The Westbrook School Department has tapped an assistant principal at the high school to fill a vacant principal position at Saccarappa School and its athletic director to fill the assistant principal position.

Athletic Director Matt Nelson will fill Assistant Principal Kathryn Charest’s position this fall as she moves to Saccarappa School to fill the position left vacant when longtime Principal Sharon Orlando retired at the end of last year.

The other assistant principal, Howard Jack, will remain at the high school.

It has been a summer of change at the administrative level of Westbrook’s schools. Retirements and resignations have forced the School Department to hire three new principals this summer. Earlier this summer, the department filled two of the three slots.

Nelson’s hiring as assistant principal now leaves the high school without an athletic director. Sawyer said the department is reviewing applications for the position, and he expects to have a new athletic director within two or three weeks. In the interim, Sawyer said Nelson would continue to work as athletic director, preparing for the upcoming school sports season until a replacement is hired.

Nelson said he was excited about taking over for Charest. “I felt I was ready for that challenge,” he said.

Having already been the school’s athletic director gives him an advantage because he is already a familiar face around the school, Nelson said. “I’ve already made a lot of inroads,” Nelson said. “I think that will help me.”

School Committee Chairman Colleen Hilton said Charest was the unanimous pick by the school department to fill the post.

Charest was hired as an assistant principal at the high school last summer. Prior to coming to Westbrook, she was an assistant principal at Marshwood High School in South Berwick. She graduated from the University of Maine in Orono with a bachelor’s degree in education, and she also has a master’s degree in school administration from Cambridge College in Cambridge, Mass.

Sawyer said he believed Charest, a Westbrook High School graduate, would be a good fit at Saccarappa. “I think she’ll do a great job,” he said. “She’s very level-headed and student oriented.”

“I’m thrilled she’s staying in the system,” said Hilton. “She’s young and bright.”

Hilton said besides taking on the duties of an elementary school principal, Charest would continue to serve as the district’s affirmative action director, a post she held while she was at the high school.

Once Charest was hired at Saccarappa, the School Department was forced to find someone to fill her slot at the high school. Sawyer said after reviewing the applications, the decision was made to hire from within.

Sawyer said Nelson has ambitions of becoming a high school principal, and based on his work and experience, Sawyer thought Nelson would make a good assistant principal. Prior to coming to Westbrook, Nelson worked in the guidance department at Bonny Eagle High School.

“Matt has done a great job as an athletic director,” said Sawyer. “I think he’ll do a great job.”

While he said he would miss dealing with the athletes and coaches on a daily basis, Nelson said he is looking forward to being able to work with the entire school population, not just the kids who play sports. “I’m excited and looking forward to it,” he said.

Sawyer said Charest was out of town this week, and unavailable for comment.

While the School Committee generally has to formally approve most hiring decisions during the school year, Hilton said the committee gave Sawyer the authority to make hiring decisions while the committee is recessed for the summer. Usually, at the first meeting after the summer break, Hilton said Sawyer presents the committee with a list of employees hired over the summer and the committee votes to approve that list.

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