The Ecology School in Saco launches statewide program to bring learning outside

['Sydney Richelieu', 'More Sydney Richelieu', 'Staff Writer', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width'] News - Portland Press Herald 2025-09-23 00:00:00

The Ecology School in Saco recently launched its Outdoor School for All Maine Students program. (Courtesy of Drew Dumsch/The Ecology School)The Outdoor School for All Maine Students program launched last week at The Ecology School in Saco, hosting seventh-grade students from Sanford Middle School for a three-day outdoor learning program. “Our goal is that every kid in Maine gets to come to an outdoor school program,” Dumsch said. Outdoor School for All Maine Students is an initiative that allows Maine schools to send their students to overnight programs at outdoor schools across Maine. But the state of Oregon has been working with its Outdoor School for All for over a decade, with 81 percent of the state’s middle school students attending an outdoor school program in 2019.