FALMOUTH RANKED #1 IN THE COUNTRY!
“THE BEST SCHOOLS FOR YOUR REAL ESTATE BUCK”
The following are excerpts from the article published on Forbes.com Magazine, naming Falmouth, Maine, as the best city to “live and learn:”
“Falmouth, Maine, is a picturesque waterfront town 110 miles north of Boston with moderate housing costs (median price $351,550), per-student public-school spending just a touch above the state average, and an enviable position at the top of the Forbes/GreatSchools list of Best Schools for Your Real Estate Buck.
“Not much stands out to explain why the 2,100 student school district does so well. The seventh-graders all have laptops, but so does every other middle-schooler in Maine, thanks to a 2002 program that has distributed Apple MacBooks throughout the state. Teacher salaries are generous by Maine standards, at around $51,000 for a 10-year veteran, but low compared with $75,000 to $100,000 a teacher can earn in New York. At $10,000 a year, per-pupil spending is slightly above average for Maine but well below the $14,000 or so big cities like Chicago and New York spend.
“Here’s one clue to the superior performance of schools in this 10,669-resident town, which was founded in 1658: Teacher turnover is extremely low. In the 13 years Barbara Powers has been [in the district] school superintendent, exactly two teachers have left for jobs at other schools.
“People aren’t using us as a launch pad to somewhere else,” said Powers.
“Falmouth scored the highest on our second annual look at the places in America where your housing dollar will go the furthest in getting your children a great education. Done in partnership with GreatSchools, we analyzed 17,589 towns and cities in the 49 states that administer standardized, statewide tests (Nebraska doesn’t have one test). GreatSchools also used results from the most recent National Assessment for Educational Progress data, a federal program that tests randomly selected students in fourth, eighth, and 12th grades to provide state-level assessments of learning and educational progress. By combining the two datasets, GreatSchools could calibrate the results of individual cities in a single state with national standards to come up with an absolute score for each city. It then graded them on a curve with the highest-ranking city, Falmouth, representing 100. GreatSchools assesses more than 200,000 public schools, including charter schools.”
Everyone should take pride in this recognition, from the community members who support the schools, to the parents, many of whom are deeply involved in volunteering in the schools, to a world class group of students who come to school ready and willing to learn. But the highest praise goes to the leaders of our district, headed by Barbara Powers, and the incredibly talented and dedicated professional staff. They all deserve our profound gratitude for the fabulous job they do with our children.
“THE BEST SCHOOLS FOR YOUR REAL ESTATE BUCK”
The following are excerpts from the article published on Forbes.com Magazine, naming Falmouth, Maine, as the best city to “live and learn:”
“Falmouth, Maine, is a picturesque waterfront town 110 miles north of Boston with moderate housing costs (median price $351,550), per-student public-school spending just a touch above the state average, and an enviable position at the top of the Forbes/GreatSchools list of Best Schools for Your Real Estate Buck.
“Not much stands out to explain why the 2,100 student school district does so well. The seventh-graders all have laptops, but so does every other middle-schooler in Maine, thanks to a 2002 program that has distributed Apple MacBooks throughout the state. Teacher salaries are generous by Maine standards, at around $51,000 for a 10-year veteran, but low compared with $75,000 to $100,000 a teacher can earn in New York. At $10,000 a year, per-pupil spending is slightly above average for Maine but well below the $14,000 or so big cities like Chicago and New York spend.
“Here’s one clue to the superior performance of schools in this 10,669-resident town, which was founded in 1658: Teacher turnover is extremely low. In the 13 years Barbara Powers has been [in the district] school superintendent, exactly two teachers have left for jobs at other schools.
“People aren’t using us as a launch pad to somewhere else,” said Powers.
“Falmouth scored the highest on our second annual look at the places in America where your housing dollar will go the furthest in getting your children a great education. Done in partnership with GreatSchools, we analyzed 17,589 towns and cities in the 49 states that administer standardized, statewide tests (Nebraska doesn’t have one test). GreatSchools also used results from the most recent National Assessment for Educational Progress data, a federal program that tests randomly selected students in fourth, eighth, and 12th grades to provide state-level assessments of learning and educational progress. By combining the two datasets, GreatSchools could calibrate the results of individual cities in a single state with national standards to come up with an absolute score for each city. It then graded them on a curve with the highest-ranking city, Falmouth, representing 100. GreatSchools assesses more than 200,000 public schools, including charter schools.”
Everyone should take pride in this recognition, from the community members who support the schools, to the parents, many of whom are deeply involved in volunteering in the schools, to a world class group of students who come to school ready and willing to learn. But the highest praise goes to the leaders of our district, headed by Barbara Powers, and the incredibly talented and dedicated professional staff. They all deserve our profound gratitude for the fabulous job they do with our children.
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