CCA searching for new ‘Head of School’
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — The Cornerstone Christian Academy is currently looking for an interim principal. Former administrator Troy McCrum vacated the position Nov. 10 after accepting a job with Pineland Farms Natural Meats in Fort Fairfield.
Troy Heald, chair of the fundraising and promotion committee, said former board member Angela Wardwell is the acting interim principal.
“We have advertised for an interim principal and are reviewing applications that we have received,” said Heald. “We will fill that position once a suitable candidate is found.”
Heald said he anticipates advertising for a permanent “head of school” this month. That person would start July 1.
“If we get the right applicant and they are able to come sooner, we are certainly going to have them,” he said. “We will fill that position as soon as we can, but realistically the board is very much aware that it may not be until the end of the school year. It’s not always easy to hire an administrator during the school year; chances are, if you’re hiring an administrator, they’re already in a position elsewhere. We’ll have to wait and see.”
McCrum, who was at CCA for five years, is now the manager of Pineland Farms’ compost operation in Limestone.
While leaving the Academy was a “hard decision,” McCrum said he felt the time was right.
“I just felt that my effective time at Cornerstone was done and that the school really wasn’t going to go to the level that it needs to go under my leadership,” he said. “I come from a farming background and really wanted to get back into it. I’ve always had a dream of doing something with the cattle industry even when I was farming potatoes. This opportunity at Pineland just fell out of the sky into my lap, and it was something that I was called to do.
“I left under very good terms with the board, staff and students,” McCrum said. “I’m still a huge supporter of Christian education, and my kids attend Cornerstone. I’m actually working with the board to try to develop a high school curriculum. I wish them nothing but the best.”
