Welcome to our Virtual Open House!
Due to the pandemic, we chose to open our doors to prospective families virtually in 2020. This virtual open house will continue to be available here on our website 24/7 for your viewing convenience. Below you can see videos made by our students and staff to help explain what Baxter Academy is all about.
For more information, check out our application page at baxter-academy.org/apply!
Questions? Please contact Tyler Beaulieu at admissions@baxter-academy.org.
Stay up to date by following us on social media!
Videos by Topic
Below you can find all our videos from the building tour above, sorted by category.
Flex Friday Programming
Baxter dedicates 20 percent of the week to student-managed, long-term projects that are relevant to each student’s interests and goals. Student teams identify a real-world problem, define how they might solve it, pitch their solution to a faculty review board, network with outside experts, and then set to work.
Some students may choose to work in a large group to develop an experimental model for a fish hatchery, others may want to work individually on a writing a database program with a local company.
Teachers, freed from other teaching obligations, are able to focus on advising students as they work through their projects, assisting with skill development and making sure they ask the right questions, follow through on their work plans and collaborate effectively within workgroups.
Flex Friday fosters the skills needed to succeed in the real world; these skills require time, responsibility, and creativity; and they are found outside of the standard high school curriculum. Schedules, finances, outcomes, and connections to learning are all integral parts of that proposal.
As a result of the pandemic, we were not able to hold our 2019-2020 Flex Friday Exhibitions in person as we have in previous years. With that said, our Flex Friday program was able to carry on in spite of the school building being closed. Below you can see the 2020 digital exhibition with some of the work our students were able to accomplish remotely. The adaptability and creativity of our student body in the face of these unprecedented times has been a perfect example of what Baxter means by THE REAL WORLD STARTS NOW.
Flex Friday Digital Exhibitions
Q & A with Baxter Student Ambassadors
Learn more about Baxter Academy from the perspectives of student ambassadors Elwen ('21), JP ('21), Isla ('23), and Liam ('23).
Advisory
Baxter Academy’s Advisory Program offers consistency and support for students throughout their four years of high school. As a student, you’ll have one advisor and one group of students that you’ll meet with each day. In advisory, you’ll learn healthy strategies, work on digital portfolios, submit college applications, build connections, and so much more!
Clubs & Activities
Baxter Academy offers a wide variety of clubs and activities. There are endless opportunities for students to not only join an existing club, but to create and lead a club of their own. Some current club offerings include Astronomy Club, Film Club, Varsity Club, Baxter Ambassadors, Model United Nations, Women in STEM, Ski Club, Rock Climbing Club, Dungeons and Dragons Club, Among Us Club, Social Injustice Book Club, and more!
Dark Room
Baxter Academy offers opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience with 19th-century photographic processes in our Dark Room. In addition to housing Flex Friday projects, the Dark Room is also a place of collaboration and after school opportunities for Baxter students with outside organizations such as Maine Media Workshops.
Enrollment Process
Baxter Academy for Technology and Science is a public charter high school open to all Maine families. However, in recent years, the number of applicants has typically exceeded our available slots. When this occurs, we are required to use a random lottery system to determine enrollment. To be entered into the random lottery, you must submit an application within our intent to enroll period. The intent to enroll period for the 2022 - 2023 school year will close on Friday, February 25th at 4:00pm. If a lottery is necessary, it will be held virtually on March 2, 2022. If you have any questions about our enrollment process, please contact Tyler Beaulieu at admissions@baxter-academy.org.
Guidance
School counselors at Baxter Academy service all students in our school community. You’ll have the same counselor for all four years of high school to help build connections during your time at Baxter Academy. Your school counselors will help you select courses, plan your academic path both at Baxter and beyond, and are there for students in need of extra support. School counselors also coordinate 504 plans. If you have any questions about our school counseling program, please contact school counselors Emily Kelly and Charlie Koch at emily.kelly@baxter-academy.org and charlie.koch@baxter-academy.org.
Lunch @ Baxter
Students at Baxter Academy are able to participate in $5 meal deals with local restaurants such as Portland Pie, Subway, and Kamasouptra. Many students choose to participate in our open campus lunch program and go out into the community for lunch each day. Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Portland Public Market, and Walgreens are popular spots for Baxter students at lunch time. If students prefer, they can bring lunch from home and are welcome to utilize a community fridge and microwave. If you have any questions regarding Baxter’s lunch program, please contact front.office@baxter-academy.org.
Sports/Extracurriculars & Baxter
For athletics, Baxter Academy offers an opportunity for students to participate in Ski Club and Rock Climbing Club. For all other sports and extracurricular activities such as theater and marching band, students are welcome to compete for the school in their hometown. We are able to adjust your student’s schedule to accommodate practices and traveling times and encourage students to continue to participate in extracurriculars both at Baxter and beyond!
