Telstar High School outperformed wealthier, coastal Maine schools to take fifth best high school in Maine according to U.S. News & World Report rankings.

The rankings are based on college readiness, reading and math proficiency and performance, underserved student performance, college-level course offerings, and graduation rates.

Greely, Gray-New Gloucester, Kennebunk and Cape Elizabeth high schools outperformed Telstar. Other top 10 schools rated behind Telstar were Camden Hills, Scarborough, Falmouth and Shead High School in Eastport.

Telstar High serves 171 students from Bethel, Greenwood, Woodstock and Newry, and is the only high school in Maine School Administrative District 44. The total minority enrollment is 5%, and 39% of students are economically disadvantaged.

The recognition noted Telstar’s reading proficiency at 88%. The graduation rate was 78%; math proficiency was 54% and science proficiency was 34%.

While Telstar is ranked fifth in Maine, nationally it ranked 4,576 for the 2025-2026 school year.

Principal John Eliot said in a news release that the recognition, “is a tribute to the hard work of our students, the dedication of our teachers and staff, and the support of our families, school board, and SAD44 community.”

Not resting on their laurels, goals for Eliot and Superintendent Mark Kenney are to improve student achievement in the areas of reading, writing, math and science; to strengthen support systems (tutoring, intervention, counseling); and to deepen community and business partnerships to build opportunities for students, the release said.

It has been quite a turnaround for the school that in 2017, ranked near the bottom of Maine high schools in a schooldigger.com survey. At that time they ranked 117 out of 118.

More recently, in the 2023-2024 school year, Telstar High ranked 35th out of 121 Maine high schools and received a four-star rating from SchoolDigger.com. 

When Superintendent of Schools David Murphy retired in 2023, he cited the creation of the outdoor experiential Telstar Freshmen Academy and the launch of a dual enrollment program with Central Maine Community College as his proudest achievements.

The school’s recent success may stem in part from leadership. Eliot and Kenney know the classroom firsthand. Both were former longtime teachers in the district and Kenney was Telstar principal before his current role.