“I looked at the company (on the list), and to be considered among these schools is an honor,” said Principal Brendan Krueger on Thursday, upon learning his Pine Tree Academy was named among the top 30 Christian boarding schools in America.

The listing was compiled by TheBestSchools.org, and can be found at www.TheBestSchools.org/features/ 30-best-christian-boarding schools-america/.

The selections were based on several weighted factors, according to the TheBestSchools.org, including academic excellence, extracurricular richness, geographical and demographical diversity, and reputation.

The schools are listed alphabetically, and were not ranked other than being among the top 30.

Pine Tree Academy in Freeport is one of two Maine schools to make the cut. The other is Kents Hill School, which began as the Wesleyan Seminary in the spring of 1824. It’s notable that several of the first students were female. That, according to the website, made KHS very unusual and forward-thinking for its time. KHS is among the oldest co-educational private schools in the nation.

In praising Pine Tree, which is affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the listing notes that Christ is at the center of the school. “Boarding and day students are provided an education founded on God’s Word so that students can be prepared for a productive and responsible Christian life.

“Dorm life is intended to be safe and supportive, but fun as well. Activities include excursions into town to shop or bowl, as well as trips to the beach. Students go on hiking and camping trips and roast hot dogs and marshmallows around the campfire. Activities also include snow tubing, swimming, open gym night, and community outreach.”

Krueger told The Times Record that some people might be confused by the listing among boarding schools. “We’re primarily a day school, K-12. We do have a boarding component, which is (20 percent to 25 percent) of the high school.”

The principal noted that the whole school has about 135 students, with roughly 60 to 70 in the high school in any given year. This year there are three international students, but most come from New England. Some day students commute up to an hour each way, but most students who are farther away board at the school.

“We offer a competitive program, probably for quite a bit less” than some of the other schools on the list, Krueger said. He noted that his school offers quite a bit for its size, and about 90 percent of its graduates go on to college and are successful there.

Among some of the activities offered are several clubs and activities, including yearbook, drama productions, study groups, a school newspaper, and a running club, which included participation in a 5K trail run. Students can also take private music lessons through the Center for the Arts, according to the listing. Every year, the junior class goes on a field trip for the U.S. history class. It lasts three days and includes a stop at the JFK Library and Museum.

This summer, the bell choir traveled to Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany, Krueger said.

“Every year the senior class takes a service, or mission trip,” said Krueger. The classes have gone each year since 1987, generally outside the continental United States, he added, although sometimes after a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina they’ll stay in the U.S.

Pine Tree Academy has been operating at its Freeport campus continually since 1961, and has always been affiliated with the Seventh day Adventist Church. Originally, the school opened in Auburn in 1921, but ceased to operate in the 1930s, he said. About 1959, a bunch of local smaller schools decided to combine their efforts and launched the renewed Pine Tree Academy in Freeport, at 67 Pownal Road.

According to Krueger, the “Adventist school system is second in number of parochial schools only to the Catholic church worldwide.” There are seven high schools in New England and New York, and hundreds of elementary and middle schools.

The list included schools representing several faiths, such as many Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Baptist and Seventh-day Adventist schools.

“The boarding schools considered here are as diverse in their approach to spirituality as they are in school culture,” the story explains. “Although in today’s changing world Christians hold many divergent attitudes and beliefs, we at TheBestSchools.org have striven to be impartial, giving no preference to any one faith tradition so long as it was broadly Christian.”

dmadore@timesrecord.com

PINE TREE ACADEMY has been operating at its Freeport campus continually since 1961, and has always been affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Originally, the school opened in Auburn in 1921, but ceased to operate in the 1930s. About 1959, a bunch of local smaller schools decided to combine their efforts and launched the renewed Pine Tree Academy in Freeport, at 67 Pownal Road.