BANGOR (AP) – Searsport District High School, which lost its accreditation seven years ago, has staged a comeback and is poised to become a model of cutting-edge educational reform.

A community effort that led to the school’s renovation and expansion, along with a five-year, $400,000 Great Maine School grant awarded last year, helped put the school back on track.

“We’re like a phoenix that has risen from the ashes,” Principal Gregg Palmer said.

The school, which serves 275 students from the SAD 56 towns of Searsport, Stockton Springs and Frankfort, lost accreditation in 1997 because of a crumbling facility. There was a rapid turnover of superintendents at that time. School spirit plummeted.

Regaining accreditation meant evaluating everything from curriculum to community involvement. In the process the school adopted or is planning innovative changes to make learning more relevant and to help students achieve success after graduation.

To prepare students to broaden their horizons, the school has established a permanent “sister” relationship with the Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Searsport has also hired an Americorps volunteer to help develop a network of community volunteers and mentors.

Another innovation was the “senior experience” program, which enables to students to job-shadow someone whose career they find interesting. Other options include pursuing a hobby, volunteering in the community, taking college classes or interning at a local business.

The school also is creating “learning centers” – new types of learning opportunities for students such as a radio station and a darkroom – that could also be used as community resources.

Future plans call for eliminating the traditional credit system and creating local academic standards to complement Maine Learning Results standards. Students will demonstrate that they have met the standards through a variety of methods, including projects and demonstrations.

AP-ES-11-22-04 1424EST