After searching for more than a year, Manheim Township school board is expected to appoint an educator at a rural Maine high school as the new principal of Manheim Township High School.

The school board tonight is scheduled to vote on hiring Debby Mitchell, principal of Massabesic High School in Waterboro, Maine, as the top administrator at Manheim Township High.

She would replace acting principal Gary Yocum, who has served since Dave Hanna retired last March.

"We're very excited about her coming," school board president Hannah Bartges said.

"We were looking for somebody who is going to be a leader in that building for the staff and kids, and we think she has the right combination of experience and passion for the job."

Mitchell, 52, is in her fourth year as principal of Massabesic, a school of about 1,200 that serves six rural towns with a population of about 15,000 residents.

Manheim Township High School enrolls about 1,750 students and serves a largely white-collar suburban community.

Township has been lauded for the past two years by U.S. News & World Report as one of America's best high schools, and it boasts a graduation rate of 95 percent.

Its students consistently achieve some of the highest SAT and PSSA scores in Lancaster County.

Massabesic has a graduation rate of 78 percent and has failed to make adequate yearly progress — the measure of whether a school is complying with the No Child Left Behind law — for several years.

Mitchell said she has worked to raise test scores by about three percentage points each year and has boosted the graduation rate by 28 percent since 2005.

"We're playing catch-up, but we're getting there," she said.

To improve student achievement, Mitchell instituted a Freshman Academy at Massabesic that groups all ninth-graders in a separate wing for their core subjects. They take electives, eat lunch and participate in sports and other activities with upperclassmen.

The program provides a smoother transition from middle school to high school, she said, and better acclimates freshmen to the increased academic rigor of high school.

Mitchell also implemented "professional learning communities," in which teachers are grouped together by subject.

They meet after school twice a month and during common prep periods to review student achievement data and discuss effective teaching methods.

The teachers also develop common midterm and final exams so that all students learn and are tested on the same material, regardless of who teaches them.

Bartges said she and other school board members were impressed with the two programs.

"Those are two things we were looking for," she said. "It's good to have somebody who already has that experience."

Mitchell also implemented a computer-based curriculum to help students make up failed courses at their own pace so they can catch up with their peers.

Before serving as Massabesic principal, she was assistant principal from 2002 to 2005.

She previously taught English at the school and has taught at other schools in Maine, Michigan and Georgia.

Mitchell has a bachelor's degree in English education from Michigan State University and a master's in educational leadership from Madonna University.

She started looking for jobs in Pennsylvania after her daughter, Jessica, applied to Penn State University, where she plans to attend in the fall, Mitchell said.

"I really liked the school's philosophy," she said of Manheim Township High School, "and I looked at the demographics of the community, and it was a good fit for me."

Mitchell said she also was impressed with the district and community.

"From the people I have met, the parents, students and community members, it seems like a positive place, a very welcoming place," she said.

"Everyone is focused on doing what's best for students, and, again, that's a good fit for me."

Mitchell said she's ready for a change from the harsh winters of Maine, where locals joke that there are four seasons: "winter, June, July and August."

If the board approves Mitchell's hiring, she would start July 1 at an annual salary of $115,000.

Tonight's meeting begins at 7:30 at the district office on East Oregon Road.

E-mail: bwallace@lnpnews.com