Famouth Maine earns high ranking as place to Live and Learn

FALMOUTH MAINE EARNS HIGH RANKING AS PLACE TO LIVE AND LEARN

Posted in the Portland Press Herald newspaper today, April 27, 2011, was a story about Falmouth, Maine by Forbes Magazine:

Town earns high ranking as place to "live and learn" - Falmouth is among the "Top Cities to Live and Learn" in the United States, according to the second-annual national ranking released Tuesday by Forbes Magazine and GreatSchools.

Falmouth was the only community with a perfect score of 100 for educational quality and was No. 1 in the overall rankings among communities where the median home value is $200,000 to $399,000. Falmouth's median home value is $351,550, according to the ranking. The Portland suburb has a population of 10,669.

"Falmouth's got serious education chops, consistently outperforming state and national averages in achievement and earning the only perfect score on the educational quality index," according to GreatSchools.

The ranking cited Falmouth schools' focus on early intervention; teacher quality, professional development and collaboration; high expectations for all; use of data to guide instruction; full school and community involvement in creating regular improvement plans; and a K-12 commitment to service learning.

"Falmouth Schools are proud to be recognized for their commitment to educational excellence and citizenship efforts on behalf of all of their students," Superintendent Barbara Powers said in news release.