By Will Tuell

Gorham Superintendent Heather (Gardner) Perry has been tapped by the Maine School Superintendents Association (MSSA) as their 2026 Superintendent of the Year, the organization said in a media release Oct. 22. 

Perry, the daughter of longtime Elm Street School principal John Garder, grew up and got her start in education Downeast, teaching and serving as principal at area schools before moving on to her first superintendency in Greenville and then to the Gorham School Department in 2015.