The following article is from the Dec. 2018 issue of the Maine Educator, it was submitted to the Maine DOE by Dan Nogar, Dean of Students at East End Community School.

At East End Community School in Portland, 75-80% of the students receive free or reduced lunch, student mobility is about 50%—there are almost 150 new students that leave at the end of the year, with that same amount of new kids coming in the following school year. In the middle of November, seven new students started their first days. The challenges in building relationships and getting students to continue to come to school are great. The solutions though for this diverse school are built into the way it educates—the learning model at East End is based on relationships that start at the very beginning of the school day.

“I like starting my day with jump rope, soccer drills, and basketball. It starts my day in a good way. It also gives me energy,” Ali wrote about his experience with the school’s Rise and Shine program.

Rise and Shine offers students as many as 85 choices, from finger knitting to sock monkeys to basketball to STEM and poetry, students choose how to start their day. The schedule is built into the beginning of each school day, so every student gets to participate in some way. Students make their own choices for their activities and then participate in a different one each day of the week for a total of 12 weeks, then new activities are chosen.

The concept seems simple enough—let students choose what they want to do at the very beginning of the school day and they’ll be more successful throughout the day. For Dean of Students and Rise and Shine Coordinator, Dan Nogar, the program allows the school to swing away from a deficit model and what students need help with at the very start of the day and instead focuses on the idea of success for each student.

“No matter what happens in their school day, I can go up to them and ask them about Rise and Shine and we find success. Rise and Shine was never intended to be about intervention, but the days that there is basketball or piano or kickball—the students get here because those are their choices and they don’t want to miss it. We had some of the best attendance in the district last year,” said Nogar.

The program, in its 8th year, has become so successful it was even recognized by the ACLU as something that is closing opportunity gaps among students, saying in its October 2017 report, We Belong Here: Eliminating Inequity in Education for Immigrants and Students of Color in Maine, that Rise and Shine is an example of how “student empowerment in general can serve to improve equity, and of how a school identified a structural obstacle to student success and worked not only to remove that obstacle but to transform it into an asset.”

Nogar admits the success wasn’t instant. There were bumps and the growth now in offerings is due to the continued outreach to the community. Many of the activities offered are led by local community groups or businesses who volunteer their time to share their talents with the students. “I was at the local farmer’s market and I saw a woman making balloon animals, and I thought what a great Rise and Shine that would make. There is so much hand-eye coordination and thinking ahead required with making balloon animals, and the kids don’t even know they’re learning,” said Nogar.

While there are offerings led by those outside in the community, the majority of programs are offered by the educators in the building who all share their talents, and for those who don’t lead a session, they’re helping with one or they’re spending time with a student one-on-one to help build relationships.

“Kids like coming to school,” added Nogar. And that’s a statement hard to beat.

Submitted by Dwayne Conway, Principal of Maranacook Community High School

At Maranacook Community High School, to best support our students and community we have worked to create the most extensive dual enrollment program in the state. Routinely each year, students from Maranacook graduate with an Associates Degree in Liberal Studies from Thomas College before they graduate from Maranacook Community High School. This year 6 students will graduate along this pathway. That means 7 percent of our graduating class will have earned an associates degree before earning their high school diploma.

Beyond the pathway to an associates degree, roughly half the students at Maranacook in grades 9-12 take dual enrollment courses.  Maranacook offers over 100 credits of dual enrollment for students to choose from which saves the community over 1,000,000 dollars a year in college tuition. Maranacook collaborates with 4 partner institutions and our primary partnership is with Thomas college. Through dual enrollment, Maranacook also offers a French Certificate program in conjunction with the University of Maine at Augusta. Students can also pursue dual enrollment credit through collaboration between Maranacook and the Capital Area Technical Center.

Finally each summer, roughly 50 Maranacook students participate in 2 week long summer intensive courses offered through Thomas College. Students choose to do this even though their summer vacation has begun. Students of all ability levels are able to access our dual enrollment program.  We are proud of this support we are able to provide our students.

