street entrance steps.

Hart said an open house for grades one through six will be from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6.

At Oxford Elementary School and Otisfield Community School, Principal Tiffany Karnes said, “Our teachers have taken time out of their summer for professional development to prepare to implement our new math program, Investigations 3.”

Oxford Elementary School will host a Back to School Open House from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 29, so families can meet their new teachers and find their classrooms before the first day of school.

An open house at Otisfield Community School will be held after school begins.

Beth Clarke, principal at Hebron Station School, said new staff there includes Wendi Benedict, fourth-grade teacher; Sarah Demer, educational technician; and Sharon Merrill, art teacher.

An open house is from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8.

At Agnes Gray School in West Paris, where Clarke also serves as principal, new staff include Bette Britton, educational technician; Martha Thompson, educational technician; Jeanne Feder, special education case manager; Jenn Chaffin, first-grade teacher; Karin Bisson, second-grade teacher; Judy Harrison, music teacher; Kim Kangas-Smith, physical education teacher; and Samantha Armstrong, art teacher.

Open house is from 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15.

In Harrison, Principal Margaret Emery said the school is adding two new staff members: Caprice Littlefield, special education teacher, and Susan Manchester, special educational technician III.  Justina Dubinsky will teach fifth grade humanities and Lyndsay Dubinsky will teach sixth grade science, technology, engineering and math. Rob Ripley will act as lead teacher to support all classrooms.

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