Maine's Project Learning Programs: By the NumbersThe King Middle School and Casco Bay High School stories in statistics.
| King | Casco Bay |
State of Maine Grades 6-12 |
|
| Total Students | 493 | 232 | 101,950 |
| White | 60% | 75% | 94% |
| African American | 24% | 17% | 2.6% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 9.5% | * | 1.5% |
| Hispanic | 5.5% | * | 1% |
| Native American | 1% | * | .8% |
| Immigrant/Refugee | 2% | * | .5% |
| English Learner | 26% | 14% | 1.9% |
| Free/Reduced Lunch | 53.4% | 37.5% | 35% |
| Special Education | 16% | 22.4% | 16.6% |
| Out of School Suspensions** | 27 | 16 | 8,256 |
| Expulsions** | 0 | 0 | 85 |
* school-wide numbers less than 4.5% suppressed due to confidentiality
** actual numbers not percentages
For a complete breakdown on languages spoken at Maine's public schools, download Diversity Comes to Maine from Abroad.
Average state expenditure per pupil, grades 6-12: $10,650.68
State Graduation Rate: 83.53 percent

The Players:
Junior Abde Ahmed is an immigrant from Sudan.
Credit: Michael Warren
Number of Languages spoken at King Middle School: 25
Top Five Languages (following English):
- Somali
- Spanish
- Arabic
- Khmer
- Acholi (northern Uganda)
Number of Languages spoken at Casco Bay High School: 12
Top Five Languages (following English):
- Somali
- Arabic
- Acholi
- Spanish
- Vietnamese
Number of Languages spoken by all Maine students: 111
Top Five Languages (after English):
- Somali
- Spanish
- French
- Chinese
- Khmer
Principals:
King Middle School: Mike McCarthy arrived in 1988 and has been principal ever since. He introduced expeditionary learning to King after taking a group of teachers on an Outward Bound expedition. McCarthy cut his teeth in education teaching math to inmates at a maximum security prison.
Casco Bay High School: Derek Pierce founded the school in 2005 as an expeditionary learning school. It is the first new high school in Portland in 150 years. Pierce also helped start the only other new high school that opened elsewhere in the state in the last twenty years.
King Middle School students meeting or exceeding standards on the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) in 2008-2009:
Math
Grade 6 – 51 percent
Grade 7 – 74 percent
Grade 8 – 56 percent
Reading
Grade 6 – 70 percent
Grade 7 – 85 percent
Grade 8 – 70 percent
Science
Grade 8 – 60 percent
All Maine middle school students meeting or exceeding standards on the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA).
Math
Grade 6 – 54 percent
Grade 7 – 58 percent
Grade 8 – 53 percent
Reading
Grade 6 – 70 percent
Grade 7 – 79 percent
Grade 8 – 71 percent
Science
Grade 8 – 62 percent

The Players:
Junior Yuki Hall thrives at Casco Bay.
Credit: Michael Warren
Casco Bay High School* students meeting or exceeding standards on the Maine High School Assessment (MHSA) from May 2009.
*According to researchers at the University of Southern Maine, Casco Bay's composite scores were tenth highest out of the state's 130 high schools.
Math: 45 percent
Critical Reading: 56 percent
Science: 44 percent
Writing: 50 percent
All Maine high school students meeting or exceeding standards on the Maine High School Assessment (MHSA) from May 2009.
Math: 42 percent
Critical Reading: 49 percent
Science: 41 percent
Writing: 46 percent
Statistics are from the Maine Department of Education
What do you think of Schools that Work?
Tweet your answer to @edutopia or post your comment below.
