Building relationships and stronger schools: BARR’s impact across Maine

In the halls of Noble Middle School, students’ faces light up as teachers greet them, stopping to laugh at jokes or high-five their homework successes. Positivity at Noble fills the school, with laughter echoing off the lockers and confidence reflected in the eyes of committed students. This joyful learning environment is a testament to the strong relationships Noble teachers have developed within Building Assets Reducing Risks (BARR), an educational framework that strengthens schools throughout Maine.

Now implemented in over 100 schools in Maine, BARR combines relationship building with real-time data to increase student engagement and well-being. At its core, BARR is about ensuring every student realizes their academic potential by making them feel safe, seen and supported.

“Teachers, students and everyone just support you. There’s really nothing negative about it,” said Chase, a seventh-grader at Noble. James, a sixth-grade student who has attended five different schools, shares his opinion: “It’s a great school. There are amazing teachers and students there, and the classes are really fun.”

Noble High School first implemented BARR midway through ninth grade in 2014. By the end of the first semester, BARR students had missed approximately half the number of days of school compared to non-BARR students, and the school expanded BARR to include all students , being one of the first school administration units in the country to implement BARR at the junior high school level.

A key aspect of BARR is Block Meetings, during which teachers discuss students’ strengths and needs. “Each child is on a team, and the team consists of four regular or core teachers,” explained Noble principal Michael Archambault. “Every other week, the team, along with the school counselor, administrator, BARR coordinator, and potentially several interventionists attend a (block meeting).”

Noble Middle School has created over 200 mentors through BARR to support students with significant risk factors. The Noble Mentoring Program was created by their BARR and intervention coordinator, Kristen Hobbs, to provide additional support to students who were identified by BARR data as “at-risk.”

“It just reinforces the idea that kids know they have an adult checking in on them,” Principal Archambault said. “It doesn’t have to be a planned situation or anything like that. The idea is that “we have a one-on-one relationship where you have an obligation to say hello to me and I will make time for you.”

At Calais Primary School, the BARR program has become an integral part of the school culture since its implementation in September 2023. “We applied for a state-provided program and it has grown and become part of our school, culture and climate” – Sue Carter , director of Calais joint.

Calais Elementary’s implementation focuses on fifth- and sixth-grade teams, offering weekly block meetings and U-Time activities. “U-Times, known as I-Times for older students, is the classroom portion of the BARR framework,” explained Maine Commissioner of Education Pender Makin on the Maine Department of Education podcast, “U-Times.” “What connects us?” “Where teachers and students in their classrooms take the time to build relationships, learn more about themselves as students, as individuals, and really help each other.”

In a sixth-grade U-Time activity called “What’s on your plate?” students explored themes of responsibility and self-care through a creative activity using paper plates. They divided their plates to imagine chores and free-time activities, discussing balance and personal development with the teacher and peers.

“BARR is uniquely suited to Maine’s geographic and demographic diversity,” said Commissioner Makin. “The ability to adapt allows schools to respond to the specific needs of the community.”

In Westbrook, one of Maine’s largest school systems, BARR has led to significant growth. “Basically, BARR helped us identify the biggest risk factors for our students in this community, and we started to see a huge mental health component that has only been exacerbated since the pandemic hit,” said Wendy Harvey, co-principal of Westbrook High School. “BARR has allowed us to increase the mental health support available here.”

For Saif, a Westbrook student, this support means a more promising senior year: “Honestly, after all this, I think my senior year will be an uneventful one. This will be good. I will be happy, and it will prepare me for the college experience.”

Teachers also use the BARR model to a large extent. According to a study conducted by the American Institute for Research, teachers in BARR schools feel more supported, confident in their work and closer to their colleagues.

Brittany Lombardo, BARR coordinator and school counselor at Westbrook High School, insisted that “BARR is not an extra thing on a teacher’s plate. This is absolutely essential and makes our job easier.”

“In my three decades of education, (BARR) is without a doubt the best student support and intervention system I have ever worked with,” Harvey said. “Any administrator who thinks about this knows that it’s worth the investment for the students, for the teachers, and it’s really great professional development for the entire school community.”

These positive changes are reflected in Maine schools that are already implementing BARR. Schools see an average 40 percent reduction in failure rates after just one year of implementation. Since implementing BARR, Bucksport High School’s graduation rate has increased by more than 15 percent. At Mt Blue High School in Farmington, the number of chronically absent students has dropped by 30% and daily attendance is over 94%.

The National Governors Association (NGA) has selected Maine as one of five states committed to exemplary efforts to support the mental health and well-being of students and school staff. Through this initiative, NGA supports the implementation of the BARR model in other countries through technical support at the national level.

The Maine Department of Education used American Rescue Plan funds to enable Maine schools to implement the BARR framework. This investment is part of Maine’s Whole Student Pandemic Response initiative to address the diverse needs of students amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

More information about how BARR is improving Maine schools can be found on the Maine DOE website.

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