HOULTON — Construction of the new Houlton Middle-Elementary School is on time and progressing well, according to an SAD 29 official.

Superintendent of Schools William McDonnell said Wednesday that the gym and cafeteria-office sections of the school are expected to be enclosed by the end of this week. The concrete for the second level of the instructional wing also is expected to be poured this week.

The $4 million school will house about 375 pupils in fourth through sixth grades. District officials expect that the project will be completed in time for classes to begin in August 1993. It will replace the 70-year-old Lambert School.

At a school board meeting Tuesday night, Victoria McIver of Hammond was hired as a language arts-social studies teacher at Houlton High School. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Robert Wesley College in New York, and worked from 1984 to 1991 in a similar position at St. Mary’s School in Houlton.

Daigle and Houghton Inc. of Fort Kent was awarded a contract for a 1993, 66-passenger International school bus for its low bid of $41,213. A total of four bids were received.