Category: Media Releases

2012 STEM Summit: Closing the Skills Gap an Economic Imperative

The following is a news release from the Maine STEM Collaborative, of which the Maine Department of Education is a member.

WATERVILLE – From precision manufacturing to environmental science and information technology, Maine will see thousands of highly paid jobs created across the state in the next 10 years. But mounting evidence shows that Maine continues to do a poor job producing enough workers with the skills necessary to work in these high-paying industries.

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Three schools to represent Maine at innovation conference

Schools will share successful strategies with colleagues from across New England

AUGUSTA – Three Maine secondary schools—Deer Isle-Stonington High School, Hall-Dale Middle/High School (Farmingdale), and Westbrook High School—have been invited to represent their state at a regional conference on effective strategies for improving teaching and learning in the 21st century.

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Charter school commission schedules more public input sessions

The following is a news release from the Maine State Charter School Commission.

Commission adds sessions in Presque Isle, Machias to hear from public about rural educational needs

AUGUSTA – The Maine State Charter School Commission will travel to Aroostook and Washington counties in early April to hear from the public about regional educational needs that could be addressed by charter schools.

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Choice bills would let students learn in best setting

AUGUSTA – Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen testified today in favor of the final two bills of Gov. Paul LePage’s education agenda, arguing that students and families across the state should have choices in finding the best school settings for their children. It’s a choice that families in some communities have, but in many others, do not.

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Bill would increase access to career and technical education

AUGUSTA – The Legislature’s Education Committee will take up legislation today that would make it easier for high school students to take courses at Career and Technical Education schools, and to get credit for those courses from their own high schools and community colleges.

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Student artists to be celebrated on 2012-13 laptop screensaver

AUGUSTA – Twenty student artists will have an audience of more than 72,000 students and teachers for their artwork starting this fall. The 20 students from across Maine have won the honor to have their artwork included in the Maine Learning Technology Initiative laptop screensaver for the 2012-13 school year.

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Charter school commission to hold public input sessions

The following is a news release from the Maine State Charter School Commission.

Newly formed panel to hear from public in Portland, Bangor, Augusta about regional educational needs

Note, 2/29/2012: The press release has been updated to reflect the postponement of the Portland session to March 5. That session was initially scheduled for March 1, but was rescheduled due to an expected snowstorm.

AUGUSTA – The newly formed Maine State Charter School Commission will hit the road in early March to hear from the public about educational needs in each Maine region that could be addressed by a charter school.

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Portland and Sanford Communities Receive $9m in Grants

The following was released today by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation.

Nellie Mae Education Foundation supports student-centered learning initiatives

QUINCY, MA – Two Maine communities received three-year grants from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation (NMEF), the largest charitable organization in New England focused exclusively on education, totaling more than $9 million to support “student-centered” approaches to learning. Continue reading “Portland and Sanford Communities Receive $9m in Grants” →

Maine DOE makes plans for improved accountability

AUGUSTA – The education commissioners in Maine and New Hampshire sent a joint letter to Washington, D.C., today that outlines their plans to craft a thoughtful, fair and constructive system for holding their schools accountable and helping them improve. The letter lays out the two states’ intentions to get out from under the unfair and unrealistic No Child Left Behind accountability system, but through a deliberate and complete process that involves educators, parents and others in building an alternative.

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