A senior associate with the Great Schools Partnership in Portland has been hired as the new assistant superintendent for school management for Portland schools.

The appointment of Aaron L. Townsend was announced by Portland School Superintendent Xavier Botana.

Townsend has been involved in education in Maine and California for nearly 20 years. He is taking over the job from Jeanne Crocker, who is retiring at the end of the school year after serving as an assistant superintendent since 2014.

Townsend served in the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan and has worked as a social studies teacher at Auburn Middle School and a teacher and principal and deputy chief of talent management in Oakland, California. He returned to Maine last year. He will begin his new job July 1.