Welcome to John Bapst, one of America’s best high schools. Motivated, friendly, involved, creative — these words describe John Bapst students.
Located in the attractive, safe city of Bangor, Maine, John Bapst is an independent boarding and day school serving 535 girls and boys in grades 9 through 12. Our mission is focused on excellence, friendliness, community, diversity, global understanding, and personal growth. Each year John Bapst is home to students from nearly 40 Maine towns, and since 2011 John Bapst’s boarding and homestay programs have welcomed students from a long list of other countries: China, Vietnam, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Kazakhstan, India, Israel, Egypt, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Sweden, France, Albania, the UK, South Africa, Ghana, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador.
We love seeing this diverse student body come together, sharing their passions, celebrating their differences, and aspiring to great things. The school’s accelerated English immersion program with ESL support allows international students to challenge themselves while making friends in America.
A 21st-century school has to know its students. We still believe in a traditional, well-rounded education, and all John Bapst students learn how to read critically, write clearly, work math problems, and investigate the sciences. At the same time, John Bapst views every student as an individual learner. Art, music, and technology are vital subjects at John Bapst. We emphasize citizenship and service, and our students prepare for the real world through courses in environmental science, economics, world cultures, and languages.
John Bapst has been known as an exceptional academic high school for a very long time—that’s our identity. Four times the school has been ranked #1 in Maine by The Washington Post. In 2019, John Bapst students took 535 AP (Advanced Placement) exams in 23 subject areas. Students go on to Ivy League colleges, top public and private research universities, and great liberal arts colleges. Our graduates currently study at Yale, Columbia, MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Boston College, Wellesley, Smith, UMass-Amherst, Tufts, NYU, Fordham, Northeastern, Chicago, Illinois, Indiana, Johns Hopkins, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Penn, Virginia Tech, Emory, Florida, Georgia Tech, Purdue, Michigan State, Texas, Texas A&M, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, several campuses in the University of California system, and many others. Our students have also gone on to art and music schools like the Parsons, Pratt, the Art Institute of Chicago, and Berklee College of Music. Here in Maine, dozens of John Bapst scholars have entered the honors programs at the University of Maine-Orono; followed the liberal arts to Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin; or specialized at Husson University, Maine Maritime, University of New England, and other schools.
Many years ago a John Bapst student said to me, “I love this place because it lets me be myself.” If that sounds like a school you could thrive in, please let us tell you more. Contact us at admission@johnbapst.org and come see how limitless the possibilities are.
Mel MacKay
Head of School