SACO — Earth Day, April 22, dawned bright and chilly, and the sun was shining at River Bend Farm, home to The Ecology School, where on that day, everyone who stopped by was celebrating the completion of a new regenerative green campus and looking to the future.

“Today, The Ecology School campus takes its first inhale as a living, breathing example of what a sustainable future can look like,” said the school’s President and Cofounder Drew Dumsch. “It is my greatest hope that children, adults, school leaders, business leaders, government leaders — everyone — will visit this campus and realize that living green is not only beautiful and elegant, but it’s fun and rewarding. What better time than Earth Day to join the cause for making our planet a safer home for a broad diversity of life.”

With a new 144-bed, 9,000-square-foot dormitory, 7,000-square-foot Poland Spring Education and Dining Commons, and a 712 solar panel array poised to generate 105 percent net positive energy, Dumsch said the property represents the latest example of Maine’s progress toward a carbon neutral future.

The view of the Saco River from the 1794 farmhouse that houses the school’s offices is striking. There are woods and green pasture land. The buildings — the original farmhouse and a 1900s barn, and the new buildings — are located far from the Simpson Road, and it is quiet after a morning open house that drew visitors and a congratulatory video from Gov. Janet Mills.

“Standing before the United Nations a year ago, I promised to the world that Maine would be carbon neutral by 2045,” said Mills, in part. “That goal is aggressive, yes, but it’s also achievable because of the contributions of organizations like The Ecology School at River Bend Farm.”

The campus took six years and $14.1 million to build — six years, Dumsch and others say, of visioning, planning, and construction. With multiple generous contributions from an array of donors and a USDA Rural Development Loan of $8.66 million, and $1.85 million from CEI in long term financing, as of Earth Day, only $200,000 remained to be raised of a $3.6 million capital campaign.

The Ecology School was founded in 1999, and offered nature-based programs spring and fall on rented space at Ferry Beach for nearly 20 years.

Being at River Bend Farm, on the Simpson Road, offered the ability to be open year round, providing ecology-based programming not only to school children but to families and groups.

Ecology Education Inc., purchased River Bend Farm, the former home of the late Mary Merrill, for $1.3 million in November 2017. The property is under a conservation easement with Maine Farmland Trust; construction is limited to an 8.75-acre building envelope ensuring that the rest of the land is conserved for farming, education, and research.

While the COVID-19 pandemic meant no programming in 2020, Dumsch said it gave the school a chance to prepare for the future, while still providing programs for the present, offering programs at ecologyonline.org.

Pre-pandemic, there were spring workshops on tree pruning and grafting, but the virus sidelined other 2020 programming plans.

Now, there are programs being planned for the summer and into the fall and beyond. In late July, a residential family camp is on tap. A weeklong Teacher Institute for Watershed Science and Conservation — bringing together dozens of teachers from across the county, is planned for later in the summer. Poland Spring is sponsoring the program with scholarships.

The campus will be available to organizations like Maine Audubon, Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and Maine Farmland Trust, among others.

Dumsch said the school is partnering with Saco Bay Trails on a public Mary Merrill Trail.

There will be gardens, and a long-term goal is to raise all of the produce served in the dining commons.

The campus is expected to be the first location in Maine, and among only 23 in the United States, to achieve the full International Living Future Institute’s Living Building Certification, said to be the most comprehensive green building certification in the world. Certification is based on actual  performance, to be conducted by an independent auditor 12 months following construction.

Reflecting on the opening and the new location of The Ecology School, Dumsch said the marriage of farm and school was a new idea for the community, “a 105-acre farm where people could live and learn on one of the most beautiful farms in Maine.”

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