Maine magnet school listed in top 100 in U.S.

LIMESTONE – To the faculty, the success of the Maine School of Science and Mathematics is due in large part to a unique group of students who want to learn and challenge their instructors to teach them.

To the students, that success is fueled by dedicated faculty members who hand them endless opportunities to take their education to a higher level.

Whatever the secret, it’s clear that students and faculty at the Limestone magnet school believe it is one of the best schools around – and now they have garnered support for their belief from a national publication.

Late last month, U.S. News and World Report ranked Maine’s only public magnet school as the 35th best high school in the nation, making it one of only 100 high schools to earn a gold medal.

This was the magazine’s first ranking of America’s Best High Schools, according to its Web site. The rankings used a formula that measured how each school’s students performed on state tests, adjusting for student circumstances, with evaluations of how well each school’s disadvantaged students did. The publication also looked at whether the school was successful in providing college-level coursework.

The 100 schools that did the best made the gold medal list.

The Limestone school received an AP, or Advanced Placement, Participation Rate of 88.9 percent. The category measured the percentage of 12th-graders who took at least one AP test at some point during high school. The magnet school also garnered a 76.4 rating in the College Readiness Index category, which signified a measure of the degree to which students master some college-level material while in high school.

On Friday, many of the 115 students in the facility’s grades 10 through 12 were lingering in the dining hall or headed off to class, preparing to take final exams before the holiday break.

Students and faculty at the school are excited about the ranking, and administrators are optimistic that the measure of excellence and resulting publicity will attract additional students to the facility.

“I was really excited to see our ranking when it came out,” said Renee Symonds, 16, a junior from Belgrade who has attended MSSM for two years. “The college counselor put it up on the bulletin board in huge letters and highlighted it.”

“It was definitely exciting,” said Kristen Thornton, 18, a senior from Waterboro who has attended the school for three years. “We’re all really happy about it.”

MSSM opened in 1995 and now boasts students from 81 Maine communities.

Thornton, Symonds and Ryan Keating, a 16-year-old junior from York who is in his second year at the school, all said MSSM’s faculty plays a continuing role in the institution’s success.

“Just because of the size of the school and the classes, you receive more attention and get to interact more with your teachers,” said Keating. “Here, it’s a small community. It isn’t like we are all in separate grades; it is like we are one class.”

“You become friends with your teachers,” said Symonds. “You know they are there for you and they are always challenging you to learn new things.”

The three students freely acknowledged that the academic program is rigorous with students spending several hours on homework each night.

“The curriculum and living in the residence halls here really prepares you for college,” said Thornton. “I’ve had some of my friends who have graduated, and they have told me that college is a piece of cake after going to school here.”

Pete Pedersen, a mathematics instructor and dean of faculty at MSSM, added that while the students are challenged to learn, they in turn challenge the faculty to teach them more.

“I have taught school for more than 30 years, and the interaction here is unique,” said Pedersen. “The students here challenge me more than any other students I have ever had. These students expect a lot out of their teachers, and we as teachers work hard to tell them that ‘if you need help, we are here, come to us.’ We want to help them become independent learners, and I think we achieve that here.”

Commissioner Susan Gendron of the Maine Department of Education praised the achievement by MSSM as a “significant accomplishment,” adding that it is “good recognition for Maine School of Science and Mathematics and demonstrates the success of this unique learning opportunity for students from all over Maine.”

Gendron also lauded the 12 other Maine high schools to earn a place in the rankings. Silver medals were awarded to Bangor, Falmouth, Greely (in Cumberland) and Yarmouth high schools. Eight Maine schools earned bronze medals: Carrabec High School in Anson, Easton Junior-Senior High School, Greenville Middle-High School, Islesboro Central School, Katahdin Middle-High School in Stacyville, Lubec Consolidated School, Stearns High School in Millinocket and Washburn District High School.

Walter J. Warner, MSSM executive director, said Friday he is equally proud of the students, faculty and staff at the facility.

At this point, he said, 100 percent of MSSM graduates go on to four-year colleges and universities. Some alumni have started their own technology-related businesses or work in the technology field, while others are still in school, finishing up postgraduate or professional degrees.

Warner believes that the students and faculty are correct about the school’s formula for success.

“We have wonderfully talented and dedicated teachers, highly motivated and curious students, and a curriculum that is both challenging and interesting,” he said Friday. “It all goes together wonderfully.”