Editing Jay, Maine (section)

== Education ==
The Jay School Department was owned by The Town of Jay and was governed by a five-member school committee and one superintendent. The district consisted of one elementary, middle and high school. In 2010 the estimated the districtwide student population was approximately 700 students. Jay School Department was recognized as the third smallest school district (with the exception of unorganized territory school districts) in the State of Maine. Because of the size of the school district and excellent ratings the school districts received extra federal funding for being one of America's Top Performing School Districts with a population of under 1,000.

During the 2010–2011 school year Jay Elementary School held about 220 students serving grade Pre-K through 3rd. The school was built in the mid-1960s and a small addition was added. The elementary school was redone in the summer of 2018

Jay Middle School in the 2010–2011 school year had an estimated population of about 250 students in grades 4–8. The middle school, finished in 1997, consists of two floors, and is the newest school in the district. The school connects onto the Jay Community Building, where the townspeople vote and special meetings are held. The top floor of community building is where the large gymnasium is located. The Jay School Committee often meets in the middle school cafeteria or library because of the large space.

Jay High School had an estimated population of about 250 during the 2010–2011 school year in grades 9–12. The Jay High School building opened in the fall of 1970 and since then has held high school classes for students in Jay since. The building offers a unique architecture as it has a large domed gym, formerly known as The Tiger Dome; the tigers being the school and district mascot. The large gymnasium makes up about a quarter of the whole building's square footage and classes are held in wing off the center of the building.<ref>"Jay School Department" http://www.jayschools.org</ref>

In 2010 Jay Schools consolidated with RSU 36 encompassing Livermore and Livermore Falls to form RSU 73. Jay High School and Livermore Falls High School were renamed Spruce Mountain High School North and South campuses respectively. The Tigers and Andies mascots were replaced by the Spruce Mountain Phoenix, to signify the rebirth of the schools. Livermore Falls Middle School was closed in the summer of 2011 and the students and faculty were incorporated into the new Spruce Mountain Middle School located at the former Jay Middle School building. Plans to unite the two high schools under one roof were laid with a number of options available, a) Extend the current North Campus facility to accommodate the students and staff from the South Campus, b) Install portable buildings to increase the space at North Campus to facilitate the union of the high schools, c) relocate the Spruce Mountain Middle School to the South Campus and move the South Campus High School to the North Campus. The vote to allow the raising of a bond to enable the building of the planned extension failed in early 2012 and the other options were examined. The School District budget has failed on two successive votes in all three towns following the failed bond vote.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://rsu73.com/|title=Home Page Content|website=Spruce Mountain School District|access-date=June 14, 2016}}</ref>

Eventually the south campus was abandoned and all students were moved to the north campus. Many classrooms were divided in half to accommodate the greater number of students. In June 2016, the first class of Spruce Mountain High School to be fully consolidated throughout high school graduated.<ref name=":1" />