Technology @ Baxter
Students at Baxter Academy have the opportunity to use a school issued laptop or to use one of their own. If a student chooses to use a school issued laptop, they’ll receive either a Lenovo ThinkPad or an HP Chromebook (for engineering students). All students will have access to Adobe Creative Cloud apps, the full Microsoft suite, CAD, and more. If you have any questions or want to learn more about technology at Baxter Academy, please contact Amos Cooper at amos.cooper@baxter-academy.org.
Transportation @ Baxter
When we are in the building, Baxter transports students from 68 communities around southern Maine, representing 8 counties, and covering a land area four times the size of Rhode Island. And every morning and afternoon our students make the journey from their hometowns to 185 Lancaster Street in Portland. We do this is by having a variety of transportation options available to our students. You can read more on our transportation page. If you have any questions about transportation, don’t hesitate to reach out our Operations Manager Mike Thorp at operations@baxter-academy.org
Art & Design
Baxter Academy offers a wide variety of art and design courses with the overarching goal of showing you the wonder of learning and powerful experiences through art. Baxter’s art curriculum offers everything from fine art through commercial art, so whether you enjoy art for fun or hope to have a job in art out in the real world, Baxter’s art program is for you!
Computer Science
Baxter Academy offers several computer science courses using both Python and Java coding languages. Students are able to not only learn coding languages, but also project management, group collaboration, and more! Students in many computer science courses at Baxter Academy are able to earn credit as a dual enrollment course with Thomas College. Additionally, students are able to participate in computer science on Flex Friday and outside of school through other opportunities such as Thomas Cup and Code-a-Thons.
Electronics
Baxter Academy offers three electronics courses: Electronics I, Electronics II, and Advanced Electronics. These courses provide students with hands on experiences as they learn about electronic components, circuits, Arduinos, sensors, and more!
Engineering
Baxter Academy offers a wide array of engineering courses, both for students who are interested in learning more about engineering and for students who have a passion for engineering.
English
Students at Baxter Academy are able to take a variety of English courses including Science Fiction, Dystopia/Utopia, Science, Tech, and Ethics, Shakespeare Seminar, and more! Students are encouraged to choose classes based not only on their skill level, but also by genres that they’re interested in.
Fabrication & Design
All students at Baxter Academy are able to take many fabrication and design courses in our beautiful Fabrication Lab (FabLab). In the FabLab, students have tools available to them like 3D printers, a CNC machine, a water jet, a lathe, a milling machine, and more! All new students are required to take an Introduction to Design course to learn about the tools available in the FabLab and the important safety procedures accompanying them. After students take this course, they are able to take courses such as Woodworking, Product Design, Luthiery, CAM (Computer Aided Machining), and more!
French & Spanish
French and Spanish are two of three world languages offered at Baxter Academy. The world language classrooms teach students through the comprehensible input method, which involves talking to students in the language and teaching meaning through other ways like body language rather than in English. French and Spanish are offered starting at Level 1 through Level 4. If a student has taken French or Spanish at their previous school, they may jump to a higher level upon entering Baxter Academy with permission from the instructor and guidance counselors.
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin is one of three world languages offered at Baxter Academy. Mandarin is offered at levels 1 through 4. Students learn Mandarin through the connection to life using smell, taste, emotion, and more. In Mandarin, there are no tenses of verbs to conjugate, no subject/verb agreement, no masculine/feminine conjugations, no plurals, and the same word order as English.
Math
Baxter Academy offers many math courses for students, including several dual enrollment courses with Thomas College (Precalculus, Calculus, and Statistics). There are several math progressions that you can take during your four years at Baxter, including taking courses like Advanced Algebra, Functional Analysis, and Differential Equations and Linear Algebra.
Music
Baxter Academy offers four music courses for students: Music Ensemble, Guitar Lab, A Cappella, and Music Composition and Technology. Students at all levels are welcome to take these courses and explore their passion for music through Flex Friday projects. In addition to Baxter’s music offerings, students are welcome to participate in orchestra, marching band, and ensembles at their sending schools.
Science
Baxter Academy offers a wide variety of science courses. While their are essential courses that students must take like Life Science, Physical Science, Biology, and Chemistry, students have options to dive deeper into science and select courses that interest them (like River and Stormwater Analysis, Oceanography, Immunology, Human Anatomy and Physiology, Physics, and Forensics).
Social Studies
All students at Baxter Academy must take Early Civilizations, American Studies, and Global Perspectives. In addition to these courses, Baxter does offer several courses such as Confronting Genocide, Personal Finance, and Civics in Action.
Special Education
The Special Education Department of Baxter Academy supports students who are identified with a disability and have an active IEP. Some services include in-class support, one-on-one instruction, small group support, speech services, social work, OT, and more. If you have any questions or want to learn more about Special Education at Baxter Academy, please contact Special Education Director Laura Parks at laura.parks@baxter-academy.org.