ABSTRACT
No school should be an island, isolated from the world around it. But, off the coast of Maine, a small number of year-round island communities, reachable only by boat, strive to preserve their schools as the soul of their communities. Without the school, there is no island community. Ranging in size from a handful to 220 students, these island schools face a unique set of environmental, cultural, and curricular challenges that are representative of isolated rural schools throughout the country.
