Frank I. Brown Elementary

Frank I. Brown Elementary is located near Mill Creek in South Portland, Maine. Brown serves approximately 250 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. In addition to fourteen regular education classrooms, the building also houses academically gifted services, instructional support, ELL services, reading and math interventionists, counseling providers, technology integrators, and multiple special area classes.

At Brown Elementary, we are dedicated to the district’s mission of “Enriching Lives Through Quality Learning for All.” We strive to educate the whole child and provide the foundational skills necessary to nurture lifelong learners. Brown’s staff, families, and community work collaboratively to ensure that all students reach high standards of success as both scholars and citizens.

We recognize that students need a safe and nurturing environment to access academic content. Every teacher at Brown utilizes morning meetings, positive reinforcement, and consistent expectations to establish a sense of community within their classroom. This feeling of togetherness is conveyed throughout the school through monthly whole-school morning meetings and the incredibly popular Brown School song. In addition, students at Brown remember to say Y.E.S., representing the universal expectations of taking care of Yourself, Each other, and the School.

Similarly to all schools in the South Portland School Department, Brown is equipped with a rigorous curriculum, innovative technology, and distinguished staff. All third through fifth grade students throughout the district have one-to-one access to Chromebooks and utilize this technology to support core instruction. In addition, the educators in South Portland receive extensive professional development on using technology to support best teaching practices. 

A recent addition to Brown, has been a Civil Rights Team. Twenty-seven passionate fourth and fifth graders give up recess every other week to further their understanding of civil rights and help determine ways to educate the rest of the student body. These students are committed to making everyone at Brown feel welcome, and their discussions and contributions to the school are truly inspirational. 

The Brown School community works hard to make sure that all students feel safe, valued, and successful. As the last line of the song very accurately states, “Frank I. Brown is the very best - YES!”