‘Small, Diverse, Cohesive and Rigorous’ CBHS Invites Families to Learn More

It’s the time of year when eighth-graders consider which of Portland’s three high schools they want to attend next year. A CBHS Family Night Dec. 8 will help students and families learn about that unique school.

PORTLAND, Maine – Casco Bay High School will hold an “8th-Grade Family Night” on Thursday, Dec. 8, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in room 200 of the school, located at 196 Allen Avenue. The event is designed to help families learn about CBHS as their eighth-graders decide which of Portland’s three high schools they want to attend next year.

The Portland Public Schools offers eighth-graders a unique opportunity to choose between three high schools, each with its own distinctive personality  and offerings. Open houses at each school and other events over the next few months are being scheduled to aid eighth-grade families in choosing a school by a March 10, 2017 commitment deadline.

Portland students may attend any of the three public high schools – Portland High, Deering and Casco Bay High School – regardless of where they live in the city.

Casco Bay High School’s family night/open house next Thursday is the first. Portland will hold its open house Jan. 5 and Deering will hold its open house on Jan. 11. More detailed information about those open houses will be provided closer to those dates.

At the CBHS family night, eighth-graders and their families will meet students, staff and parents and get information on what makes that school stand out. “Learn more about Portland’s small, diverse, cohesive and rigorous public high school – and our remarkable student achievement,” the school urges.

CBHS, founded in 2005, is a Credentialed and Lead school within the EL Education Network (formerly Expeditionary Learning) and one of just 20 “Deeper Learning” schools nationally. U.S. News & World Report ranked it as one of the top high schools in the country in 2016, and 98 percent of its graduates have been accepted to college. Also, the school is intentionally smaller to get to know each student more deeply. It is limited to taking only 97 incoming ninth-graders.

If applications for next year’s ninth-grade class at Casco Bay High School exceed 97 students per grade level, a lottery will be held within the two weeks following a lottery form submission deadline of Feb. 15, 2017. There is no enrollment cap at Portland High or Deering.

The snow date for the CBHS Family Night is Dec. 15.

For detailed information about what prospective students should know about choosing CBHS, go to: http://cbhs.portlandschools.org/for_students/prospective_students For more information, call Deb Kierstead at 874-8160 or email kiersd@portlandschools.org.