Submitted by Jennifer McKay, Principal Dike-Newell School in RSU 1

Dike-Newell School is a Pre-Kindergarten through Second Grade elementary school of 250 students, located in Bath, Maine.  Part of RSU 1, Dike-Newell School embraces the philosophy of being a community of engaged learners where everyone matters.  The staff at the school are involved in committee work, and explore ways to enrich the student experience.  One recent initiative supports literacy as well as connecting students through building community – Classroom Buddy Reading.

While not a novel concept, it can be challenging logistically at times to set up buddy classroom projects.  The Dike-Newell Whole-School Activities Committee put together a once-a-month, whole school system pairing up classrooms for 30-45 minutes on a Tuesday morning.  Non-classroom staff were assigned to help facilitate and work with students with support needs, and the efforts kicked off in February.

What staff and students have found is that the children really enjoyed being partnered with non-age group peers, and it has spurred a sense of community that was, at times, lacking.  Second graders really enjoy being role models and literacy leaders with younger students, and younger students really enjoy having time to connect with older peers.  For staff, as well, it has been a way to connect with previous and future students, build relationships with students not in their class, and allows everyone to have more familiar faces and names throughout the building.

Another benefit of the program is support for literacy and the love of books.  In the first buddy read session, students brought book boxes filled with favorite texts to share with their buddies.  Students were able to talk about why they enjoyed certain books or authors, and encouraged each other to try new books.  In April, for Poetry Month and part of the school’s “Poem in My Pocket” event, students will be sharing poems during their buddy reading session, and in future sessions the committee is discussing having author studies, genre studies, and other focused literacy topics for students to buddy read.

Dike-Newell School is always working to bring students together in a meaningful way, and to build our community of engaged learners.  The Buddy Reading program is one example of the work that is being done to support this vision.

Kathy Harris-Smedberg, Assistant Superintendent of Schools at Bangor School Department

Downeast School, Grades PreK-3, Bangor, Maine

 

 

 

William S. Cohen School, Grades 6-8, Bangor, ME

 

 

 

 

 

Submitted by Debra McIntyre, Assistant Superintendent for MSAD28/FiveTown CSD

This process began last summer when we convened a group of teachers representing K-12 staff to begin working on the idea.  We researched what other school districts across the nation had implemented and tweaked some of their processes and procedures to work for our own specific learning communities.  We had to plan for many different implementation aspects including specific grade spans, students’ access to technology, and how the Remote School Day would impact staff members and families.  We also needed to determine which students did not have access to internet service in order to provide them with a hotspot device.  After full board approval, we forged ahead to discuss the possibility with the MDOE.  After contemplation and discussion, it was decided that we would be able to use a Remote School Day this winter, as we have more than the required 175 student days.

Finally, it looked like Mother Nature would assist us with a day that would have normally been a “No School Day” and we called a Remote School Day.  Our younger students had individual work that had previously been sent home and our students in grades 7-12 participated via technology through either Google Classroom or Schoology.  Staff members held office hours from 10:00 – 4:00 to assist and answer any questions that arose.  Technology support was also available.

As you can imagine with anything new, there were successes, challenges, supporters and dissenters.  There are still tweaks to be worked out and challenges to overcome, however, the attendance was excellent and the overall feedback was encouraging. Overall, the parent survey indicated 82% felt the Remote School Day was a success. Our next steps will be to review the specific feedback from parents, staff and students to refine our implementation in the hopes that we will be able to use Remote School Days as an option for making up some of our snow days in the future.

We received many pictures from families, sharing their experiences.  We believe the picture below captures the spirit of the day.

Submitted by Christopher Howell, Assistant Superintendent in RSU 14, Windham Raymond Schools

RSU 14, Windham Raymond Schools, has been working very hard to help their students become responsible and safe in their digital lives. At the end of the 2017-2018 school year, RSU 14 committed to educating their staff with the Common Sense Digital Citizenship curriculum. Common Sense Digital Citizenship curriculum is a program that educates students, teachers, and the rest of the community in being safe and responsible while using online platforms. Common Sense uses research based digital citizenship resources, “which were created in collaboration with researchers from Project Zero, led by Howard Gardner at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.” (Common Sense)

Common Sense Education recently recognized Windham Middle School as a Common Sense School for the school’s commitment to digital citizenship.  “We applaud the faculty and staff of Windham Middle School for embracing digital citizenship as an important part of their students’ education,” said Liz Kline,  VP, Education Programs, Common Sense Education. “Windham Middle School deserves high praise for giving its students the foundational skills they need to compete and succeed in the 21st-century workplace and participate ethically in society at large.”

