The top reported proficiency rate is 41% in English language arts. The lowest is 23% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Moosabec Csd
Moosabec CSD is a very small rural district in downeast Maine serving grades nine through twelve. It consists of a single school, Jonesport-Beals High School, drawing students from the Jonesport area in Washington County. The enrollment is small even for a high school-only district, which shapes nearly everything about the academic and social experience here. Class sizes are intimate, and students are likely to be known individually by every adult in the building.
The student body is nearly entirely white, with only a trace of other racial or ethnic representation. The district did not report free-or-reduced-price lunch data, special education counts, or English learner figures, so the economic and special-population picture is incomplete. A parent wanting to understand those dimensions would need to ask the school directly.
State testing data from the most recent available year shows a mixed but lean academic picture. In English language arts, a minority of tested students reached proficiency. In science, the share was smaller still. Math proficiency was suppressed, likely because the tested group was too small to report reliably under state privacy rules. Participation was solid. These results sit below what most Maine districts aim for, and given the very small number of students tested, a single student's performance can shift the picture considerably. A parent reading these numbers should keep that volatility in mind. The district did not have trend data available, so there is no way to tell from the provided data whether performance is improving, declining, or holding steady.
No graduation rate was reported in the data we received. For a district this small, graduation cohorts are tiny, and statewide reporting sometimes suppresses or omits them for that reason. A parent should ask the school directly about recent graduation and post-graduation outcomes, since that information is not visible in the available data.
The housing market around Moosabec CSD is one of the most affordable in the state. Typical home values in the Jonesport area sit well below the Maine statewide benchmark and below the national benchmark, and values have been declining modestly over the past year. For a family looking to buy, that means relatively low entry costs compared with most of Maine, though the downward trend is worth noting. Rental data was not available. Washington County is among the more remote and economically pressed counties in Maine, and the housing figures reflect that. Median household income data was available only at the national level, not localized to this district, so we cannot characterize local incomes precisely from what was provided.
We looked for the district's strategic priorities, recent curriculum changes, referendums, or other developments a parent might care about, and the search came back empty. Publicly reported material confirms basic administrative details but nothing about program overhauls or budget shifts. This is not unusual for a district of this size. Program offerings, advanced coursework, career pathways, dual-enrollment options, athletics, and extracurriculars were not available in the data, so we cannot describe what is or is not offered. Given the enrollment size, a parent should expect a more limited menu of electives and specialized courses than a larger high school would provide, but that is an inference from size, not a fact from the district's own data. Asking the school about course catalogs, vocational partnerships, and any shared-service arrangements with neighboring districts would help fill that gap.
What this district appears to offer is a tight-knit, small-scale high school experience in a coastal downeast community where housing is inexpensive by Maine standards. The trade-off is a thin academic profile in the available data, limited evidence of program breadth, and test results that, while drawn from a very small group, are on the low side. For a family that values close adult relationships and a quiet rural setting, and is willing to dig into the school directly for the information the public data does not capture, this could be a workable fit. For a family prioritizing a wide range of academic offerings or stronger published proficiency results, the available data does not make that case.
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