Jayne Perkins, director of Sanford Community Adult Education
Photo: Gail Burnett
By Gail Burnett
Children aren’t the only ones starting to think about the classroom as the end of summer approaches. More than 500 adults are enrolled, or soon will be, in fall classes that begin Sept. 8 at Sanford Community Adult Education, studying everything from math to English to playing the ukelele.
“Our numbers are up,” SCAE Director Jayne Perkins said this week. Ninety-eight students are expected in academic classes, including math, science, English and social studies. Many will work on the skills they need to pass the HiSET (High School Equivalency Test), the successor to the GED that awards a high school diploma. A total of 68 are enrolled in English as a second language classes. The rest will take enrichment classes – some to learn valuable skills like welding or first aid and some just to have fun.
Perkins, who taught at many grade levels for 24 years before becoming a director, says it’s hard to describe the typical adult education student. They can be as young as 16, and there’s no upper age limit. Those who return for their diplomas often say that high school just didn’t work for them academically, socially or both. Some needed to quit school years ago to support themselves or their families. Some are hoping to return to Sanford High School after being expelled. “Everyone comes in with their own story,” Perkins said.
SCAE tries to make the enrollment process as non-threatening as possible. Prospective students can fill in an online form and receive a phone call from a staff member – usually Perkins herself – to discuss their needs.
“Sometimes it’s hard to make that first phone call, to walk in the door,” she said.
Perkins has seen changes since she took the job in 2021. Classes that had been taught remotely during the pandemic gradually returned to the classroom (though the school still has some online offerings). Recently there’s been an uptick in younger students who stopped attending school during Covid. And since 2023, when hundreds of immigrants moved into the area, the school has served more English language students than it had since the influx of Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees back in the 1980s.
No one was initially prepared for this new surge. “It was an emergency,” Perkins said, one that required flexibility and cooperation inside and outside the Sanford schools. An adviser at York County Community College helped SCAE obtain a $120,000 grant to hire teachers and buy supplies, including Chromebooks for students. That money is gone now but the state has been supportive, as have Maine’s two U.S. senators, Angus King and Susan Collins. Both went to bat for adult education when federal funds that had been approved were briefly revoked. Perkins said Superintendent of Schools Matt Nelson always has the program’s back, too.
In addition to classes, SCAE offers space in the former Willard School to many community groups, including the Sanford-Springvale Rotary Club, the York County Career Center, and walking groups that regularly cruise the halls. A new program this fall called the First 10 will bring toddlers and their families into the school for some early education.
“We have an emphasis on community,” Perkins said, noting that it is part of the name.
It’s not too late to enroll in fall classes at SCAE. Call 490-5145 or visit sanfordlearns.com.
The post Adult Education Gears Up for a Busy Year appeared first on Sanford Springvale News.
