Don Abbott is WJHS’s new interim assistant principal

When Wells Junior High School students returned to school this August they were greeted by a familiar face but in a new school role. Earlier this summer WJHS teacher Donald Abbott was hired by the Wells-Ogunquit CSD to be an interim assistant principal. That position was held previously for a brief time this spring by former Wells Elementary School teacher Kyle Burnell who, in June was hired to become the new interim principal of Wells Elementary School.

According to a statement released from WOCSD Superintendent James Daly’s office, Mr. Abbott has over twenty-five years of experience working in public education, the last 23 of which as a grade 5 teacher at Wells Junior High School. In his time at WJHS, Abbott served on various hiring committees and professional learning teams. He served as the grade 5 team leader from 2014-2019 and was a “new teacher” mentor during the 2019-2020 school year. In the past year, Abbott undertook an internship at WJHS assisting the administrative team and learning aspects of administrative job responsibilities.

“Donny Abbott has been a tremendous assist to our district and coach for 20+ years. He will do an outstanding job as the AP at WJHS,” commented Superintendent Daly recently about Abbott.

WJHS Principal Josh Gould noted that, “Don will be a tremendous asset to Wells Junior High School! He has incredible knowledge of the school, has tremendous relationships with students, and understands how to build great teams! We are ecstatic to have him on board in his new role!”

In addition to his role as a classroom teacher, Mr. Abbott has coached the Wells High School Girls Basketball team for the past 16 years. Abbott led the team to a Class B State Championship in 2020 and has been widely recognized for the job his players have done in raising funds for breast cancer awareness in the Shootin’ for a Cure program.

Mr. Abbott holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maine. In addition, he did post-graduate work through the University of Southern Maine’s ETEP program. More recently, Abbott completed coursework to become a certified school administrator through the Maine Educator’s Consortium Program at Endicott College and Southern New Hampshire University.

“After 23 years teaching 5th grade at Wells Junior High School, I am thrilled to continue working with our students and staff in my new role as Assistant Principal,” commented Abbott in an email. “I love our school and cherish the countless relationships I have made here over the years. I am so proud to work at Wells Junior High School; in my opinion, there is no finer middle school around!"