Veteran headmaster says goodbye to Maine Central Institute

PITTSFIELD – Maine Central Institute’s head of school, Douglas Cummings, was brought to tears Thursday morning when students recognized his strong leadership by creating an annual scholarship award in his name.

As Cummings prepares to retire next month from MCI after 18 years as its leader, his emotions were close to the surface as he reflected Thursday on what he will miss most.

“The kids,” he said without hesitation. “The days that are the most memorable to me are those watching the kids here do what they love.

“When I sit at a ballet performance, I get the same lump in my throat as I do watching a kid on the football field. The same thrill is there when I see a kid smile as he comes out of a final exam.”

MCI is a private preparatory school to which SAD 53 tuitions its student.

Cummings was just 30 years old when he arrived in Pittsfield in 1986. Since then, he has overseen the construction of a new football field, a $1.5 million gymnasium, and a $3.5 million science and technology center. Founders Hall, with its trademark bell tower, and all three dormitories have been renovated, and a house on the property has been restored as an alumni center and headmaster’s office. Much of the fundraising for those projects fell to Cummings.

Along the way, he maintained close personal contact with students, gamely taking a pie in the face or kissing a pig for student-led activities. He laid steel in the foundation of the gym, helped screen loam for the football field and climbed into the attic of Founders Hall searching for memorabilia, if needed. He has led the student body in the macarena at a football game and repeatedly has had the tires stolen off his car for a senior prank.

His lone disappointment is that he didn’t stay long enough to see a fine arts center completed.

“But I’m not leaving that on the shelf,” he said. “I am hoping to continue to play an active role as a volunteer in seeing a center become reality. When I first came here, we had 17 kids in the music program. Today there are 180. This is a priority.”

As far as curriculum growth under his reign, Cummings said things have been improving steadily.

“We are doing a much better job with the average student and those who find traditional school unworkable,” he said. “That said, I think we need to get a lot better.

“When I first came here, the job being done for the upper-level kids was extraordinary. But the kids that were going into the work force told us that they felt unwelcome and isolated. Today they are integrated much more closely into the student body.”

That student body also is much more diverse under Cummings’ leadership.

“We began with three kids from Bermuda,” Cummings recalled from 1986. Today, 18 countries are represented in a diverse student population. “And the community has absolutely embraced them,” he added.

Cummings cannot speak of his accomplishments without mentioning his wife, Lori. “MCI really got a two-for-one deal,” he joked. Lori Cummings has been the consummate volunteer, providing an extra hand whenever needed and running the school bookstore.

“I can’t tell you how often all our dining room and living room furniture has ended up in the garage so we can host a school event at our home,” he said. Also during his tenure, Cummings’ three children graduated with honors from MCI.

“It’s been a good 18 years,” he concluded. “MCI has been a great place to grow up.”