Many families live right here in Blue Hill while still others travel from quite far away, driving in the early hours of winter mornings and bright spring dawns to be at school by 8 a.m. Our community of families hale from an average of 15 neighboring towns and like most Mainers, travel for miles (as many as 40 miles one way) to get to school. More than 20 students of all ages ride the bus to and from Ellsworth every day. During sports season parents launch well-planned carpools to practice and games.
Some of the children’s families have lived in this area for generations, while others are new to town. Parents bring a wealth of ideas and experience to The Bay School and are employed in a range of professions, such as administrator, arborist, architect, artist, builder, designer, doctor, engineer, entrepreneur, farmer, filmmaker, fisherman, homemaker, horticulturist, hotelier, landscaper, lawyer, librarian, musician, nurse, pilot, psychologist, restaurateur, shopkeeper, teacher, waitress, web designer, writer, and many more. As Bay School parents, these vivid men and women engage in all kinds of activities on behalf of the school from baking, driving, digging, building, provisioning, chaperoning, hauling, planning, to sewing, knitting, and reading with students. They specialize in a few interesting things too, like milling apples to produce cider (almost 100 gals every year!) to benefit the school. Some contribute hours of volunteer time serving on board committees. In the end, everyone contributes in a wide variety of ways, and so each person becomes part of the joyful synergy of the school.
In the end, it’s this abundant sense of community, this abiding support for family life, and this holistic education that draws people here. And, in equal measure, it’s the decades-long tradition of nurturing healthy, well-educated, happy children that truly defines The Bay School.