ACADEMIC PROFILE 2016-2017

School Description Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki offers a select number of 11th-grade students the chance to live and work on a 400-acre saltwater peninsula with the goal of exploring the natural world through rigorous courses in natural science, environmental issues, literature and writing, art, history, mathematics, and languages. The community is very small — 42 485 Chewonki Neck Road students and 15 faculty members — and the application process is competitive. Maine Coast Semester Wiscasset, Maine 04578 is a college preparatory semester school in which students are pushed to produce top-quality 207-882-7323 academic work as well as to think broadly about the value, importance, and meaning of their www.mainecoastsemester.org education. Our curriculum allows students to attend without disruption to their academic plans. In addition to their studies, students work on an organic farm, in a woodlot, or on Our Vision maintenance and construction projects. Our students are highly motivated and very capable. In Maine Coast Semester, They savor hard work, both physical and intellectual, and they have a strong desire to we choose to approach rigorous contribute to the world. Semester students return to their sending schools with increased self- academics, physical work, and confidence, an appreciation for the rewards and responsibilities of community living, a strong everyday living with responsibility and sense of ownership for their education, and enhanced skills. Faculty and students do joy. Whether engaging in a spirited everything together, from washing dishes to mucking stalls to teaching and learning, so we classroom discussion, harvesting get to know each other extremely well in the four months we spend together. tomatoes for our table, or planning Saturday night’s event, we live each Goals for Graduates day deliberately with an eye toward At its heart, Maine Coast Semester is a rigorous academic program that challenges connecting the individual to the students’ thinking, asking them to go deeper into learning. We also ask students to participate larger community. Students leave in an intentional community of peers and teachers in a natural setting, so our graduates come Maine Coast Semester with a away with more than just an incredible education. The characteristics below reflect the faculty’s strengthened ownership of their goals for each student. education, an awareness of their place Intellectual Engagement: Take ownership of their education; approach challenging in nature, and an understanding that problems with curiosity, critical thinking, and creativity; and integrate their learning into a they can make a positive difference in cohesive whole. the world. Community Involvement: Live a life of integrity and intention, taking initiative to improve Accreditation their communities through individual and collective action, while understanding that we live in an interconnected world of limited resources. Maine Coast Semester is accredited Articulate Expression: Form incisive thoughts and questions in writing and speaking, by the New England Association of mindful of other perspectives. Schools and Colleges, approved by Sense of Place: Strive for a deeper understanding of the natural world and their place within it the State of Maine Department of through focused observation of details, patterns, and connections. Education, and an associate Sense of Self: Possess a heightened understanding and acceptance of their individual talents member of The Association of and limits. Boarding Schools. Sending Schools Over 2,000 students from over 400 sending schools have attended Maine Coast Semester. Schools that have sent significant numbers of students include The Brearley School, Charlotte Country Day, Deerfield Academy, The Hotchkiss School, Shady Side Academy, Milton Academy, Noble and Greenough School, Princeton Day School, The Taft School, The Thacher School, and The Westminster Schools. Students have also come from a number of Maine schools, including Waynflete School and Brunswick, Camden Hills, Cape Elizabeth, Falmouth, Freeport, Orono, Wiscasset, and Yarmouth high schools. Twenty-four percent of students have come from public schools and 76 percent have come from independent schools. Sixteen percent of students have been from Maine. Nearly 40 percent of our students have come from one of thirteen member schools. CEEB Code 201-122 Faculty Administration The total number of Maine Coast Semester faculty members is 15, including 12 academic teachers, two farm staff, three teaching fellows, and an admissions director. One academic teacher holds a Willard Morgan doctorate and seven others have master’s degrees. Faculty members have an average of 16 Chewonki Foundation President years teaching experience at Maine Coast Semester and other schools. School Calendar and Classroom Time Peter Sniffen One semester, 15 1/2 weeks in length, either fall or spring. All academic classes meet the Acting Head of Semester School equivalent of 4 hours per week except science, which meets for approximately 8-10 hours per week, depending on the length of certain field trips. Classes meet in 55- minute blocks. Academic classes are held Monday through Friday. Grading Chewonki uses letter grades with the following equivalencies: A (94, 95, 96), A- (90, 91, 92, 93), B+ (87, 88, 89), etc. F = 59 (Failing)

Curriculum Students take five courses during their semester, in addition to completing a Human Ecology Project, a weeklong independent research project.

Required Courses: Science: Natural History of the Maine Coast English: Literature and the Land or Ethics: Understanding and Choice Work Program & Outdoor Athletic Program (physical education/practical arts)

Elective Courses: U.S. History (honors level only) Mathematics (Algebra II, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, and AB or BC Calculus) French language (levels III-V & A.P. equivalent offered) Spanish language (levels III-V & A.P. equivalent offered) Art and the Natural World Environmental Issues Tutorial in Latin, Ancient Greek, German, Russian or Mandarin Chinese (level III or higher)

Courses are taught at advanced levels of instruction. Most students take honors-level courses at their sending schools; those students are adequately challenged and prepared to return to those courses. Because of our small size, however, students are not “tracked” except in math and foreign language. All classes are geared to the very capable student. We have chosen not to offer Advanced Placement courses; however, many students match our courses with AP courses at their sending schools.

Standardized Testing PSATs are administered in the fall to all students. In the spring, students may take the ACT. Generally, the SAT I and SAT II Subject Tests are taken at home in June. Prep courses for standardized tests are not offered at MCS. Advanced Placement examinations are administered in May for students who choose, and are prepared, to take them in U.S. History, Calculus AB & BC, French Language, Spanish Language or Literature, English Language or Literature, and Environmental Science. Students are strongly encouraged to consult with a college counselor at their sending school before they arrive at Maine Coast Semester to discuss the AP exams they plan to take. They will also have the opportunity to meet with their assigned Maine Coast Semester advisor before registering for exams in March.

Financial Aid Financial aid is available based on need. For the 2016-2017 academic year, approximately 40 percent of the student body was awarded financial aid; some of these students also received aid from their sending schools while attending Maine Coast Semester. The average award we granted was over $15,000.

College Matriculation Semesters 41 - 50 (graduating classes of 2010 – 2014) Bold indicates 5 or more attending. Amherst College (3) Cornell University (5) Lawrence University (2) Stanford University (1) Bard College (5) Dartmouth College (9) Lewis and Clark College (6) Tufts University (5) Bates College (12) Davidson College (1) Marlboro College (1) Tulane University (2) Bennington College (3) Deep Springs College (1) McGill University (3) University of California Berkeley (1) Boston University (1) Dickinson College (3) Middlebury College (11) University of Georgia (1) Bowdoin College (11) Duke University (4) Northwestern University (4) University of Maine (4) Brown University (8) Evergreen College (5) Oberlin College (8) University of Montana (2) Bucknell University (1) Georgetown University (2) Occidental College (2) University of Vermont (16) Carleton College (14) Green Mountain College (2) Pitzer College (2) Vanderbilt University (4) Colby College (12) Grinnell College (5) Pomona College (5) Wake Forest University (4) Colgate College (2) Hamilton College (3) Princeton University (2) Warren Wilson College (4) College of the Atlantic (11) Hampshire College (8) Reed College (2) Washington University in St. Louis (2) College of Wooster (2) Haverford College (2) Sewanee University of the South (5) Wesleyan University (13) Colorado College (20) Harvard University (1) Skidmore College (2) Whitman College (8) Columbia University (3) John’s Hopkins University (1) Smith College (2) Williams College (5) Connecticut College (1) Kenyon College (8) St. Lawrence University (4) Yale University (2)