New State Results Show Conners Emerson Far Better Than Average at Both Reading and Math Scores

School Has Lowered Its Chronic Absenteeism Rate Carrie Jones Aug 13, 2025 Share The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by the Bar Harbor Music Festival. BAR HARBOR—The Conners Emerson School had some great news recently and it all came in the form of data. The Bar Harbor school’s reading scores and math scores from grades 3-8 were higher than state average when it came to … Continue reading New State Results Show Conners Emerson Far Better Than Average at Both Reading and Math Scores

carriejonesbooksAugust 13, 2025Leave a comment

schools

Bar Harbor Says Thank You to a Tireless Advocate for Its Children

With Kindness and Grit, Simis Leaves School Board to Champion New School Build Carrie Jones Jun 04, 2025 Share The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by The Witham Family Hotels Charitable Fund. BAR HARBOR—”Keep moving. Be kind to yourself. Stay well.” Those three short sentences have been a bit of School Board Chair Lilea Simis’ mantra for a few years now. You’ll see it on … Continue reading Bar Harbor Says Thank You to a Tireless Advocate for Its Children

carriejonesbooksJune 4, 2025Leave a comment

Uncategorized

Raising the Bar (and the Swingset)

With Math, Models, and Teamwork, Fourth Graders Create Cool New Playground Designs Carrie Jones Jun 03, 2025 Share The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by The Links Pub. BAR HARBOR—It started with a pile of rubble where their playground used to be, and a question they longed to answer: What would it look like next? So the fourth graders at Conners Emerson School decided to … Continue reading Raising the Bar (and the Swingset)

carriejonesbooksJune 3, 2025June 4, 2025Leave a comment

schools

Teacher Who Started Fourth Grade Day as a Student Now Leads Beloved Tradition

A Legacy of Connection: Fourth Grade Day Unites MDI Students Across Generations Carrie Jones May 17, 2025 The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Swan Agency Real Estate. BAR HARBOR—The thank you notes from the students have already been coming in to Brooke Gariepy, math teacher and National Honor Society advisor at Mount Desert Island High school. You might expect a teacher to receive thank-you … Continue reading Teacher Who Started Fourth Grade Day as a Student Now Leads Beloved Tradition

carriejonesbooksMay 17, 2025Leave a comment

schools

Taste, Talk, and Togetherness: CES Families Share Culture, Build Community

From figs to folk dances, a school-wide celebration turns heritage into connection. Carrie Jones May 02, 2025 Share BAR HARBOR—Anil Aktürk watched as the students tried the dried fruit. “What do you think it is?” he asked. “Papaya?” one boy answered. “Good guess. Good guess. But no.” “Mango?” “Kiwi?” The slices were figs, dried and tasty and from Turkey, which is Anil’s heritage. He offered … Continue reading Taste, Talk, and Togetherness: CES Families Share Culture, Build Community

carriejonesbooksMay 2, 2025May 2, 2025Leave a comment

Uncategorized

U.S. News and World Report Declares Bar Harbor Has State’s #1 Middle School

Maine as a whole does poorly on Nation’s Report Card Carrie Jones Mar 16, 2025 Share The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Edward Jones Financial Advisor: Elise N. Frank. BAR HARBOR—Though the Mount Desert Island Regional School System (MDIRSS) spoke about the state’s overall low scores on the Nation’s Report Card at its March 10 meeting, and the school also endured the theft of a bond … Continue reading U.S. News and World Report Declares Bar Harbor Has State’s #1 Middle School

carriejonesbooksMarch 16, 2025March 16, 2025Leave a comment

schools

Kissing Cod, Walking 3 Miles, and Searching for the Naughty Sam Slick

At the Somesville Schoolhouse, History Gets Real CARRIE JONES MAY 05, 2024 Share SOMESVILLE—The third graders sat in hard pews, heads down, and focused. Their fingers clutched the chalk as they scraped it along the slate boards balanced on their laps. In front of them, stood a schoolmarm dressed in the garb of 1895. If you go to the mercantile, she asked them, and you … Continue reading Kissing Cod, Walking 3 Miles, and Searching for the Naughty Sam Slick

carriejonesbooksMay 5, 2024May 6, 2024Leave a comment

schools

Bar Harbor Woman One of the First Recognized at UMaine Teaching Program

Lanie Christianson’s Love for Kids Leads Her To Teaching Career CARRIE JONES JAN 28, 2024 Share BAR HARBOR—Not everybody makes an afghan in high school that’s based on all the genre of books they’ve read in one year. Not everybody marries their childhood sweethearts and not everybody loves kids and learning so much that they want to spend all day, every day, teaching them. But … Continue reading Bar Harbor Woman One of the First Recognized at UMaine Teaching Program

carriejonesbooksJanuary 28, 2024Leave a comment