Boothbay Region High School is a 9-12 high school located in beautiful Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Part of AOS 98, BRHS houses students from the towns of Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Southport, Edgecomb, and Georgetown. There are 220 incredible students with 24 full time teachers.
When asked what makes his school great, Principal Dan Welch proudly states, “The students are great. They are very hard-working, dedicated students.” Some of the things that make BRHS unique are the fact that they offer 1:1 iPads for the students, a strong STEM program, and a class that makes instruments, the AP computer programming and engineering classes. The students have a foreign language program that includes Latin, French, Spanish, and German. In fact, BRHS is part of the German American Partnership Program (GAPP) which is a non-profit high school exchange program between schools in Germany and the United States. Students have the opportunity to visit a sister school in Germany for a few weeks and then host students from Germany later on in the year!
Mr. Welch recognizes that he has helped Boothbay Region High School become a successful educational learning environment by “putting the right people in the right places. I have been fortunate to be able to hire the right people for the job whilst having an outstanding staff here when I came. I try to give them ownership of their programs and I trust that what they do is what is best for kids.” Coming from a small town in northern Maine, Mr. Welch recognizes the importance of having the community be part of the school. “I love to get the kids into the community.” He knows and models the importance of having a strong work ethic for these students and this is reflected by how they work out in the community.
I spoke with two of Mr. Welch’s seniors: Courtney and Nichole. When asked what makes their school great they beamed and replied, “Our school is small so we really have the opportunity to know everyone. The teachers know us and our learning styles and they want us to succeed. “
They went on to say that even though they know and get along with the students in their school, the kids all love competition. “We all really get into school pride!” They also noted they are proud of carrying on the tradition of “The Grand March” during the evening of their graduation. BRHS is the last school in the country to carry on the ceremony to mark the end of one chapter in their life and begin the next.
When asked about their principal, the girls said, “Mr. Welch is awesome! He’s really easy to approach and he’s open to suggestions.
” They told me a situation where the students proposed a longer time in between classes in writing and instead of shooting down the idea; Mr. Welch e-mailed the staff for their input and will be getting back to the students with the staffs’ response. They also noted that “He’s REALLY enthusiastic and comes to almost every game – no matter what the sport is. He’s very involved with everything we do.”
While visiting BRHS, Bike Maine was setting up to host more than 300 bicyclists from all over the world. Student from BRHS were able to help set up and help out with this once-in-a-lifetime event!
Contact:
Boothbay Region high School
236 Townsend Ave
Boothbay Harbor, Me 04538
207-633-2421
Principal: Daniel Welch
AP/AD: Allan Crocker
E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
