GUILFORD – A Guilford educator was hired Tuesday as vice principal at Piscataquis Community High School.

SAD 4 directors selected Sandra Emerson, who has been the wellness instructor at the school for the past four years, from a pool of 20 applicants,

Emerson, who has a conditional certificate for the new job, will start in mid-November and will receive a salary in the $42,000 range, according to SAD 4 Superintendent Paul Stearns.

Emerson will replace Kevin Jordan, who was promoted to principal when Bruce Lindberg resigned from that position.

“It was a very competitive process,” Stearns said Wednesday. “We really had an excellent pool of candidates to choose from,” including several other educators from the district. “The committee felt she would be an excellent fit,” he said.

Directors learned that PCHS would be involved in two projects through the Gates Foundation. Lisa Plympton, a statistician with the Mitchell Institute, soon will be at the high school conducting a survey of parents, students and faculty to assess the impact on learning of the one-on-one technology offered at the school.

PCHS is the only public school in the state that provides every student with a laptop computer.

“We’re really excited about being able to get a good, clear picture of what students and teachers are having success with so we can further tweak the program and provide top quality instruction,” Stearns said.

In addition, four teachers and the principal will participate in a leadership collaborative through the Gates Foundation.

Faculty members will explore what’s working and what isn’t working in the delivery of educational services to students, according to Stearns. The instructors also will receive leadership training.

Stearns also announced that eighth-grade pupils will take the Maine Educational Assessment Tests online on their laptops this year.

Piscataquis Community Middle School is among a handful of schools selected by the state to pilot the testing program online.

In other business, directors sanctioned a field trip for the Spanish and French Club to the International Festival in Boston Oct. 24, and adopted a cooperative agreement with the Tri-County Technical Center.