Author: Maine Department of Education

School Renovation Funding Available

The Maine Department of Education is accepting applications to receive funding for school renovation projects through the School Revolving Renovation Fund (SRRF). The application deadline is September 30.

The Department will be able to approve approximately $25 million in SRRF loans. A portion of each loan will be considered a grant, and will be forgiven. The remaining portion will be paid back over either five or ten years with no interest. The maximum loan amount is limited to $1 million per school building, per priority, in any five-year period.

Applications for Priority One and Priority Two projects will be accepted.  Priority One projects include indoor air quality improvement, structural roof repair, hazardous material abatement or removal, ADA compliance upgrades, and other health, safety and compliance renovations.  Priority Two SRRF projects include school building structures, windows and doors, and water and septic systems.  Eligible Priority One projects will receive funding preference over Priority Two projects.

The SRRF application and additional information are available on the Maine DOE’s SRRF website. For more information or technical assistance, please contact Ann Pinnette at 624-6885 or email ann.pinnette@maine.gov.

 

ADMINISTRATIVE LETTER: Guidance regarding The Credentialing of Education Personnel requirements

Administrative Letter:  #26
Policy Code:   GCFC
To: Public School Administrators, Teachers
From: Pender Makin, Commissioner
Date:  3 July 2019
Subject: Amendments to Chapter 115, certification and credentialing

The Legislature recently authorized a series of changes to Chapter 115 through Public Law 2019 Chapter 101 Resolve,  that is scheduled to go into effect on September 19, 2019.  Until then, the Department will continue to apply the pre-existing language of Chapter 115.  The Department will notify you when changes become effective.

 

 

Title III Immigrant Children & Youth Subgrant

Each year, one Maine LEA is awarded the Title III Immigrant Children & Youth Subgrant. The purpose of the subgrant is to provide supplemental programs to enhance the education of immigrant students. The subgrant is awarded to the LEA that has experienced the greatest increase in the enrollment of immigrant students, based on the average immigrant enrollment of the two prior years as compared to the current year. For school year 2019-20, the Department will notify the subgrant recipient of its award once October 1 student enrollment counts are finalized. The LEA will then have the remainder of the grant period to expend these funds. The anticipated amount of the FY20 Immigrant Children & Youth Subgrant is $5949. If you have any questions related to Title III, please contact April Perkins at april.perkins@maine.gov.

 

Employee of the Week: Eric Buckhalter

Assessment Team Office Associate, Eric Buckhulter is being highlighted this week as the Maine DOE’s Employee of the Week! Learn a little more about Eric in this brief question and answer:

What are your roles with DOE?

I am the Office Manager, Management Analyst, and Web Content Editor for the Assessment team. I perform admin duties, process contracts, and manage the content available on the assessment team’s web pages.

What do you like best about your job?

I enjoy assisting teachers and superintendents when I’m given the opportunity. Anything I can do to make their day run a little smoother has the potential to have a positive impact on students, and that’s who we’re all here to serve.

What do you like to do outside of work for fun?

Spending time with my family and friends, singing, travelling, acting, cooking, drawing, and looking for any unique opportunities to socialize.

Free School Safety Presentation

I Love You Guys Foundation School Safety Presentation Coming to Maine

What:                 Standard Response Protocols and Standard Reunification Method for schools and districts, and an After Action Review of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting.

When:                 31 July 2019- William Cohen Middle School, Bangor.  8:00-12:00

2 August 2019- Windham High School, Windham.  8:00-12:00

Audience:          Maine school superintendents, principals and staff; local first responders; county emergency management agency staff.

Presenter:          Scott Parker, Scott Parker, “I Love You Guys” Certified Trainer for the Standard Response Protocols and Standard Reunification Method; National school safety subject matter expert; supported the development of the Maine Model plan in 2007; certified SRP and SRM Train the Trainer in 2013; has worked with over 20 school districts and academies in Maine; currently working with 8 school districts in Maine.

Cost:                    Free, supported by National School Safety Organization, “I Love You Guys Foundation”

Registration:     Advance registration will be required. Contact: ScottParker.preparedness@gmail.com

Technical Assistance:  A new Update Standard Response Protocol and Standard Reunification Method will be available for attendees after this training.

Save the date!

 

 

Maine DOE Update – June 27, 2019

From the Maine Department of Education

Reporting Items

| Visit the DC&R Reporting Calendar |

News & Updates

Certification Reminder- July 1 Renewals are Due!

We have now received 52% of renewal applications for the July 1 expiration date. The process is all online, so please don’t delay!.  | More

Maine DOE Employee of the Week: Faith McLaughlin

Faith McLaughlin, Office Associate from the Career and Technical Education team, is being highlighted this week as the Maine DOE’s Employee of the Week! Learn a little more about Faith | More

Maine Schools Sharing Success Stories

| Submit your Maine School Success Story |

Professional Development & Training Opportunities

Professional Development Opportunity: Creative Assessment- Teacher as Curator

For Visual and Performing Arts teachers, or those looking to more robustly intertwine the arts into their curriculum:  The Maine Department of Education invites you to be part of its upcoming professional development opportunity, Creative Assessment: Teacher as Curator. This session will explore the use of the arts as creative assessment strategies where participants explore artistic approaches to demonstrate academic learning and devise ways of gathering and presenting evidence of learning through documentation. | More

| Visit the Professional Development Calendar |

Latest DOE Career/Project Opportunities

Professional Development Opportunity: Creative Assessment- Teacher as Curator

Description:

For Visual and Performing Arts teachers, or those looking to more robustly intertwine the arts into their curriculum:  The Maine Department of Education invites you to be part of its upcoming professional development opportunity, Creative Assessment: Teacher as Curator. This session will explore the use of the arts as creative assessment strategies where participants explore artistic approaches to demonstrate academic learning and devise ways of gathering and presenting evidence of learning through documentation. Renowned facilitator and arts specialist, Dr. Lisa Donovan will provide an in-depth view of how the processes and products of the creative process can fuel a feedback loop for teaching and learning. We will wrestle with the question of “How do you tell the story of learning?” Participants will leave with a wide range of strategies for authentic, performance-based formative and summative processes for assessing learning in arts integrated work.

