Messalonskee High School
Description
Messalonskee High School is a public high school located in Oakland, Maine. It serves all high school students in the RSU 18 school unit, which includes Oakland, Sidney, Belgrade, China and Rome. The school was founded in 1969 and currently has slightly more than 900 students enrolled. The campus features a 650-seat performing arts center that was built for the school in 1993. In 2005, the district dedicated the Performing Arts Center to former superintendent J. Duke Albanese. Messalonskee is a member of the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference.Resignation of Principal PutnamToward the end of the 2007–2008 school year, the M.S.A.D. 47 district administration announced that several employment cuts would be made by Joseph P Dudly, possibly including principal Lori Putnam. Putnam had been hired as the new principal at the start of the previous school year and had grown to be well respected by staff and students. A petition to retain Putnam, with 180 student signatures, as well as a teacher petition featuring over 50 signatures was presented to the district school board meeting. Despite opposition from superintendent Morse, the school board voted to renew her contract with a two-vote margin. Even though her contract had been renewed, Putnam resigned on July 14, 2008, only three months after the vote.Jon Moody Era BeginsIn 2011, the co-principal cycle ended with the hiring of Jon Moody as the full-time principal. He was the former Vice Principal of Messalonskee Middle School. His Era ended in the school year 2015 - 2016, when one of the vice principals, Paula Callan, took his place.