All RSU 14 students and staff, grades 3-8, initiated the learning process this year by completing 5 lessons per grade level.  1,509 students in RSU 14, received their first year of Digital Citizenship. Using the provided curriculum creates a platform for teachers to begin discussions on important topics such as online safety, reliable sources, online bullying, and many more. Teachers are very happy to have been given the time to learn alongside their students. Using the lessons provided by Common Sense Media, allows for some much needed discussions between all involved.

Written and Submitted by Marci Dionne and Amy Pichette, LearningWorks Afterschool Program Directors. Photos by Molly Haley Photography.

Senator Angus King visited the LearningWorks 21st Century Community Learning Center Afterschool program in Biddeford on Friday, February 8th.

Six student leaders, their grandparents and parents met with the Senator and explained what they enjoy most about the after school program. Dillyn said “The program gives us a leg up in school.  We learn about engineering, science, and math.” Jayden explained the steps in the engineering design process to Senator King.  Kendra said, “We get to choose which club we join, either drama, prop and set design, science experiments, mask making or coding.”

Afterschool staff touched upon some of their favorite aspects of the program: the social and emotional growth and development of the students as well as access to new experiences and opportunities they would not have without the program.  These experiences build self-confidence, background knowledge, and help children aspire to learn and explore their world.

 

Submitted by Denise Kimball, Principal of Somerset Valley Middle School in RSU 19

Somerset Valley Middle School is located in Hartland, Maine.  It is currently grades 3-8.  The district is in the process of consolidating due to a new high school/middle school construction project.  The new school will open in the fall of 2019.  At that time, Somerset Valley Middle School will become Somerset Elementary, grades PreK-4.

Somerset Valley Middle School is focused on providing our students with a safe, happy place to learn and grow.  We offer free breakfast, lunch, and a healthy snack to our students daily.

Over the past couple of years we have had some major changes in our content area instruction.  RSU 19 has been providing time for the teachers to develop our curriculum and district assessments.  This past year the district adopted Envisions, which is a math program for grades 3-5.  All teachers have received training and they have lots of opportunities to discuss what is working in their classroom and what their challenges are.  Students are learning a lot and really enjoy working with Envisions.

This year, Somerset was invited to work with Darlene Bassett, the state’s Literacy Coach.  Darlene trained our Language Arts teachers in grades 3-8 in Jan Richardson’s Guided Reading Framework.  This framework gives the teachers the structure needed to provide the students with a structured, focused guided reading lesson. Jenn Massow, our fourth-grade teacher, is our lead teacher in this work.  Teachers from Somerset County will be invited to visit Jenn’s classroom to see the Framework in action.

Somerset is also involved in a lot of other initiatives. We have partnered with Northern Light Healthy Maine. Each week a group of students work together to find ways of getting the word out on how to live a healthy life.  They sponsored a spirit week back in October and are planning one for February. These students send messages by word of mouth, posters and different activities.  Once a month we have an activity called Lunch & Learn. During these lunches, students learn about healthy habits. They enjoy this time because they get to win prizes for their participation. This group also joined us for our parent conferences, passing out literature to our parents about healthy life habits.

We work hard to try and improve student academic and behavioral outcomes.  We are very involved with PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports).  Somerset has a matrix of behaviors that the students and staff developed at the beginning of the year.  We celebrate the students that follow these expectations by giving out Panther Paw tickets.  Students can win daily, weekly and quarterly prizes.  The quarterly prizes usually involve the whole school on Panther Pride Day.

Recently, Somerset had a Giving Tree Contest.  The grade level that brought in the most nonperishable items for our local food cupboard would be treated to a pancake breakfast. Grade 4 won! As a school we collected over 1200 items. The local food pantry was thrilled.

Seventh & eighth graders at Somerset Valley Middle school entered the Young Writer’s “Stranger Sagas Contest.”  We had 14 winners and three Honorable Mentions out of 13,500 entries. The winners will have the opportunity to have their stories published.  How exciting for our middle school writers.

Somerset is also involved in some work with bullying prevention. We partnered with Project Love and Duct Tape to learn about kindness and how it can affect our everyday lives. In February the Maine Parent Federation will be hosting a Bullying Workshop for parents.

Somerset Valley Middle School staff and students are dedicated to becoming lifelong learners. We are constantly working together to form a positive school community where everyone can learn and be successful.