Liberty School was a private

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

Blue Hill, Maine Blue Hill is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,792 at the 2020 census. It is home to the Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, George Stevens Academy, the Blue Hill Harbor School, The Bay Sch ...

, United States, that operated for nearly ten years. The school had an open campus, and students were largely in control of their education. Many students were actively involved in the school’s democratic governance. In May 2007 the school community elected a new board of trustees to increase student enrollment and improve the school finances, but it was unsuccessful. (Ellsworth American Nov. 2007 - 'Liberty School to Close in December 2007'). Liberty school closed in December 2007

Enrollment

The number of students hovered around 60. There were no grades but written evaluations instead. Admittance was generally welcoming. Students and faculty collectively admitted students through the school’s admissions committee.

Community service

Students were responsible for cleaning the school, including all classrooms and bathrooms. Students were required to do at least 40 hours of

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...

in order to graduate. Community service typically involved volunteering for a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Student activities

Liberty School periodically offered sports, including

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

Frisbee A frisbee (pronounced ), also called a flying disc or simply a disc, is a gliding toy or sporting item that is generally made of injection-molded plastic and roughly in diameter with a pronounced lip. It is used recreationally and competitive ...

. Some after school activities included

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

, and

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IO ...

. In spring 2005, the first ever Liberty School Film Festival was held at the Alamo Theater in

Bucksport, Maine Bucksport is a historical town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,944 at the 2020 census. Bucksport is across the Penobscot River estuary from Fort Knox and the Penobscot Narrows Bridge, which replaced the Waldo–H ...

. It was a showing of student work, films from the Video Poems class, and the premiere of the DVD Yearbook as well as the print version of the Yearbook.

Classes

Liberty school offered traditional

math Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

classes to topic generated classes as well as nontraditional classes such as the History of

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

. Classes were often interdisciplinary.

Sources

http://ellsworthamerican.com/newspaper/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11033&Itemid=203

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20120402133105/http://www.ellsworthme.org/liberty/index.htm
Fertile Turtle - News and Views of Liberty
{{Coord, 44.40507, -68.59547, display=title Defunct schools in Maine Schools in Hancock County, Maine