SEARSPORT - The Searsport District High School/Middle School has had a string of dynamic principals in recent years, and Kent Hoffman, who signed on at the beginning of August seems likely to continue the trend. Early reports from staff members were that there was something different about him, though no one could say exactly what.

After a school board meeting last week, some of the directors crowded around the tall man in the green corduroy jacket. Hoffman mostly listened, his eyes expressive and a wide smile coming easily to his face. When he spoke his voice was soft and colored by an accent that was difficult to place. The way he moved was different, too, methodical and slightly off-axis, as though somewhere along the line he’d been broken to bits and glued back together.

For whatever notice has been taken of him, Hoffman has been busy looking at what everyone else is doing. And so far he’s been impressed. 

“This place is incredible, in the way they’ve embraced standards-based course work. They’re willing to take chances,” he said. “They’re willing try just about any instructional thing.”

An Illinois native, Hoffman began his education career in 2003 under the New York City Teaching Fellows program, teaching initially at a high school in the Bronx and later ascending to the rank of assistant principal.

The school improved dramatically though some of the real success was clouded by an internal investigation into falsified test scores in 2008. Hoffman served as a “witness for the prosecution.” The culprit was found to be a fellow assistant principal.

Hoffman was encouraged to seek a principalship in New York, but opted to take a job in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Local news outlets touted him as a savior for what was considered a failing high school there. But less than a year later, Hoffman was put on administrative leave, and the school closed soon after. 

Do an Internet search for Hoffman today and these two things come up at the top of the list, painting a picture of a man who was followed by scandal for period of time.

“That concerned [the RSU 20 board] at first but after they talked to my superintendent they decided I was the right person,” he said.

Hoffman made several other stops after Fort Wayne, most recently serving as principal at a K-12 school in Allakaket, Alaska.

“Principal, slash teacher,” he said. “Slash cook, slash janitor. They do everything up there.” The town had a total of 147 residents. The only reasonable way to get there was by plane. If you didn’t plan your grocery list well, Hoffman joked, you went hungry.

All of this was a far cry from the life he led before he ever got into teaching.

In the late ‘90s, Hoffman ran production design company in New York City specializing in music videos. His shop was in a converted fire station in Brooklyn. There was a working fire pole. Hoffman drove a Mustang convertible. He worked with Jay Z, Mary J. Blige and other major acts of the time.

“If you turned on MTV in 1999, half of [the videos] would be mine,” he said.

The 9/11 terrorist attacks virtually wiped out his line of work, he said, but by then he was ready to get out.

“I had my 15 minutes of fame,” he said. “It’s a vicious industry.”

Before applying for the job in Searsport, Hoffman had visited Maine several times and said he always had a feeling he wanted to live here. At one point while talking last week, he described his arrival as “coming back” to Maine. Sitting in his office last week at SDHS/MS, he seemed genuinely content.

“Today was the most fantastic day,” he said.

In preparation for the start of school, he had held workshops on communication among staff members. It was the kind of thing that, in other settings, had caused people to dig in their heels. To his surprise, the exact opposite happened.

“They were almost eager to do it,” he said.

The start of school was still a week off, but Hoffman spoke highly of the energy and creativity of the teachers. He wanted to match it, and spoke of the contagious nature of enthusiasm. A few minutes later, he walked out into the empty hallway at the entrance to the building.

“You should come back when there are students here,” he said.

Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com