Portsmouth school district names three finalists to lead Robert J. Lister Academy

Ian Lenahan, Portsmouth Herald
·2 min read

PORTSMOUTH — The search for the next leader of Robert J. Lister Academy, the city’s alternative high school program for at-risk students, has been whittled down to three finalists.

The Portsmouth school district announced Monday the list of three finalists to replace current Robert J. Lister Academy principal Nancy Roy, who will retire after the school year concludes. The principal position is being renamed as program director, according to SAU 52.

Two of the finalists are currently employed in New Hampshire, while the third works in Maine.

The Portsmouth school district and city officials are discussing moving the Robert J. Lister Academy to the Community Campus, which the city agreed to purchase for $10 million last fall.
The Portsmouth school district and city officials are discussing moving the Robert J. Lister Academy to the Community Campus, which the city agreed to purchase for $10 million last fall.

The only finalist employed out-of-state is Keonna Geer, the assistant principal of South Portland High School in Maine. Named to that role last July, Geer previously worked as the director of school climate and culture for Foxborough Regional Charter School in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Before her tenure in Foxborough, she worked in multiple schools in North Carolina. Geer was a restorative discipline dean for IC Imagine Charter School and MTSS/RISE coordinator for Buncombe County Schools, both of which are in Asheville, North Carolina.

Another finalist is Raymond Pillsbury, who serves as the Winnacunnet Cooperative School District’s director of special services.

Pillsbury, named to that position in 2019, was previously a special education counselor in the Hampton school district. Before that, he held the same title in the Rochester school district, where he also worked as a critical incident response coordinator.

Steven Krzyzanowski, another finalist, has held the dual title of assistant principal and curriculum director of Sanborn Regional High School in Kingston since 2017.

Prior to that, worked in administrative and teaching roles in Colorado. At one school in Thornton, Colorado, he was a social studies teacher, and Krzyzanowski also worked as the assistant principal and dean of students at Academy Charter School in Westminster, Colorado.

“The (Robert J. Lister Academy) Program Director Search Committee has been meeting the last few weeks to create a program director profile, screen applicants, determine semifinalists, conduct interviews, and identify finalists for the position,” reads the announcement from the Portsmouth school district. “This committee is made up of students, staff, parents, and administrators.”

Created in 1992, the school serves adolescents identified as being at-risk due to behavioral, emotional or learning challenges. The program, typically serving upwards of 30 students, offers a smaller education setting with access to programming and extracurriculars at Portsmouth High School.

“This intra-school collaboration provides flexibility with individualizing a student's educational needs, and the setting in which it occurs, on a continuum of support and structure,” the school’s website states. “The student's needs determine the structure and design of their program and the school structure is allowed to fluctuate to accommodate the student's needs.”

Robert J. Lister Academy is staffed with five full-time teachers, a full-time guidance counselor, two paraprofessionals and part-time adjunct faculty.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth schools name 3 finalists to lead Robert J. Lister Academy