Wiscasset schools’ districtwide athletic director-assistant principal Mandy Lewis confirmed Tuesday, she is leaving at the end of the school year to become an assistant principal at Brunswick Junior High School, across the street from her home.

In a phone interview Tuesday morning, Lewis said leaving the Wiscasset job she’s had two years was a difficult decision and she wouldn’t have made it if not for the new job being at a Brunswick school. “I did not look elsewhere ... But a position opened up in the community where I reside,” she said, adding she and her wife have wanted to stay in Brunswick and are hoping to expand their family. The couple have a son, 3.

She plans to walk to work at BJHS. The school’s nearness is “an added bonus” that will give her more family time and help her be involved at the school, Lewis said.

Asked about the change from serving as an athletic director-assistant principal to full-time principal in Brunswick, Lewis said she will find ways to continue being involved in athletics. They have many positives for students, she said.

Working with her colleagues and students in Wiscasset has been a great opportunity, one she has so enjoyed, Lewis said. She said she is disappointed to be leaving when some of Wiscasset’s other administrators also are. Superintendent of Schools Heather Wilmot and Special Education Director Carrie Kern recently announced they are resigning at school year’s end, Wilmot due to her husband’s job moving and Kern, for family and career choice reasons.

School Committee Chairman Michael Dunn responded to questions via text. On the department's loss of three administrators, he wrote: "It is very challenging, but we have been through it before. We will work hard to find the best people that we can to administer the education of Wiscasset's children."

Also responding to a text request for comment Tuesday, Wilmot wrote: “Mandy has been an exceptional member to our leadership team in her dual rule as assistant principal and athletic director. I surely understand her desire to work in her hometown and community. I am thankful for her student-centered and restorative approaches to working with our students and her commitment to student-athletes.

“It has been my pleasure to be her Superintendent,” Wilmot continued. “I am confident that Mandy will have a long and successful career as a leader in education. She will be missed.”

Dunn commented, "We are all sad to see Mandy leave. She has done a great job for us and we wish for nothing but the best for her and her family."