Classes about to start in Dexter schools
DEXTER — Students across the Dexter area will be starting classes soon with the first full day of school for all in SAD 46 on Thursday, Aug. 27.
Administrators have been preparing for the 2026-27 academic year, and they updated the district directors during an Aug. 19 school board meeting at the Ridge View Community School.
Freshmen and new Dexter Regional High School students will have the building to themselves on Wednesday, Aug. 26, Principal Steve Bell said.
Enrollment is around 260 pupils, again below 300 since the COVID-19 pandemic, Bell said.
TOUGH TO BRING DOWN — Dexter’s Zakary Adams gains 14 yards on a reception into the redzone during the Tigers’ 2023 season opener vs. Ellsworth. Dexter will play its first game under new lights on Friday, Sept. 4 vs. Stearns High School.
“The lights are up, they’re running,” he said about illumination for the football field. “Remember, Sept. 4 is a big night.”
Dexter will host its first primetime game at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 4, against longtime rival Stearns High School of Millinocket (a rematch of last year’s 8-Man Small School North final which Stearns won 64-8 before going on to capture the gold ball).
Food and activities will precede kickoff. Food vouchers will be handed out to early arriving spectators. The game ball is set to be delivered via parachute.
In late February SAD 46 launched a $250,000 field lighting project. A school Facebook page post included diagrams of a synthetic athletic field and track and grandstand and concessions and storage buildings.
The lighting project will be the first phase of a larger multi-sport turf field renovation project for the school and community at the site of the current football field and surrounding dirt track, the post said. Installing permanent lights will increase safety, allow evening practices and games, create more opportunities for athletes and make it easier for families to attend.
Last fall a T-Mobile campaign gave the school $75,000 toward an upgraded athletic facility after the institution finished third in T-Mobile’s Friday Night 5G Lights contest with more than 500,000 online votes being cast from around the country, receiving $50,000 along with another $25,000 for being one of 25 national finalists. The money was ceremonially awarded at a November assembly in the Ed Guiski Gymnasium.
Dexter will enter the contest again this year.
Two students completed diploma requirements over the summer, bringing the Class of 2026 graduation rate to 95%, Bell said. The Maine Department of Education will release the official rate next year.
“I’m happy to report we’re fully staffed and we were really lucky to snag some amazing candidates,” Ridge View Principal Jessica Dyer said.
An open house Monday will allow students to meet their teachers and see their classrooms before their first day.
Most middle school sports begin the following week. Football is an exception; these Tigers are already practicing.
Most teams have strong participation with field hockey being the exception.Field hockey could open to fifth graders if the roster needs more players after early practices.
The Tri-County Technical Center currently has just under 300 students enrolled, Director Lana Swett said.
The center will offer a new electrical program this year, serving students from across the region’s school districts.
The school board approved a pair of trips for center students, one to the Future Farmers of America International Conference in Indianapolis in October and the second a science research trip to Costa Rica in February.