FORT KENT, Maine — Maine’s first recovery high school, also known as a sober school, will be based at the University of Maine at Fort Kent in a collaboration with MSAD 27 in Fort Kent next fall.
This comes after the Maine Recovery Council unanimously voted in March to award $616,000 to MSAD 27 to fund the program for two years. The school, which will be named the Upper St. John Valley Recovery High School, will not only be the first in the state, but also the first of its kind with a residential component, according to a press release from the Valley Unified Education Service Center.
The school is set to open in August of 2026.
Peter Caron, Coordinator of Innovative Practice and Community Outreach for Valley Unified Education Service Center, said that there are already plans in place to secure funding for future years.
“We have contacted the [Office of the Maine Attorney General] about the possibility of funding for 2028-2029 and are waiting for a response to our request for a meeting with him,” he said. “We also will work with the St. John Valley legislative delegation to sponsor a bill for a foundation allocation funded through state dollars. We already have had discussions with them.”
Students attending the school will stay in a self-contained portion of the university’s Powell Hall and be supervised by two dorm parents, according to the release.
“In addition to the dorm parents, the program will employ a teacher, an education technician III and a Recovery Counselor — a licensed social worker with clinical experience treating substance misuse and co-occurring disorders,” the release said.
Students enrolled in the recovery school will attend classes and participate in individual or group therapy at the university’s Haenssler House. Students will eat together with program staff in a designated room at the Nowland Dining Hall for all meals.
Students will go home to their families on weekends and vacations, equipped with sobriety plans as well as a network of other teens who they can reach out to for support. These schools focus on abstaining from substance use and changing students’ social network to reduce the chances of a relapse.
There are currently six recovery high schools throughout New England.
The school will serve up to eight students and meet their needs for recovery, treatment and education. Caron said students from anywhere in Aroostook County can apply.
“Parents will need to transport their students to and from the program on weekends and before and after school vacation periods,” he said.
Caron said that while he did not have statistics on the number of students in the area who have left school due to substance use, the St. John Valley area and Aroostook County as a whole are both underserved by substance use disorder treatment and recovery support resources.
“As just one example, there are only two recovery residences presently in all of Aroostook County and none in the St. John Valley,” he said. “And while resources are lacking for adults with SUD, the resources for adolescents are even more rare with patients having to travel several hours to be treated by a clinician who is comfortable treating adolescent SUD.”
Caron also noted an increase in adolescent substance use and overdose in Maine and across the country.
“In 2024, there were 384 non-fatal overdoses in Maine involving individuals under the age of 18,” he said. “There were also four fatal overdoses in the same age group.”
The president and provost of the University of Maine at Fort Kent, Deb Hedeen, commended the upcoming collaboration between the college and school, which are located next to each other on Pleasant Street.
“Our campus has a long history of working with MSAD 27 and, more recently, the Valley Unified Education Service Center to address and support not only educational needs, but also significant and pressing community issues in the St. John Valley,” Hedeen said. “We are wholly committed to and enthused about partnering in this vital undertaking aimed specifically at teen recovery from substance use disorder.”
Valley Unified Superintendent Benjamin Sirois also emphasized the program’s importance.
“For youth dealing with addiction to substances and co-occurring disorders as well as the adverse impact these issues can have on their education and adolescent development, this program has the potential to be a life changer that will help alter the trajectory of their futures,” he said.
