In the fall of 1988, the first group of students arrived on Chewonki Neck to pioneer the first class of Chewonki Semester School, then known as Maine Coast Semester (MCS).  Twenty-nine students from across the country, from private and public, day and boarding schools, formed MCS I.

The school began as an outgrowth of two programs:  Maine Reach, a year-long program for seniors and gap year students run by Chewonki, and the Mountain School of Milton Academy.  Maine Reach ran for ten years, from 1972 to 1982, and ended when it became more difficult to attract the kind of independent and engaged student that had been a hallmark in the early years.  With the end of Maine Reach, Chewonki embarked on a major capital campaign for new, winterized facilities, and experimented with a number of programs for college students.  In the meantime, the Mountain School was founded as a semester-long program for high school juniors.  This was a critical innovation.

By the time Chewonki’s building phase was complete, the Mountain School had proved very successful, and it was with David and Nancy Grant’s encouragement that MCS was established.  Two years before the first students arrived, Tim Ellis, Chewonki’s Executive Director, hired Scott Andrews as the new director.  Scott was then dean of students at the Stoneleigh-Burnham School, but had worked previously at Chewonki in a number of teaching and administrative positions.  Scott arrived in the fall of 1987 to help Tim recruit member schools and the first students, and hire faculty.

A number of schools, including Waynflete in Portland, ME, and The Westminster Schools, in Atlanta, GA, and Shady Side Academy, in Pittsburgh, PA, became members early on.  In order to be successful, however, it was necessary to attract a few of the major boarding schools.  That was accomplished when The Taft School agreed to become our “lead” school.  It was the enthusiasm of headmaster Lance Odden that helped Chewonki attract schools such as Thacher, Deerfield Academy, Miss Porter’s, Andover, Princeton Day School, and eventually, Hotchkiss.

The first year was tremendously successful.  Our goals were exceeded.  The students in both semesters left having had, by their own accounts, powerful experiences.  In most ways, the program has not changed greatly.  Since the first semester, the size of the program has grown slowly, from 30 students per semester to 40.  The 1:3 ratio of boys to girls has not changed since the beginning of the school.  Currently, about 40% of our students come from public schools, and this percentage has grown over the years.  Finally, we have worked with over 1200 students and over 225 schools in our forty-two semesters.