Submitted by Marie Robinson, PK-12 Principal of Katahdin Schools

I am excited to share the positive initiatives that are a part of Katahdin Schools and making a positive difference for students and their learning. This is my third year as a principal in Maine. Prior to moving to Maine I was a classroom teacher, instructional coach and principal in Philadelphia and its suburbs.

The accomplishments that we have achieved at Katahdin Schools come directly from the hard working, dedicated staff and amazing students that attend our schools. Never before have I had the opportunity to work with such caring individuals who always do what it takes to support one another.

We have been recipients of the 21st Century Grant, which now includes grades 2-12.  Coordinators, Eryn Schmidt and Gail Pocock and their staff have worked tirelessly to build the program and offer a variety of experiences to students from photography to outdoor activities as well as academic support to many students.

Our elementary program has a strong commitment to supporting the whole child. Just this year we have made changes to the schedule to incorporate an increase in recess.  Students start the day with twenty minutes of recess in addition to the thirty minutes of recess they enjoy at lunchtime.  This has proven to be an effective intervention to decrease the number of students who are tardy.  This increase of recess time has also provided opportunities for students to apply problem-solving skills and has led to a decrease in discipline referrals.

Our pre-k and kindergarten programs have begun exploring the powerful impact of outdoor learning. Our youngest learners are spending meaningful time learning their standards outside of the classroom with extremely positive results.  In addition to our youngest learners getting outside, other grade levels are incorporating the outdoors into their learning, which is enhancing their learning.

Katahdin Schools partners with the Good Shepherd and hosts a food pantry for the community once a month. We have been fortunate to be able to support close to 200 community members through this program.

Our middle and high school also enjoy time outside with our newly developed outdoor education programs. Students learn lifetime fitness, as well as, Leave No Trace Ethics and survival skills.

Teachers at all levels have begun to implement place-based learning opportunities with students. These opportunities have allowed students to master the standards while experiencing authentic problem solving and interaction with the community.

Submitted by James Black, Principal, Mt. Blue Middle School

Strive for Five Campaign

The Strive for 5 campaign at Mt. Blue Middle School was initiated after a routine end of the year audit on student data. After my first year as the principal of MBMS I wanted to see what our data, including attendance, said about my first year as principal. We reviewed academic, behavioral and demographic data to see deficiencies and strengths in order to create school wide goals. One area of major concern for me was the attendance data. It showed that our school of 540 students missed a combined total of over 1,300 school days last year. These days did not include sick days, suspension days or parent excused. They only included days in which students did not show up to school and had no reason why.

After some discussions within our student assistance team and a little research on schools that had similar issues we decided to implement a program called Strive for 5. This program has seen success around the country on curbing chronic absenteeism. The basics of the initiative were to challenge students and parents to strive for 5 absences or less throughout this school year. These absences would include planned vacations, doctor/dental appointments and days in which students just do not come to school. It was equally important to have parents involved with this initiative as well. We found throughout our data, we had lots of parents scheduling appointments throughout the school day considering it not a true absence from school. We are slowly making improvements on our attendance

Throughout this year, we have seen a steady decrease in the number of absences despite the school population rising (See Chart A). It has taken a lot of work, including staff and student buy in, but we are now moving in the right direction. Some of the things we are doing to promote good attendance is have posters and signs hung around the building encouraging students to Strive for 5. We also have weekly competitions between communities (Each grade level is broken into two communities) to see which group has the lowest total number of absences on Friday. At our monthly student of the month assembly we recognize all students who have still 5 absences or less and the winning community (90 students) and the most improved community from the prior month (90 students) receive a reward for their effort. We have received lots of positive feedback so far but the proof will be in the pudding as they say. Early indications show things are improving but we still have four and a half months left to go.

Chart A – MBMS Absences

Submitted by Isabel Cochrane, Parent

I am a parent of four children, three of whom were diagnosed with autism. Two of them are considered severe, nonverbal, but have done great so far, thanks to Child Developmental Services support in Arundel, our interventionist Linda Gatz who worked with all three of our kids. She is amazing, hard worker and very focused. Shooting Stars pre school in Scarborough and Young School in Saco and therapists both at school and outside school.

