Portland Public School Department

Slightly more than three-quarters of the 2007 graduates from Portland’s public high schools will attend college this fall.

Of the 516 students who graduated last spring from Deering and Portland High School, 77 percent (400 students) have enrolled in college.  Sixty percent of the graduates (311 students) will attend four-year colleges, with about half of those staying in Maine.  Another 17 percent (89 students) will go to two-year schools.

An additional 16 students have signed up for various types of educational or training programs and 12 will serve in the military.  The rest will work or have unknown plans.

Portland’s graduates will attend a number of highly selective colleges, including Bowdoin, Harvard, Princeton, Smith,  New York University, Tulane and Tufts.  Some will travel out of the country to attend such schools as the University of Kenya and American University of Bulgaria. 

Gwen E. Smith, a teacher with experience working at the Chebeague Island School, has been selected as the new principal for Peaks Island and Cliff Island elementary schools in Portland.

Smith joins the Portland Public Schools from MSAD 51 in Cumberland and North Yarmouth.  She served as administrative island coordinator and  teacher of a multi-age class (grades three through five) at the Chebeague Island School from 2001 to 2004.  Since 2004, she has been a grade five teacher at North Yarmouth Memorial School.

“I’m very excited about the opportunity to work with the staff, students and community members of both island communities,” said Smith.  “Peaks Island and Cliff Island have so much to offer to truly enhance the learning opportunities of their children, and it’s a pleasure to join this pursuit.”

Smith holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Maine and a master’s in education from the University of New England.  She has extensive training in literacy and math instruction and has served on several district and regional educational committees.

Andrea Napolitano-Romer, a second grade teacher at Riverton Elementary School in Portland, has been named one of five finalists for Maine’s 2008 Teacher of the Year award.  The Maine Department of Education will announce the winner in September.

Napolitano-Romer was nominated for the honor last January by colleagues, a parent and a Riverton student.  She was named a regional finalist last spring.

In May, a team of three judges visited Riverton to observe Napolitano-Romer teach a lesson on conflict resolution that integrated reading, writing and effective communicating. 

The judges also went on a tour of the school led by Napolitano-Romer’s students, and they met with Riverton Principal Jill Blackwood, Portland Superintendent Mary Jo O’Connor and other Riverton teachers.

In July, Napolitano-Romer and the other regional finalists gave an oral presentation to the review panel and displayed their professional portfolios.  Five state finalists were selected. The review process will continue in August with interviews of the finalists. 

Napolitano-Romer, a teacher for 13 years, joined Riverton’s faculty in 1997.  She is a “looping” teacher who stays with the same class for first and second grade.

“Andrea is an exceptional educator and teacher leader,” Blackwood wrote in her recommendation letter.  “…Her students develop habits of independence, self-direction and perseverance while learning to believe that they can be successful and have an impact on their community.”

Napolitano-Romer has developed multidisciplinary projects such as creating a wetlands outdoor learning area at Riverton and having students research and report on an artist from their family’s cultural ancestry.  The latter project was designed to help students appreciate each other’s diverse backgrounds.

Napolitano-Romer has written several grants to expand learning beyond the classroom.  One such project involved starting a Garden Club where able-bodied and physically challenged students work together to tend raised beds.

“Andrea has a calming manner and a delightful sense of humor that promote risk-taking among her students,” her colleagues wrote, in their nominating application.  They also noted her skill in including special education students and newly mainstreamed English as a Second Language students in classroom activities.

Napolitano-Romer holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from St. Michael’s College, a master of education from Lesley University (with a major in special education) and a certificate of advanced study in educational leadership from the University of Southern Maine.  She is a mentor to new teachers and an adjunct faculty member for USM’s Extended Teacher Education Program.