Debates over education are often politically charged, with many more slogans than solutions. “Assessment,” “standards” and “consolidation” are battle cries, and budget shortfalls only make the arguments more intense. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the Maine Learning Results exemplify increased intervention in local school decision-making.
Maine’s small, rural schools – including those on islands – find themselves at the volatile center of these debates, whether they are concerned with educational reform or where to spend scarce dollars.
There is growing talk in the state of school consolidation. “Maine’s schools and school districts are too small,” concluded a recent University of Maine study, “costing taxpayers precious money and depriving students of learning opportunities.”
Some Maine schools are being “encouraged” to consolidate. Funds for new schools or renovations have been denied to towns that do not want to consolidate. Municipal and state budget deficits have further prompted efforts to save money on education by reducing staff and consolidating schools. Even as the rest of the country is going through the slow and painful process to reduce school size, Maine seems to be going in the opposite direction. Small schools may, indeed, become one of Maine’s most threatened resources.
Maine’s un-bridged island communities offer some of the best examples of small schools. They range from one student at Matinicus (K-8), to 51 on Peaks Island (K-5), to 213 on Vinalhaven (K-12). The three smallest high schools in the state are on North Haven, Islesboro and Vinalhaven in Penobscot Bay. Their respective enrollments are 28, 35 and 65 students.
These are small schools, even by Maine standards. The 119 public high schools in the state enroll, on average, 515 students. Compare this to the national average of 752 students per high school for the 1999-2000 school year. Maine’s schools have been recognized nationally for students’ high achievement on standardized tests and a high school graduation rate over 86 percent.
Island schools, when they work, are truly community schools. Frenchboro Elementary School (K-8) is a one-room schoolhouse with three students. Fishermen on the island collected fish, crabs, eels, urchins and seahorses for the students’ saltwater tank. Another islander led students on a “Moss Walk” where they identified over 12 different types of moss. Using pictures they took, the students created screen savers for the school’s I-books. Every spring, North Haven Community School holds a luncheon to honor about 100 residents who volunteer in the school. As North Haven Barney Hallowell says, “Not bad for a community of just 350.”
The volunteers play every conceivable role: tutor, chaperone, cook, guest speaker. In the Living with Lobsters project, Vinalhaven middle and high school students use hand-held GPS technology to track drifter buoys from the stern of local lobstermen’s boats. They then use these GPS points to create maps illustrating currents around the islands. Islesboro students, using GIS technology and extensive local research, mapped and named the roads on the island. Their information will be used to create the island’s emergency E-911 map.
Island educators are well aware of the essential link between school and community. Judy Jipson is the head teacher of the one room Isle au Haut Rural School. Six students in grades K-8 attend the school. “If we do not have their participation and support, we do not have a school,” Jipson says of the community members who support the school. “Who would the children perform in front of for their Christmas play? Who would donate money and time for field trips? Who would help them learn about careers available on an island?” Lorna Stuart, the teacher on Frenchboro, agrees. “The support of the community is vital to Frenchboro School,” she says.
Small schools succeed in educating children when they take advantage of their natural resources, namely the overall community: the land and the people. Curriculum relates subjects to students’ lives as much as possible. Relationships among students, teachers, and community members are utilized and encouraged. Everyone in the community plays a role – and is therefore invested in – the decision making process of the school. Technology is used as much as possible. When all of this happens (and it does) the result is well-educated students, a dedicated staff, and an invested community. And kids who look forward to going to school. A Small Schools Coalition is being formed. Its central purpose it to help ensure the survival and success of small schools and the communities they serve. Barney Hallowell (NHCS principal) and Mike Felton, the Island Institute’s Education Outreach Coordinator, are both members.
Mike Felton directs the Island Institute’s schools program.