About Us
Our Mission
What Carleton Project looks like today is not what it looked like when the school program started over 20 years ago. However, one thing has never changed and that is our mission:
To provide opportunities that help meet the needs of students who have not been successful in traditional school settings.
Our Journey
Before opening in 2000, Carleton Project ran summer science camps in Mount Carleton Provincial Park, New Brunswick, Canada. Over 500 students from Aroostook County and New Brunswick earned credits, climbed the highest mountain in the Maritime Provinces, and explored the area’s stunning beauty and rich heritage. They learned water quality concepts, orienteering, first aid, and expedition skills, all while discovering the importance of teamwork—and bugs!
Today, Carleton continues these activities at Ambrose Bear Stream, gathering water quality data from 36 sites. In the summer of 2018, students even discovered a turtle species previously unknown in Aroostook County. Our unique year-round, four-day school week allows us to support these enriching summer programs and our partner schools, fostering a spirit of adventure and lifelong learning.
Carleton Strong
We have been proud to send our graduates off into the world and see them thrive and continue their journey of lifelong learning in colleges and universities. As a private school licensed by the Maine Department of Education and partnered with local schools, agencies, and the Department of Corrections, Carleton is a cherished part of our community.
We Are All About...
Individuality
Creativity
Exploration
Community
Encouraging Individuality
Carleton Project encourages students to embrace their individual traits and use them as strengths. Giving them permission to be themselves allows them to flourish and gain confidence they never knew they had. Participatory education practices allow the transfer of responsibility to the learner over the course of their high school career. It allows students to build upon their individual talents and interests to create targeted, flexible, relevant Individual Education Plans (IEPs) that incorporate the most important people in their lives. This creates a roadmap for life-long learning that builds upon successes and changes people’s lives as they take charge of them.
Creative Minds
Unleashing creativity is the hallmark of any good education program. And learning new stuff is fun. And some lessons are harder than others.That’s why we fill our days with fun and inventive ways for our students to learn and practice their new skills in a safe and supportive environment. Research clearly shows that when students have the freedom to express themselves, they will learn to use their voices. And they are going to need them in a world that seems to be getting louder as it searches for answers to more and more complicated issues.
Discovering New
We try to get out and about with our students as much as possible so that they may experience more learning outside of the classroom. Our trips often include fun recreational and inspiring activities. Our summer, science excursions take the classroom outside and our Turtle Studies and Water Quality Surveys are steeped in Carleton Project history. We know where the best waterfalls and swimming holes are too!
Making a Difference
The concept of community is vital for our students and the continued success of Carleton Project and our Board of Directors believes that graduate who choose to remain in their community beyond high school deserve a lot of support if the community is to prosper. Community has gotten it to this point and community will guide it’s future. Students are highly involved in community projects and local businesses in and around the small town of Houlton, Maine. Many alumni live in the area and continue to visit and support the school. By 2023, they’ll be directly helping to guide it. By 2030, some may be looking for options for their own children.