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2025-2026 district calendar

At its April 8 meeting, the Board of Public Education unanimously approved a 2025-2026 district calendar that includes Yom Kippur and Eid al-Fitr as new district holidays. Starting in the fall, students and staff at the Portland Public Schools, Maine’s most diverse school district, can observe those major religious holidays with their families without having to miss school. 

  • Elementary Schools
  • High Schools
  • Middle Schools
  • Portland Adult Education
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about Religious Holidays Added to Calendar
"Funding our Priorities" FY26 school budget logo

The Portland Board of Public Education voted on April 8 to approve a $171.7 million school budget for the 2025-2026 school year to recommend to the City Council. The Board’s fiscal year 2026 budget focuses on strengthening student experiences and outcomes and is directly aligned to the new Strategic Plan. The Board’s recommended FY26 budget now goes to the City Council, which moves forward its bottom line. A final Council vote on the school budget is anticipated on May 19 and it will go to voters on June 10.

  • Elementary Schools
  • High Schools
  • Middle Schools
  • Portland Adult Education
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about Board Sends FY26 Budget to Council
Halal meals graphic of student enjoying a meal

As of April 1, the PPS Food Service team has been serving halal meals as a daily lunch option. Halal refers to foods that are permissible for Muslims to consume. Halal foods are free of ingredients like pork or alcohol, and comply with rules and standards around preparation and cleanliness. PPS halal meals are healthy, more inclusive menu items that all students can enjoy – not just students who follow a halal way of eating. 

  • Elementary Schools
  • High Schools
  • Middle Schools
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about PPS Offers Students Halal Lunch Options
Seven Students National Merit Finalists

Congratulations to seven Portland Public Schools seniors for having been named 2025 National Merit Finalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. Those students are Deering High School students Violet Blum Levine, Anja Machado, and Asa Tussing; and Portland High School students Madeline Butters, Lawrence "Calvin" Foster, Dvora Katz and Alexander Price. Less than 0.4 percent of all high school seniors nationwide receive this recognition of academic achievement and potential.

  • Deering High School
  • Portland High School
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about Seven Students National Merit Finalists
Graphic of possible careers related to the outdoors

The Portland Arts and Technology High School (PATHS) is inviting rising juniors and seniors from its 14 sending schools to sign up now for its new Outdoor Education & Leadership Program, which starts this fall. The program will provide hands-on learning experiences in wilderness survival, team-building, environmental stewardship, and outdoor guiding, preparing students for industry certifications and post-secondary opportunities in related fields. It also will help students learn leadership, problem-solving, and risk-management skills.

  • High Schools
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about PATHS Launching Outdoor Ed Program
NolaDelcourteditorialcartoon (PDF)

Two students in the Commercial & Advertising Art program at the Portland Arts and Technology High School (PATHS) have been recognized on the national level for their artwork by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards program. Nola Delcourt, a Casco Bay High School senior, won a National Gold Medal for exceptional work in the “Editorial Cartoon” category with her work titled, “The Fast Food Underbelly.” Zsa Zsa Dolley, whose sending school is Gorham High School, was awarded a National Silver Medal for exceptional work in the “Painting” category with her work titled “The Pains of the Artist."

  • High Schools
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about PATHS Students Win Art Awards!
PHS science teacher Eric Begonia (left) and Sam Rosenthal, PHS class of 1971, outside of new museum entrance

The Foundation for Portland Public Schools is excited to announce the opening of the Rosenthal Museum of Natural History at Portland High School. Sam Rosenthal, Portland High School class of 1971, has donated a collection of fossils that includes ammonites, ancient alligator jaws, the massive teeth of megalodon, and dinosaur bones. The museum is open to Portland Public Schools educators and students. 

  • Portland High School
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about PHS Has New Fossil Museum!
Sips, Sweets and Stories fundraiser graphic

Join us for Sips, Sweets, and Stories, the Portland Public Schools’ Make It Happen spring fundraiser! This unforgettable cultural tasting experience will take place on April 16 at Ocean Gateway Pier from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. All funds will go to support of Make It Happen, a program that provides multilingual students with a pathway to academic success and college readiness.

  • Elementary Schools
  • High Schools
  • Middle Schools
  • Portland Adult Education
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about Sips, Sweets, & Stories Set For April 16!
graphic of dates and times of Board Conversations with the Community

You're invited to join the conversation on the proposed FY26 school budget! Portland families, staff, students, and community members—the Portland Board of Public Education's Conversations with the Community events are your chance to meet with Board members and Superintendent Ryan Scallon to ask questions, share your thoughts, and discuss the budget and the future of our schools. Attend one of the in-person events in March (check out the schedule in the graphic above) or join us virtually on April 2! Virtual link: tinyurl.com/PPS4225

  • Elementary Schools
  • High Schools
  • Middle Schools
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about Join Board Community Conversations!
Logo for March 25 High School Student Summit

The Portland Public Schools will host a Student Summit for high school students on March 25 at the University of Southern Maine. This summit is an opportunity to empower students to share their voices—to express what they want their educational experience to be like and how we can improve. Their insights will directly inform school goals for the 2025-2026 school year. 

  • High School for the Future
  • High Schools
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about PPS Hosting Student Summit March 25
Two Candidates Vying for Board Seat in June

Two candidates have qualified to be on the ballot June 10 to fill a vacant seat on the Portland Board of Public Education: retired PPS music teacher Jayne Sawtelle and building contractor and PPS parent Cassidy LaCroix. They are vying for an at-large seat vacated by Benjamin Grant, who was elected to the City Council this past November.

