LIMESTONE, Maine (WAGM) - Over the last 30 years, the Maine School of Science and Mathematics has offered Maine teens with a STEM-focused high school education. One of the residential school’s original goals was to help prepare kids for college both academically and socially.

“They learned how to live with a roommate, they learned how to live in a community, they learned how to do their laundry, they learned all of those important tasks that people don’t experience until they’re in the college setting,” explains Rob Constantine, the school’s executive director.

The school has expanded its academic offerings over the years, from starting a college dual enrollment program to increasing AP classes.

Cecilia Pike, a student at the school, explained to WAGM why she chose to attend. “I really was drawn to the way that they teach here,” she said. “It’s kind of smaller classrooms and there’s a lot more variety of things you can do, and you always have the opportunity to learn about the thing you want to learn about, not necessarily the standardize classes you’d get at a regular school.”

Dr. Emmanuel Nsadh, a math instructor at the school, explains that he moved from Uganda to teach at the magnet school.

“The students are excited about math, they want more challenges, they’re engaging, they’re active, they really push you as a teacher,” he says.

Dr. Debbie Eustis-Grandy the STEM Division Chair for the school, has worked at MSSM since it first opened.

“When we opened in 1995 it was a brand new thing, there really wasn’t a lot of structure, we were kind of making stuff up as we went along,” she told WAGM. “But we had a great group of people who were really focussed on being able to provide the best education to kids as we could.”

Dr. Eustis-Grandy adds that the culture of the school has remained the same over the years. “The kids have changed but they haven’t,” she told WAGM. “We still have kids who find here at MSSM a whole group of people who share similar interests and that are comfortable being smart.”

Although the intentions of the school have stayed the same over the years, there have been some changes. When the school first opened it only accepted high school juniors and seniors; now the school accepts students starting their freshman year.

Additionally, as STEM fields have expanded over the years, the course offerings at the school have adapted, too.

“The world is becoming increasingly driven by some of those really important STEM fields,” Constantine explains, “and they’re even changing now that we’ve got to start to work on, but it’s so important for the future to have people who are prepared to do that work, to be thought leaders in that work.”

According to the school’s executive director, a strategic plan is already in the works to continue growth for the next 30 years.