Hinckley's History

The name Hinckley Home School Farm was created by Don Bishop to capture what the institution was, not from the court. The court case was due to alumni feeling that the buildings, and endowment, was for an institution that cared for ‘needy boys and girls’. The court essentially found that the prep school was in violation of the intent of the prior donors, and therefore the endowment was unavailable to the prep school. The board then decided to abandon the prep school and return to serving ‘needy boys and girls’. However, since the times had changed from when Dr. Hinckley first established the terms of admissions, and indigent or orphaned youth were now supported by a web of social services, and therefore were not really a population that was available for the newly re-created residential home. This was about the time I joined the board (1975) and the population was less than 15 youth, living in two cottages as I recall, on the ‘boys’ campus. This was not a sustainable situation and the endowment was insufficient to support a huge empty campus. (Most of the endowment is restricted to certain uses...more on that later).

The board ‘partnered’ with the Maine DHS to provide residential and psychological services to youth sent by DHS, and DHS paid a negotiated amount for each student. The program became more of a residential treatment center than a home, and many alumni were uncomfortable with that. There was a fair amount of staff turnover, and eventually Jim Hennigar was hired as the Executive Director. Jim was able to change the direction to more of a home, and less of a treatment center by working with DHS, and the population grew to over 100 students, with about 90% of the funding coming from DHS and other government programs. The endowment and small individual contributions made up the remaining funds.

Around 2005, Maine decided that they were sending too many youth to residential group homes (there were several in the state) and that it was both costing too much, and that youth were better off with ‘kinship care’ than in a group home. Enrollment declined as referrals dried up. In 2008, the budget deficit was so large that Good Will Hinckley was in dire financial straits. The law at that time severely limited how much could be withdrawal from the endowment, which consisted of two parts, unrestricted and restricted money. By this time, GWH had withdrawal all of the unrestricted money and had to request from the court permission to dip into the restricted money as well as to change some of the restrictions that no longer applied, such as money for a weaving room. At an emotional meeting of the Board, it was decided to close GWH, except for a small program for day students who needed some special services, regroup, and spend some time coming up with a sustainable plan for the future. Around the same time, Kennebec Community College, down in Fairfield, was looking to expand as their campus did not have the space needed for new programs. Since GWH had the buildings, and certainly space for expansion, a deal was struck to sell the middle of the campus, between Marten Stream and the Green Road, which meant that Averill and Alfond school buildings (the Alfond addition was built around 2000 and added onto Averill), the farm, the athletic building, Moody chapel, Marten Bank, the old athletic bubble, etc. would no longer be part of GWH.

That sale, along with the sale of some fields on the North campus to a local farmer, permitted GWH to put the restricted money back into the endowment that the court had permitted to be withdrawn. Fortunately, at the same time, Maine passed a bill permitting the formation of 5 charter schools, and GWH applied to become a charter school focusing on students who were unengaged in high school, with a hand-on approach, in a small setting. The theme of the high school would be agricultural and environmental based, and thus MeANS was formed (Maine Academy of Natural Science). The state agreed to provide funding to allow students who lived too far away to commute on a daily basis to live on campus. I became chair of MeANS as I was terming out on the board of GWH ( I have since retired from the board).

Initially MeANS was limited to about 70 students due to having to use one of the dorms for classrooms. A capital campaign was designed to renovate the Moody School so that MeANS could grow to 180-200 students as the demand was there. As many of you know, the newly renovated, highly energy efficient expanded Moody School was dedicated this past Fall and opened for students.

The campus has been re-energized and a new program has begun so in addition to the Glenn Stratton Learning Center (day students with special emotional needs) and MeANS, students who are going into college but still need some remedial education and support, are in the Step Up Program. Some empty buildings on the North campus (known to most of us as the girls campus) are rented to other non-profits unrelated to GWH. The Ryerson Library on the North campus has been totally renovated into a library that also houses a lot of GWH historical items. The Carnegie Library is in okay shape, but needs work, and it is hoped that some grants will be received to allow it to be restored. In general, the campus looks very good as most of the buildings have been renovated and are now being used once again.

A new organization, the G.W. Hinckley Foundation, was created in 2012 and the endowment was moved to the foundation (I am treasurer of the foundation), which provides financial support to GWH, but is independent so the endowment can no longer be ‘raided’.

Bottom line is that the school we all knew is changing, but still in business, successfully serving youth.