Poland High teaching leaves parents divided Unusual methods, grading draw complaints

POLAND – Built from scratch, the $18 million Poland Regional High School is a sleek, modern building equipped with the latest technology for 523 students from Poland, Minot and Mechanic Falls.

Before it opened in 1999, the school had its pick of some of the best and brightest teachers, as hundreds from across the country applied for just over 50 positions. More than half the staff has at least a master’s degree.

But the innovative teaching methods at Poland High have divided parents and left some students confused.

Letter grades aren’t used. Instead, teachers give students assessments that range from “incomplete” and “no credit” to “complete” and “advanced” and then “distinguished.”

Students who fail tests study more and retake them, as many times as necessary to show they’ve learned the material. There’s a lack of tracking, meaning honors students generally are in the same classes with other students.

And students form such strong bonds with their teachers that they sometimes call them by their first names, a practice that particularly rankles some parents.

Some parents say the system is difficult to understand, and complain that school officials have not responded to their concerns about it.

“It’s a failure as a school,” said John Holloway, who withdrew his daughter, a sophomore, from the school in February and plans to enroll her in a Catholic high school this fall.

Seventeen-year-old senior Carrie Plourde said she’s learned much more in Poland High’s nontraditional teaching environment than she would have at a typical Maine high school.

“I think it’s wonderful,” said Plourde. “It’s totally different from any other school.”

But Plourde acknowledged that she finds the grading confusing at times.

“It seems like you have to not only do the task at hand, it seems like you have to go beyond to get ‘distinguished,”‘ she said. “But sometimes it’s hard to go beyond when you don’t know what beyond is.”

Some residents formed a group last month and held public forums that drew complaints from as many as 200 people.

Among other things, they were upset by the school board’s decision to appoint another member of the high school administration to replace Principal Jacqueline Soychak instead of conducting a broad search and considering an outside candidate.

Soychak, who announced last month that she’s stepping down in June to pursue other interests, said many of the parents’ concerns are the natural growing pains of a school that is not just brand-new, but also a new experience for a community that hasn’t had its own high school before.

Derek Pierce, the school’s dean of faculty who will replace Soychak as principal, said the school is working on communicating better with parents and getting them more involved in the school.

“I don’t think our parents feel empowered enough,” Pierce said. “We have to do a better job of getting them in here. My theory is the more they hear about us, the more they like us.”

Others note that Poland High has rigorous academic requirements for graduation that include four years each of math and science. Soychak said 74 percent of its graduates go on to postsecondary education.