Academics
Graduation Requirements--Katahdin students are enrolled in a comprehensive course of study that includes all of the core content and elective credits required to graduate from Windham High School. We offer an integrated approach to learning that combines English and Social Studies into Humanities and Science, Math and technology into the study of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).
The academic approach at Katahdin is customized and relevant to each learner. Our approach is founded on the principle of high expectations coupled with high support. Our practice is trauma-informed. We believe that high quality learning requires an environment where everyone feels safe, respected and valued for their individuality. We all understand that every person at our school has an important role to play in establishing an academic environment that values effort, inquisitiveness, and the understanding that real learning involves being open, listening to others, taking action, and not being afraid to make a few mistakes along the way.
Integrated Learning means that our content is delivered in a similar way to the way that learning takes place in the real world--with subjects intersecting and building on one another. Our teaching practices aim to be student-centered, high interest, and more closely tied to relevant things that reflect the lived experiences of our students, and people in our community and larger world. Most academic classes are co-taught where there is always a teacher present to help differentiate the work so that our content is accessible to all, and at the approriate level of rigor for each student as they progress through different learning standards.
Service Learning : A part of Katahdin's integrated approach to learning involves the ethic of service and Service-Learning. Service learning can take the form of longterm community-based projects. These projects involve teams of students and staff working in collaboration with a community partner. The goal is to collaboratively solve a real-life problem that the community parters' organization presents to our team. Katahdin students learn about the issues related to the project and employ critical thinking, and problem solving strategies to address the problem at hand and to work toward solutions.
For example, if a land trust organization is trying to get a handle on the health of a wetland parcel on their property, they might partner with Katahdin to do a biodiversity assessment of the wetland. In this case our team, sometimes over many months of monitoring he wetland site will gather the ecological data needed, so that land trust managers can get the data they need to make good decisions about the stewardship of their wetland. This is just one example of how students can contribute to the building of scientific understanding through service and data collection. Projects such as these are known as citizen science projects.
At Katahdin, transferable skills are a priority. Our school offers a work co-op program, and senior paid internships. Katahdin students can access career and technical education (CTE) programming at the Westbrook Vocational and Technical Center (WRVC) and the Portland Area Technical High School (PATHS).
Electives: For a small school, Katahdin offers many electives that serve to support both a sense of joy in learning a sense of physical and mental wellness. Each week our students choose one elective to study for the last period of the day. These electives are designed to be active and engaging. They include, but are not limited to arts-based programming such as: Painting, Drawing, ceramics, metal work, and jewelry making . PE/Wellness credit bearing electives include: outdoor games, basketball, yoga, flag football, Mountain biking, alpine skiing/riding, cross country skiing, snowshoeing and more. We offer leadership education in the form of back packing, rock climbing, team building, high and low ropes course experiences, and more. Each week we offer credit recovery classes. Working on credit recovery allows students who may be behind on school credit an opportunity to make up missing work and accelerate their timeline for graduation.