Principal's Message

As we close out the 2025-2026 school year, I’m filled with pride and gratitude for all that we’ve accomplished together. Graduation and final exams are behind us, and while we look forward to a restful summer, it’s important first to celebrate the incredible achievements of our students and the unwavering support of our community.

The past month has been a whirlwind of activity, culminating in a beautiful graduation ceremony for the Class of 2026 on McMann Field. Witnessing 143 students—91 of whom will continue their education at college or trade school—embark on the next chapter of their lives is always a bittersweet joy. This graduating class and the entire Morse community have much to be proud of. We were also thrilled to honor Mr. Craig Tinker with the Dr. Patricia Ames Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award at graduation.

The annual Mainsail Assembly occurred in late May, where we honored Brandon and Kristen Cahill of Bill’s Garage for their dedicated support of our students, technical education, and athletic programs. Congratulations to the Cahills!

Students who participated in our AP courses breathed a collective sigh of relief almost a month ago when they completed their AP exams. These exams take a few hours each to complete, and many students take multiple exams. If they score high enough, they will earn college credit and/or entrance into a higher level of coursework in college. Now we all need to wait until early July to find out how they did!

Additionally, we have had several students participate in the Seal of Biliteracy program. The Seal of Biliteracy is awarded by the Maine Department of Education to honor students who demonstrate proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in a world language other than English. This distinction recognizes the academic and cultural benefits of being multilingual. Students qualify for the Seal by achieving proficiency on state-approved assessments, and recipients receive both a special seal affixed to their diploma and an official notation on their transcript. Morse had thirteen students pass the exams. Twelve of these students did so in Spanish, and one is Russian.

I would like to thank the Morse Band, who literally braved the elements on Memorial Day to perform in the Bath parade in the pouring rain. All of our performing and visual artists also put on an outstanding Fine Arts Night in late May. In addition to the fine art on display in the student commons, there were hours of entertainment from our advanced drama theater group, Jazz Band, Symphonic Band, and our choral groups. What a fantastic night of performances!

On June 9th, we held our annual senior sendoff, where Morse honors our senior class as a whole and individuals with annual awards that mark significant accomplishments over their four years with us. Individual recognitions included:

• Student of the Quarter: Ren Kauffenger

• Joyce Wilson Award: Caleb Longbottom

• Builders of the Year (Male & Female): Zoe Nicholson and Christian Hollowell

• Neil and Mary LaRochelle Be True to Your School Award: Kendall Darling

• Wendy Pooler Award: Reese Darling

• Spirit of Jimmy Rouillard: Dylan Dittrich

• Steven J Westlake Award: Patrick Mead

• Kai Award: Taber Gale, Levi Riggs

• JMG Companion Award: Taber Gale

• Chris Hagan Award: Allison Mitchell

• Joshua French Award: Levi Riggs

• Elford “Beany” Stover Award: Taber Gale

• Excellence in Leadership Award: Selah Park

I continue to be humbled by the support that the Bath High School Alumni Association gives us annually. Saturday, June 13th, marked the 136th Alumni Banquet, where there were just under 450 people in attendance in our gym to welcome the Class of 2026 to the Alumni Association. Every 5 and 10-year reunion class was present, with the oldest alumnus in attendance being 97 years old! Each class president offered a speech that included advice and a gift back to the school. As a result of all of this community support, Morse was able to announce 101 awards managed by the Morse High School Scholarship Fund, totaling $346,975. In addition, through the generous donations of area businesses, elementary school groups, private funds, families, statewide, college, and national scholarships, we announced an additional 113 awards totaling $739,042 for a total of $1,086,017. This level of support is unbelievable and makes me proud to know that this community values our students’ education to this level.

Spring athletics are complete, with most programs competing in playoffs. Summer sessions for fall athletics will soon be underway (some started today!); remember that fall seasons start in mid-August, before school begins. Read on for more information on that.

A few new staff members are joining us in the fall. I will have more information on all changes in August; however, I did want to give everyone an update on one change in our Student Services Department. I am very pleased to announce that Matthew Weeman will be joining Morse next school year as our new School Counselor. Mr. Weeman will take over Ms. McGowan’s caseload. Here is the reminder on how we divide caseloads in the Student Services Department (there are a few exceptions to this):

• Leslie Trundy: last names A-F

• Matthew Weeman: last names G-M

• Molly Ellis: last names N-Z

School Counselors check their email sporadically through the summer months. Feel free to reach out to them, and they will get back to you when they are able.

This is the final update of the school year. You will hear from us next in August with important information about the 2026-27 school year. I wish you all a happy and safe summer.

Sincerely,