CAPE ELIZABETH — New principals will welcome students back to Pond Cove Elementary School and Cape Elizabeth Middle School at the start of the school year on Sept. 5.

On Monday, Aug. 14, the School Board approved hiring Troy Eastman, of Norway, as principal of CEMS, and Jason Manjourides, of Windham, as principal of Pond Cove.

Sarah Forrey-Pettit, of Portland, will join Manjourides at Pond Cove as assistant principal.

“At this time of year, I wasn’t sure we’d find the caliber of applicants we were looking for, but we were pleasantly surprised,” interim Superintendent of Schools Howard Colter said.

Michael Tracy resigned as CEMS principal in June, and Kelly Hasson stepped down as principal of Pond Cove in July.

Eastman received his Bachelor of Arts in General Education from the University of Maine at Farmington in 2000. While pursuing his degree, he began his career in public education as an education technician at a high school day treatment program in 1999.

After teaching special education for five years, Eastman accepted his first administrative position as an assistant principal in Raymond in 2006.

In 2007, Eastman became a middle school principal in School Administrative District 17 in South Paris, where he served for 10 years until being offered the post at CEMS.

“(The start of school) is coming very quickly, but I’m excited,” Eastman said this week. “I’m looking forward to joining a school with a rich history of academic success.”

Colter said Eastman “is somebody who realizes the importance of connecting with and working with parents, as well as students and other teachers. We think he is going to be a great fit for the middle school.”

Like Eastman, Manjourides is a Maine native and said he is looking forward to immersing himself in the Cape Elizabeth community.

He said he is looking forward to taking on a new challenge as principal.

“We were very impressed by Jason’s background,” Colter said. “In feedback from reference checks we made, we’ve heard he is a very capable administrator … so we were very pleased and excited to hire him.”

Colter said he is confident Manjourides and Forrey-Pettit will work well together at Pond Cove.

“When (Forrey-Pettit) had a chance to sit down and meet with (Manjourides), I could immediately tell they would be a great team,” he said.

“Jason has a lot of energy, as do I,” Forrey-Pettit said. “I think we’re going to complement each other very well.”

The assistant principal job at Pond Cove opened when Theresa Curran resigned at the end of July for a position in the Wells School Department.

An Oregon native, Forrey-Pettit recently moved to Portland from Boston, where she received a master’s degree in educational leadership from Boston College in 2014.

She worked in various special education programs until accepting a position as assistant principal in Massachusetts at Belmont and Somerville Public Schools in 2014. Most recently she served as assistant principal at Wellington Elementary School in Belmont.

“I love elementary school age and everything that comes with that,” Forrey-Pettit said. “The development that’s going on in that age group is invigorating … That’s my niche.”

According to Colter, each new administrator has a two-year contract, effective through June 30, 2019.

The school chief referred questions about the new administrators’ salaries to Business Manager Catherine Messmer and Andrea Fuller, who works in the school department’s central and business office. Neither could be reached.

Jocelyn Van Saun can be reached at 781-3661, ext. 183 or jvansaun@theforecaster.net. Follow her on Twitter @JocelynVanSaun.

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