  • Elementary Schools
  • High Schools
  • Middle Schools
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about Two Candidates Vying for Board Seat in June
Maine Construction Academy logo

Through a new partnership between Associated General Contractors of Maine (AGC Maine) and the Portland Arts and Technology High School (PATHS), PPS students aged 16-20 have the opportunity to attend the Maine Construction Academy this summer. This free, four-week program, running from July 8 to Aug. 4 and based at PATHS, is students’ gateway to a hands-on, high-energy training program designed to enable students to launch a rewarding career in the booming construction industry.

  • High Schools
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about Students: Apply to Maine Construction Academy!
"I Mörkret,” a portrait in colored pencil on paper by a Portland High School senior

It's Youth Art Month and in collaboration with the Maine Art Education Association, the PMA is hosting its yearly exhibit of artwork from students from around Maine in kindergarten through grade 12. This year, the Portland Public Schools has the largest showing of young artists of any district!

  • Elementary Schools
  • High Schools
  • Middle Schools
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about Students' Artwork Displayed at PMA
"Funding our Priorities" FY26 school budget logo

Superintendent Ryan Scallon on March 4 presented the Portland Board of Public Education with a recommended $171.7 million budget for the 2025-2026 school year. The FY26 budget was developed after extensive engagement with the community, staff and school leadership, and proposes strengthening the music program at the high schools, increased rigor and support at the middle schools, adding reading support at the elementary schools, and additional staffing and programmatic support for special education district-wide. The proposed budget would raise the school portion of property taxes by 5.3%, resulting in an increase of $210 per year or $17.5 per month for the owner of a median-priced home.

  • Elementary Schools
  • High Schools
  • Middle Schools
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about Superintendent Presents FY26 Budget Proposal
Women in STEM Give Straight Talk at PHS

On January 7, a panel of women working in STEM fields spoke to students at Portland High School about what it’s like to work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The event, held in teacher Rosalee Lamm's physics and engineering classroom, was open to all students, with a focus on strategies for success, and challenges specific to women and nonbinary people working in STEM. 

  • Portland High School
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about Women in STEM Give Straight Talk at PHS
photo of sports gear

The Ed Feeney Athletics Fund was created last year to allow any interested PPS students to participate in school sports – even if their family is unable to purchase the necessary athletic equipment. So far, more than 180 high school and middle school students have benefited.

  • High Schools
  • Middle Schools
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about Ed Feeney Fund Benefits Students
FAFSA Night 2025 graphic

All PPS high school seniors and their parents are invited to attend FAFSA Nights this month at Deering High School and Portland High School for assistance completing the online FAFSA form. FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Representatives from the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME), high school guidance counselors, and Make It Happen! staff will be on hand to provide processing support. Interpretation will be available.

  • High Schools
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about FAFSA Nights Set for Jan. 14 and 16!
High School for Future image of graduation cap

On Monday, December 9, 2024, high school leaders came together and drafted an organizational structure for the high school community that honors our district's Portrait of a Graduate and Portrait of a School Community. This structure also addresses key areas outlined in the Integrated Consolidated 9-16 Educational Facility application. Read on to view the drafted organizational structure of the school community. While we will make space for feedback and revisions, this framework provides the foundation to build out and refine the rest of the design.

  • Elementary Schools
  • High Schools
  • Middle Schools
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about High School Design Update
State of Schools 2024 flyer image

Board of Public Education Chair Sarah Lentz presented the annual State of the Schools address to the City Council at its 5 p.m. meeting on Monday, Dec. 16, in the Council Chambers at City Hall. The City Charter requires that the Board chair deliver an annual address to the Council on the state of Portland’s public education system.

  • Elementary Schools
  • High Schools
  • Middle Schools
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about State of Schools Address Dec. 16
Hayley Didriksen. Senior Director of Data & Assessment. August 2024

One returning Board member, two new members and five student representatives were sworn in at the Portland Board of Public Education’s Dec. 3 Inauguration Ceremony. The Board also voted for Sarah Lentz to serve for the third consecutive time as Board chair for the coming year and for Abusana “Micky” Bondo to be vice chair for a third year.

  • Elementary Schools
  • High Schools
  • Middle Schools
  • Portland Adult Education
  • Portland Public Schools
Read More about School Board Inauguration 2024

Testimonials

What students and alumni have to say about our school.

All of my teachers went out of their way to make sure I had the resources I needed to achieve my goals. The extracurricular programs allowed me to find my passion in helping others.

  • Alexandra Kiladjian
  • Portland High

PHS provided me with a strong foundation of cultural understanding, willingness to lead, and intellectual curiosity that have allowed me to fulfill my ambitions.

  • Aren Kiladjian
  • Portland High

All of the teachers in the ELL department went out of their way to help me learn. I had the resources I needed in school and outside the school to achieve my goals.

  • Zehra Abukar
  • Portland High & PATHS

Portland High at a Glance

Facts About Our School

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912

Students Enrolled

Our students come from a wide variety of culturally rich backgrounds. We believe that learning in diverse groups prepares students to thrive.

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21

Languages Spoken by Students

Top 10 most spoken languages in the district includes: English, Somali, Arabic, Lingala, Khmer, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Vietnamese and Kinyarwanda.

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1/3

Immigrant Student Population

PHS is the most diverse high schools north of Boston with 1/3 of student population made up of immigrants representing 45 different countries.

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