Leavitt Area High School


Leavitt Area High School is a public secondary school that serves grades 9–12 in Turner, Maine. It is a regional high school and serves the communities of Turner, Leeds, and Greene and is run by Maine School Administrative District 52. It is bordered by the school districts of Buckfield Junior-Senior High School, Edward Little High School, Lewiston High School, Winthrop High School, Monmouth Academy, and Cony High School.

History

The school takes its name from an 1895 gift by James Madison Leavitt, a Turner native who became a wealthy New York City manufacturer of umbrellas and parasols. Leavitt donated $10,000 to the town of Turner to build a preparatory school. The school opened on Jan. 20, 1897, and was dedicated to Leavitt. In 1899 the first class of eight students graduated.
The school later outgrew the initial building, which now houses the Turner Homeless Shelter and the Turner Public Library. The last class graduated from the Leavitt Institute facility in 1966. In 1967 the school's name was changed to Leavitt High School, and in 1969 when the school district was consolidated, the school's name was changed to Leavitt Area High School, now located nearby the old Leavitt Institute Building.