Participants will:

  • Explore their role as a curator, intentionally selecting, organizing and presenting information, strategies for teaching and learning as well as presenting evidence of student understanding.
  • Demonstrate how documentation and creative assessment strategies and processes utilizing the visual and performing arts to provide a holistic view of teaching and learning.
  • Explore a variety of models that can be adapted and used by educators across content areas and grade levels.
  • Engage in an experiential exploration of an arts integrated progression
  • Learn and apply several creative assessment strategies to their own work
  • Design documentation of their learning as models that can be used in their classrooms.

Participant Responsibilities:

  • Attend two day-long professional development training, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Senator Inn, 284 Western Ave., Augusta, ME 04330.
  • Dates for training are: Thursday, July 18th and Friday, July 19th.
  • Arrive at the first workshop with an arts lesson, in writing, in order to apply the concepts addressed throughout the sessions practically.

Compensation:

Each participant will receive a stipend of $150.00 (maximum: 20 participants).

To Register:

Interested parties should register HERE by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, July 10th. Please forward all questions to Visual and Performing Arts Specialist, Nate Menifield, at: nathaniel.j.menifield@maine.gov.

Certification Reminder- July 1 Renewals are Due!

We have now received 52% of renewal applications for the July 1 expiration date. The process is all online, so please don’t delay!

  • Please be sure to complete and submit your renewal application online at https://www.mymainecertification.com/SSO_PROD/Signin.aspx  and use the credit card payment option.
  • Remember that educators who have an ed tech or teaching certificate will not have an additional CHRC clearance line listed, as the CHRC clearance is a prerequisite for the certificate, and therefor is embedded with, and expires at the same time as, the certificate.
  • Please refrain from sending cash in the mail with certification applications, as this does slow down the process significantly.

 

Mid-Maine Tech Center Students Improving Their Community, One Glass of Water at a Time

A team of chemistry students from Waterville Senior High School collected 85 water samples from different locations in Waterville, which were sent to the  Dartmouth Lab for analysis. Fifteen of the samples tested positive for arsenic—so the class researched inexpensive filters called Zero Water to keep water arsenic-free and make their community safer.

The project was covered by a team of Mass Media Communications students at Mid-Maine Technical Center (MMTC) as part of the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs. MMTC is the only school in Maine that hosts this program. It was presented on Maine Public Television and nationally on PBS Nature’s American Spring LIVE, and won third place in a national STEM Film Festival hosted by PBS.

Maine Spring Live – Clean Water from Mid-Maine Technical Center on Vimeo.

This story was written by Maine DOE Intern Emmeline Willey. If you have a story idea or would like to submit a written story for the Maine DOE Newsroom, email Rachel Paling at rachel.paling@maine.gov.

Freeport Girls Code Their Way to Finals 

As the computer-savvy become a more and more heavily sought-after breed of employee, young women across the nation are getting a head start in this growing field. GirlsGoCyberStart, a competitive, multi-leveled program, is teaching them the ins and outs of cybersecurity before they even graduate. Through various games, teens are honing skills in cryptography, web vulnerabilities, Python, Linux and forensics—and learning teamwork and determination along the way. 

“Cybersecurity is a growing and critical field. It is more important than ever before to train skilled experts in Maine and across the nation to defend our national and financial security,” said Governor Janet Mills at the launch of the program’s second year in February. Last year, almost 200 students from the State participated. “This program will help young women pursue the education and training they need for lifelong careers and leadership positions in cybersecurity.” 

Several Clubs from Maine entered the CyberStart competition. Each group of skilled teens would code their way through three levels of increasingly tough competition. 9,500 girls from across the nation entered the ring at the first stage back in February. Two participation challenges were also run, to encourage more girls to get involved. For every five girls registered to a Club who completed at least two challenges, their school would be entered once in the running for a $1,000 prize. At the end of the ‘Assess’ stage, in which girls are evaluated for their aptitude with code and security through a series of challenges, the three Clubs in each State with the most girls registered (having completed at least one challenge) will receive prize money by place in totals of $1,000, $750, and $500. Those winners from Maine this year were, in order: 

  • Hancock County Technical Center (1st) 
  • Deering High School (2nd) 
  • Sanford High School (3rd) 

The top schools in each state are decided by the second round, and those then proceed onto the Championship ‘Capture the Flag’ round. The CyberGEMS of Freeport High School were among the 120 schools to make it to the Championship, placing 87th in this final round. The team was comprised of four precocious teens who were nominated by their Club: Dena Arrison, Leah Rusecki, Taylor Harris, and Rachel Packard. 

Rusecki, a sophomore, commented in a press release prior to the Championship, “My class schedule is quite full, but having the chance to explore computer technology outside of regular classes is a great opportunity for us. Solving the cybersecurity puzzles and challenges has been really interesting! I hope to take a computer programming class next year.” 

Each member of the CyberGEMS took home $100, as well as an additional $100 for their school. More than that, every girl who participated in some level of the competition developed skills vital to the rapidly growing cybersecurity field—and with results from last year showing that number of students interested in cybersecurity doubled after playing, these students show promise at filling more of these high-paying, challenging jobs in the future. 

This story was written by Maine DOE Intern Emmeline Willey. If you have a story idea or would like to submit a written story for the Maine DOE Newsroom, email Rachel Paling at rachel.paling@maine.gov.