Traip Academy…A Little History

R. W. Traip Academy is a public, coeducation high school serving approximately 280 students in grades 9 – 12. The school is named for its benefactor, Robert William Traip, who strongly believed that the students of Kittery deserved their own high school. The first graduating class in 1906 included two women! Since then, Traip Academy has maintained a deep and rich tradition of preparing students for college, career, and citizenship. Located adjacent to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Traip Academy maintains a close partnership with its military-connected families. Prior to his departure in July, the PNSY Commander, Captain Greene, presented the keynote address at the 2016 Commencement. That same summer, the school received a grant from the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) to better support all students’ social/emotional needs and particularly the needs of our militaryconnected youth. The diversity and flavor that they bring to Traip Academy enhances the learning experience for all our students. Traip Academy adopted a Vision for the Future in the spring of 2012 that charted a redesign course for the school. The Vision espouses a rigorous and customized learning experience for all students to include early college experience, online learning, enhanced Advanced Placement opportunities, and student internships. A linchpin of the Vision has been the successful deployment of a proficiency-based learning model for teaching and learning. In fact, the class of 2018 will graduate having enjoyed the benefits of a full proficiency-based learning system which places Traip Academy well ahead of the curve among most Maine high schools. At Traip Academy, time is the variable and learning is the constant. Teachers have worked hard to carefully articulate rigorous learning standards for all students, and the school has adopted a multi-tier system of built-in intervention and support for students. Thanks in large part to its relatively small size, Traip Academy knows its learners well and provides customized learning experiences for all. We offer a wide variety of co-curricular and interscholastic activities. In fact, well

over 60% of our students are involved in some type of co-curricular or extra-curricular program. We are proud of the fact that all students leave the school with a clear plan for their futures. Among the class of 2016, 88% continued on in a post-secondary learning experience, many at competitive schools including Bates College, Smith College, UNLV, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and as a MELMAC Aspirations school, we carefully follow their progress even after they graduate from Traip Academy. In the years to come, Traip Academy looks forward to enhancing its positive, nurturing, and inviting college-going culture where teachers genuinely care about students and where families feel supported and welcomed. We will continue to rethink and refine strategies for customized learning within traditional 9-12 learning parameters. Our staff will strive to have every student involved in at least one cocurricular or extra-curricular program. Traip Academy is proud of the progress it has made since 2012, and the faculty, staff, and administration looks forward to continuing the important work of preparing students for the 21st century job market with skills applicable to a rapidly changing world.