Office Of The Superintendent

While growing up in Manchester, Sarah was a friend and classmate of Maine's youngest peace ambassador, Samantha Smith. After Samantha's tragic passing in 1985, Sarah had the opportunity to travel to what was then the Soviet Union with twenty of her peers on a memorial exchange. This experience was life-changing. It ignited her passion for cross-cultural exploration and connection and ultimately paved the way for a two-decade career in international humanitarian aid and development. She served in leadership roles with organizations such as Save the Children, Mercy Corps, and Right To Play in multiple countries throughout the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and the Balkans.

In 2014, Sarah decided to bring her leadership experience, deep commitment to social justice, and love of children to the education sector in the U.S. Since then, she has worked with a number of districts around the country. Those included the Chelsea Public Schools, outside Boston, and the Baltimore City Public Schools, where she worked most recently before joining the Portland Public Schools. In Baltimore, Sarah built the district's whole child department, which provided programs and services for students, families, and schools in areas such as social-emotional learning, restorative practices, attendance, athletics, health, home and hospital instruction, and more.

In her current role as Chief of Strategy and Operations, Sarah oversees the district’s operations teams (facilities, food services, and transportation), as well as several areas of strategic priority, including special education and student support services, early childhood education, communications, and family and community engagement. 

Cheryl’s background includes leadership roles in two large urban school district settings. She served the students and families of the School District of Philadelphia as Assistant Superintendent, supporting high school principals to drive academic achievement through instructional improvement; Deputy Chief of Schools, leading leadership development and evaluation; and Executive Director of the School Improvement Planning and Evidence-based Support Office, leading and guiding school leaders in planning and implementing programs geared toward increasing student achievement. Before her time in Philadelphia, Cheryl enjoyed a 17-year career with Broward County Public Schools in Florida, where she served in school leadership roles for more than 10 years.

Cheryl began her career in education as a special education teacher, an exceptional student education specialist, and as a literacy specialist. Cheryl was elevated to assistant principal and later principal. Cheryl maintains a belief that “teachers are at the heart of learning, and principals create the conditions for a safe and engaging learning environment for both teachers and students to thrive.”

She earned a bachelor of science in communication from the New York Institute of Technology; a master of science in special education from Florida International University; and a doctor of philosophy in Educational Leadership from Florida Atlantic University (FAU). In 2022, FAU honored Dr. Proctor with the FAU Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame Award.

Prior to taking on this district leadership position, Beverly was principal of Ocean Avenue Elementary School and principal of Nathan Clifford School prior to that. During her tenure as principal, her collaborative approach has driven meaningful results. Notably, she guided Ocean Avenue to achieve status as an International Baccalaureate World School, earned state recognition for narrowing student opportunity gaps, and invested in our district's future by mentoring more than a dozen school leaders.

Beverly started her career in Holyoke, Massachusetts as a Head Start teacher. She moved over to the neighboring Job Corps to teach reading to students ages 16-26, and then came back to Maine to teach Downeast, helping eliminate gaps for K-8 students. Beverly was tapped to help lead the district curriculum work in Ellsworth, then got the bug to be a principal. She worked in Sabattus for 8 years as a principal of two schools, before joining PPS in 2009.

Beverly holds a B.A. in early childhood education from the University of Maine at Farmington, with a minor in children's theater. She also earned an M.Ed. in educational leadership from the University of Maine, Orono, and her doctoral degree is from Seton Hall in education leadership, management, and policy.

She lives in Portland with her family. When not at work, Beverly enjoys reading, walking, theater and traveling.

A proud HBCU graduate of North Carolina Central University, Tremain earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics before completing both his master’s degree in School Leadership and his Doctor of Education Leadership at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

In his prior role as a Strategic Advisor to the Superintendent of Boston Public Schools, he led cross-functional initiatives to strengthen district coherence, align high-quality programming with school facilities, and advance equitable systems to improve outcomes for students and families.

Tremain began his career as a high school mathematics teacher in Durham Public Schools in North Carolina before serving in multiple leadership roles within Highline Public Schools in the Greater Seattle, WA area, including assistant principal, principal, and founding principal of Maritime High School. Throughout his leadership, he has been recognized for strengthening school culture through restorative practices, expanding student access to postsecondary opportunities, and creating innovative learning environments through project-based learning and community partnerships.

Grounded by his faith and family, Tremain believes every student deserves access to transformative learning experiences that prepare them to thrive, lead with purpose, and contribute meaningfully to their communities. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his wife, three children, and their Aussiedoodle.

Among his priorities are: expanding access to programs such as Make It Happen, Jobs for Maine Graduates, Spring Ahead, Early College, Pathways, and Teach Portland; increasing college and career readiness outcomes; reducing participation gaps for multilingual learners and other underserved student populations; improving systems for addressing family concerns and feedback; and developing new partnerships that support alternative education, academic achievement, student well-being, and workforce development. Abdullahi partners closely with the district’s family and community engagement team and academics/schools teams on these and other related initiatives.

Abdullahi’s previous positions include being Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Schools; interim assistant superintendent; principal of Deering High School; assistant principal of Deering High School; teacher at Deering, teaching physical science and Arabic. In 2013, he became the first certified public school teacher of Arabic Language in Maine. He joined the Portland Public Schools in 2001 and his previous experience also includes teaching physics and chemistry at Portland High School and science at Lyman Moore Middle School.

Abdullahi holds a doctorate in educational leadership at the University of Maine, where he conducted his dissertation research on Refugee Parental Involvement in Schools. He earned a master’s of science in education from the University of Southern Maine, and his teacher certification through the Extended Teacher Education Program (ETEP), and his bachelor’s degree in mining engineering from Pakistan. Abdullahi was born and raised in Somalia. He speaks Somali, Arabic, English, and Urdu. He is married and the father of four children.