Helen M. King Middle School is an expeditionary learning public

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...

located in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

and administered by the Portland Public Schools. The school's current principal is Caitlin LeClair. It is cited as one of the most racially diverse in the state of Maine: the student body totals 550, represents 22 countries and 29 languages. The school teaches from sixth to

eighth grade Eighth grade (or grade eight in some regions) is the eighth post-kindergarten year of formal education in the US. The eighth grade is the ninth school year, the second, third, fourth, or final year of middle school, or the second and/or final ye ...

and has 55 teachers. The school operates without a bell system and emphasizes flexibility. In 2007, King became the first middle school in the United States to offer

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

pills to 7th- and 8th-grade students. The pills are offered with parents' permission and the policy was enacted following a spate of pregnancies at the school. The Portland School Committee voted 7–2 to enact the policy. In 2010, Secretary of Education

Arne Duncan Arne Starkey Duncan (born November 6, 1964) is an American educator who served as United States Secretary of Education from 2009 to 2015 and as Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools from 2001 to 2008. A lifelong resident of Chicago, Du ...

visited and toured the school, calling it "innovative" for being able to set high expectations for its culturally and economically diverse students and for its use of expeditionary learning. In May 2013, King Middle School was profiled by

PBS NewsHour ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virg ...

for an "unusually comprehensive science curriculum that emphasizes problem-solving". In 2015,

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

made an appearance at the school to promote her presidential campaign.Graham, Gillian (September 14, 2015)
"Hillary Clinton to make campaign stop at King Middle School in Portland on Friday"
Retrieved October 4, 2023.

References

External links

King Middle School website
* Schools in Portland, Maine Public middle schools in Maine Portland Public Schools (Maine) {{Maine-school-stub