Good Will-Hinckley President and Executive Director Rob Moody and his dog Fenway, a 6-year-old border doodle, on Monday outside the Prescott Memorial Building on the campus of Goodwill-Hinckley in Fairfield. Moody is leaving Good Will-Hinckley to become principal of the China Primary School. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

FAIRFIELD — The president and executive director of Good Will-Hinckley has announced he will be leaving the organization to become principal of a regional school.

“Good Will-Hinckley is part of my heart and soul, and it will always be a part of me, and I will continue to support it from afar and watch as the organization continues to grow and help those that are in need,” Rob Moody said Monday.

Moody will continue to work at Good Will-Hinckley into the summer and then will begin his new position at China Primary School.

Good Will-Hinckley was founded in 1889 as a farm, school and home for low-income boys, and has offered a variety of programs in the decades since. In 2009, a number of the organization’s programs closed, although it was able to stabilize its operations.

In 2012, Good Will-Hinckley helped launch the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences, the first charter school in the state. The school now operates as a separate organization, although it’s run out of the Moody School, which is located on the Good Will-Hinckley campus.

Good Will-Hinckley President and Executive Director Rob Moody and his dog Fenway walk Monday to the Prescott Memorial Building, right, on the campus of Good Will-Hinckley in Fairfield. Moody is leaving Good Will-Hinckley to become principal of the China Primary School. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

The organization now runs the L.C. Bates Museum, the Glenn Stratton Learning Center, the Campus Life program, College Step-up and Transitions, Roundel Residential, as well as other programs aimed at assisting Maine children and families.

The board of  directors is in the early stages of looking for a replacement for Moody, according to board Chairman Ben Ward. The organization has a strong senior leadership team to support it, Ward said, and the board is optimistic it will be able to identify a replacement before Moody departs, Ward said.

Moody has served in various roles at Good Will-Hinckley, with an overall tenure of nearly 25 years. He has served as a teacher, principal, director of education, vice president of operations and interim president. Moody was named executive director in 2016, while Kenneth Coville served as president. Then Moody became president when Coville retired in 2018.

Outside of Good Will-Hinckley, Moody worked as the principal at Windsor Elementary School.

Moody said he missed working with kids directly, which prompted his decision to leave Good Will-Hinckley. The position at China Primary School was a “perfect situation,” he said.

Leaving Good Will-Hinckley after so many years is bittersweet, Moody said.

“I feel good about what we’ve done — I know they’ll continue to do that — and now I get to do it in a school of 230 kids as a principal,” Moody said. “I’m just excited to do that.”