ETNA – The Etna-Dixmont School’s newest administrator can’t wait to start working directly with her young charges.

Cynthia Alexander, former curriculum coordinator for both SAD 23 and 38, officially assumes responsibilities as the new principal for the school today, although she has been operating as principal since the end of the school year.

Alexander said Thursday she is excited to return to working one-on-one with her pupils after some time outside of the classroom.

“What I’m most looking forward to is being back in the [school] building,” she said in a telephone interview. “As the coordinator, I really worked on professional development for the teachers, and though that’s rewarding, too, I really like having daily contact with the students. I like having a more personal relationship with them,” she said.

The Etna-Dixmont School contains pre-kindergarten through grade eight, with area high school-age students mostly going to Nokomis Regional High School in Newport.

Alexander graduated from the University of Maine with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and received a master’s degree in education from the State University of New York. She began her teaching career in Hampden and moved to SAD 38 in 1995, working as an elementary teacher, a Reading Recovery teacher and, most recently, as a curriculum coordinator for both SAD 23 and 38.

In her position as curriculum coordinator, Alexander oversaw the whole district, making sure that every teacher’s curriculum was in line with the Maine Learning Results.

Besides her job as principal, Alexander will continue her role as curriculum coordinator for now. “My goals as principal are to continue on the path of providing instruction opportunities for students,” she said. “I want them to have reasoning skills that create critical thinkers.

“By the time they leave the Etna-Dixmont school, I want them to have the ability to classify and organize concepts so they can analyze situations and make informed decisions,” she said.

Alexander said she’s ready to take on the responsibilities of a principal.

“My role as curriculum coordinator really prepared me for my new role as principal,” she said. “This has been my goal all along.”