My two boys who have attended school, have done well with the teachers and paraprofessionals, they both have been able to achieve incredible milestones.

We recently moved to Florida because of family and weather, but I am writing this to say that, even though I moved to Florida, I still believe Maine has the best educational support, and some might disagree, but the best support system for children with disabilities.

Those professionals need more incentives. They truly go above and beyond for our kids. The part I miss the most is the educational system of Maine, southern Maine, Young school in Saco and Shooting Stars in Scarborough which have provided a great foundation for my boys.

They still are vulnerable and do need a lot of help but I can tell you, people here in Florida are impressed with my boys skills and how we go about our routine. So I just want to let you know, and hope that the teachers, paraprofessionals, therapists get some support, some incentives because they made my kids lives better. They have helped me become a better mom, and a better advocate.

Pay attention to them. They are doing something right. They did for us!

Submitted by Laura Donahue, Principal, Newport/Plymouth Elementary School and Co-Principal, Corinna Elementary School, RSU #19

Author Shares

One of the great things about being a part of the RSU 19 school district is the involved community that we are a part of. Getting to invite community members in to see the fantastic work that our students are immersed in every day is one of the ways that we can help celebrate our students’ success with the help of community members, creating memorable experiences for all. The first grade team at Newport/Plymouth Elementary School decided to move away from a traditional author’s share this year. Instead, they opened their classroom doors to community members to rotate through all of the first grade classrooms, listening to students read their stories as they sat at tables throughout the rooms. Those who attended were fortunate to hear many amazing narrative stories, and the students were proud to share their published work.

One Book, One School

“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.” – Mortimer J. Adler

During the 2016/2017 school year, Newport/Plymouth Elementary School participated for the first time in doing One Book, One School. It was such a wildly successful and engaging endeavor that we have continued this activity each year. One Book, One School is an opportunity to generate a lot of excitement and engagement in literacy. Every teacher throughout the school reads aloud the same book to his/her class, ensuring that every student in the school has heard the book. The students then engage in discussions, activities and community activities related to the book. Each year we find ways to generate more and more excitement around the book we choose to read.

One of the activities that students seem to enjoy is our book reveal. A few giant posters of the book hang throughout the school, covered by giant puzzle pieces. Each day leading up to beginning the book, a piece of the puzzle is uncovered. Students can be seen in the hallway gathered around the posters making predictions based on the clues that have been uncovered as to what the book could be. The last piece of the puzzle is revealed at an assembly as the whole school counts down together to see if their predictions were correct. Last year we were fortunate enough to provide each student with a copy of the book we had chosen.

This year as the Newport/Plymouth Elementary School gets ready to consolidate with Corinna Elementary into the Sebasticook Valley Elementary School, we are planning many of these activities together. This year the book teachers selected is the classic, Stuart Little, by E.B White. Our culminating activity will be a joint Family Literacy Night held at Sebasticook Valley Middle School to provide students an opportunity to participate in fun literacy activities with their families that are related to the book. This will also facilitate a wonderful opportunity for students to participate in fun activities with some of the peers they will be consolidating with next year.

Maine Studies

Fourth grade students across R.S.U. 19 engage in learning about Maine studies each year. At Newport/Plymouth Elementary School, the Maine Studies Project has each student collecting information about a Maine park from around the state. This research component helps teach our students how to successfully and appropriately navigate the internet for accurate information while allowing them the freedom to choose information they feel their peers and audience would find engaging. Fourth grader Emiley Rackliff commented, “I liked writing the script for my park because I got to look it up on Google and learn new things about the park.”   Each student’s work is compiled into a unique virtual reality experience that includes video, sound and a 360° view of the park the student chose. Andrew Franklin, a fourth grade student we interviewed about the project, said, “I like building VR worlds and coding, it’s pretty fun.  The 360 degree view of the park is going to be cool!.” Teachers have partnered up with Kern Kelley, our district technology integrator, to help teach students the technological skills necessary to complete such a detailed project. Once all the students have completed their projects, they will be available for the public to enjoy at bit.ly/maineparks.