FAIRFIELD – Good Will-Hinckley administrators didn’t have to look far in their search for a new leader this spring. Dr. Neil Colan, who had first joined GWH in 1997 as a volunteer board member, had been vice chairman of the school’s board of trustees and has been its chief operating officer for the past two years.

Colan has been named chief executive officer for the well-known school and children’s home.

“He brings continuity to his new job and significant background and experience working with children, youth and families in Maine,” Larry Sterrs of Belfast, GWH’s trustee chairman, said recently.

Sitting in front of a fireplace in Prescott Hall, Colan spoke Monday afternoon of his passion for the students at GWH, most of whom come from abused or neglected backgrounds and are in either permanent or temporary custody of the state of Maine.

“We are talking about children who come from families where there has been abuse, neglect or violence. Our first goal is to establish a sense of safety and stability,” Colan said. “Once we establish that climate, change will be accomplished in a reasonable, effective way over time.”

No matter how significant the problems a child has, every child who attends GWH is expected to succeed, Colan said.

“We look at each youth as capable. We appreciate the challenges these people have faced, and we know the sadness they have experienced,” he said. Despite fostering a structured atmosphere, GWH “is child-focused, not structure-focused,” the school official stressed.

Colan, a resident of Readfield, holds a doctorate in psychology from Boston University and in the past has been a practicing psychologist in Winthrop, a clinical director in Augusta and a professor at the Center on Work and Family of BU. These might be unusual qualifications for the head of a public school system, but for GWH, Colan is a perfect fit.

After all, this is not a school where round pegs are forced to fit into square holes. Colan said it is more like the square holes are retrofitted to fit the round pegs. Some of the most powerful moments he has experienced at GWH, Colan said, is when a student “finds their way back and is ready to grow. We always ask: ‘What is our point of engagement? What can we do differently?'”

As CEO of GWH, Colan will be responsible for the not-for-profit school’s sprawling, 2,450-acre campus, all programs and staff and up to 300 11-to-21 year olds who are served each year.

GWH has an open curriculum, he said.

“We work to find the interests and strengths of each student, and we build on that,” Colan said. “We do have structure and expectations, but what works best here is flexibility. We provide them a home and a helping hand. By engaging them in the process, they own their success.”

Along with personalized educational programs, GWH staff must deal with the issue of trust, Colan said.

“Everyone has let these children down – their parents, their foster families, the system. We have to sit with that for a while,” he said.

“I am a great believer in learning by doing,” Colan said, “and by growing that approach to success.”

Colan said he is eager for the challenges ahead.

“This role has been a humbling gift for me, and I have a great sense of stewardship here,” he said.

More than 6,000 youths have been served at GWH since its inception as a farm for wayward youth in 1889.

“This is my calling,” Colan said. “My whole career has been focused on children, youth and families. This is what I was meant to do.”