Maine High School Wins $100,000 Grant

Derek Pierce, principal of Portland's Casco Bay High School, has been chosen as this year’s recipient of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation’s Lawrence O’Toole Award, a $100,000 grant awarded annually to a school, community organization or district to advance student-centered approaches to learning for all students. Student-centered learning prepares students to master both the academic knowledge and the critical thinking, problem solving and communication skills they need to thrive. For the first time, the public had the chance to vote for the award winner online, making Pierce this year’s winner with 6,444 out of over 17,000 total votes cast.

“It was a great honor to be nominated alongside transformational New England educators, students and organizations,” said Pierce. Over the last three weeks, the depth and breadth of the passion shown by our students, staff, parents, alumni and community partners has been awesome. I am also tremendously grateful for all of the support our school has received from Portland, Maine and the entire country. It is a great tribute to the excellent work our students and staff have done in our first ten years. We promise to use these funds to advance student-centered learning for our students and for the region.

In 2005, Pierce became the founding principal of CBHS, the city's first new high school in 150 years. In this role, he has created, grown and nurtured a highly student-centered school with a growing student body, where rigor, relevance and relationship are paramount. Students are encouraged to discover and pursue their passions while consistently being challenged to go deeper and make connections among fields of study.

The school routinely hosts educators from around the nation (and last year, England and China too) for grading workshops and to learn together. In addition to this work with professional development, Pierce has successfully implemented Expeditionary Learning for the students, where they embark on long-term expeditions that take them into communities around the country. Instead of students just focusing on one area of study, this fieldwork allows students to see the complex connection between many disciplines.

“Under Pierce’s leadership, Casco Bay High School is deepening the practice of student-centered learning. He’s truly embraced his role as principal being like the conductor of an orchestra, allowing each player the opportunity to succeed individually, and as part of a bigger system,” said Nicholas Donohue, president and CEO of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation. “CBHS is a proven leader of putting students at the center and leveraging community support to lay strong foundation so that all learners will succeed at high levels.”

The Larry W. O’Toole Leadership award was established in 2011 to honor O’Toole and his success in laying the groundwork and establishing the foundation in 1998. O’Toole was the former president and CEO of Nellie Mae Corp. In 1999, an acquisition by Sallie Mae enabled the creation of what is now the Nellie Mae Education Foundation.
The award ceremony to celebrate Pierce’s accomplishments will be held on a date to be determined.

The Nellie Mae Education Foundation is the largest charitable organization in New England that focuses exclusively on education. The foundation supports the promotion and integration of student-centered approaches to learning at the middle and high school levels across New England—where learning is personalized; learning is competency-based; learning takes place anytime, anywhere; and students exert ownership over their own learning. To elevate student-centered approaches, the foundation utilizes a four-part strategy that focuses on: building educator ownership, understanding and capacity; advancing quality and rigor of SCL practices; developing effective systems designs; and building public understanding and demand. Since 1998, the foundation has distributed over $170 million in grants. For more information about the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, visit www.nmefoundation.org.