Recent COVID-19 community outbreaks in the York County area have inspired Sanford High School Students to create a Public Service Announcement (PSA) this week encouraging their community to, “wear a mask and keep your six”. The creative and well put together video features many students from the high school whose plea is to encourage their community members to adhere to state requirements in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 so that they can get back to doing what they love. Check it out!
Category: Newsroom Articles
Maine Schools Champion Re-opening Amid COVID-19
Heading into the 2020/2021 school year with cautious optimism, Maine’s amazing educators have rolled up their sleeves and worked together to ensure students have access to high quality learning even during a pandemic – and it the outcome is astounding.
Most schools welcomed students back for in-person and remote learning over the past couple weeks. Despite the collective breath holding (across the world), here in Maine it has gone quite well. Administrators, board members, educators, and staff alike have spent the summer working tirelessly to arrange and re-arrange their back-to-school plans this fall to comply with COVID-19 safety requirements and ensure the safety of everyone at school, while at the same time going about the important business of educating their students.
Some schools even went the extra mile to put together safety videos to help families and students understand what school will look in and around their buildings this fall: Brewer School Department Reopening Video (Brewer School Department), How to Go to School in a Pandemic (Lincoln Academy), and Day in the Life of an RSU 23 Student (RSU 23).
Numerous news outlets all over the state reported smooth sailing for the first week of school: a goal that was not an easy feat this year. Check out what re-opening looked like in these news articles from around Maine:
Despite pandemic, Midcoast districts report strong start to school year (Times Record)
Carolyn Nichols, a biology teacher at Morse High School in Bath, was surprised, but happily so, by how well the first day of school went.
“The kids were respectful and took the coronavirus precautions seriously,” she said. “I haven’t slept in a week, but I’m impressed with how well it went.
Portland students go back to school with lots to learn (Portland Press Herald)
“It’s a good challenge,” said Sam Regios, the [Presumpscot Elementary School] fifth-grade English language arts teacher, reflecting on the start of the school year as her students worked quietly from behind their masks. “I think it challenges the creativity of teachers and school districts. (I’m) accepting it with open arms.”
RSU 24 schools reopen under hybrid model (Ellsworth American)
“I am not nervous about starting,” the longtime educator [Roxanne Renwick of Peninsula School] said late last week. “I have been blessed with a strong administration and team of colleagues working together to be prepared the best we can.
“We may not have all the solutions for every situation, but we are ready to be flexible and team-oriented to do the best for our students and our community.”
After delayed start, school year gets underway for Augusta’s elementary students (Central Maine)
“Long-term substitute teacher Amie Frake was among the educators greeting students — and making sure they were walking in the correct direction, wearing their masks properly and staying 6 feet apart.
“The kids are doing really, really well,” she said. “It’s exciting for them to be here again. It’s been six months since most of them have been here, so it’s good to see them.”
Back to school: Hallowell-area students resume in-person learning (Central Maine)
Among those in cohort A are Millie Rauch’s three elementary-age children, who will be starting prekindergarten, first grade and third grade. Her older daughter, Hannah, is in sixth grade at the middle school.
Rauch walked with her three elementary schoolers Tuesday morning.
“We are looking forward to it,” she said. “I think they have taken all the right precautions. The classes are smaller, and they have the right hygiene techniques in place. We were a little nervous, but mostly excited to return.”
Maine students return for first day of in-person learning since pandemic shut down schools (Portland Press Herald)
During a walk-through at Bonny Eagle High School Tuesday morning, Buxton-based School Administrative District 6 Superintendent Paul Penna said no major issues had come up at the start of the first day for students.
“It’s pretty organized,” Penna said. “We’ve done a lot of ground work. We’ve been doing Zoom meetings with families all summer. We’ve had ongoing … meetings about what our plan is, what it’s going to look like, what you need to tell your kids when you come to school. None of it is really that new, it’s just a matter of doing it.”
Principals: First day of classes for RSU 9 deemed a success (Sun Journal)
“In a meeting earlier this evening with other administrators, I think that I can speak for all of the elementary school principals in saying that it actually went really well,” Mallett Elementary School Principal Tracy Williams said. “Our kids came to school with masks on, they were happy, there was a lot of laughter seeing their friends, teachers were positive and upbeat. We did all of the things that we usually do everyday except with a lot of cleansing and wearing masks and keeping distances apart.”
Smooth start to the school year in Scarborough, South Portland (Portland Press Herald)
Nearby, Jenny McGillicuddy was seeing her son, Leopold, 8, off as well. She said she was “feeling really calm” about the coronavirus threat, citing information the school shared with parents on how it would be encouraging social distancing, wearing of masks, and other precautions.
“From what I’ve heard, I feel confident in the Brown School’s ability to keep kids safe,” she said.
Sometimes it takes a global pandemic to break down the barriers that hold us back from jumping into any situation just to get the job done. From PPE (personal protective equipment) to physical distancing, there is always something to think about to make sure everyone is safe. One solution that many schools have been dabbling with is outside learning: a creative solution that provides students with an environment that is rich with learning opportunities, comfortable, and helps to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Many schools have set up everything from outdoor learning experiences to complete outdoor classrooms.
The articles below detail what this looks like in just a few schools, but many more have worked quickly and efficiently to set up outdoor learning spaces prior to opening. Thank you to the countless community partners all over Maine who’ve stepped up to help make this possible.
Fireplaces and log forts are part of this Washington County school’s outdoor classroom (Bangor Daily News)
A different type of learning is taking place at East Grand School in Danforth, one that doesn’t happen within the confines of a traditional classroom.
In a wooded area behind the school, children run around freely and build forts out of logs and planks. Kids in pre-kindergarten enjoy the fresh air while working on coloring projects. Older students sit around an outdoor fireplace and learn about social studies.
Outdoor classrooms taking shape (Times Record)
The [Brunswick] school district is partnering with local organizations like Teens to Trails and the New England Mountain Bike Association to help plan, clear, construct and implement open-air classrooms and gathering spaces in an attempt to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.
School opens with a new look (Castine Patriot)
Opening Adams School to face-to-face learning involved much preparation and innovative thinking by faculty and staff. Students were met upon arrival and instructed as to which door to enter to go directly to their classroom. Tented classrooms scattered on campus utilize five Easy-Up tents supplied by the Hatch Fund, which also supplied COVID-responsible physical education games and activities.
We tell our children to look for the helpers in times of crisis, it’s for their physical and mental safety but as adults, we forget that it’s good for us too. Take RSU 14 Superintendent Chris Howell for example. Due to some unforeseen transportation snags during the first week of school, one of his students couldn’t get there one day, so what did Superintendent Howell do? He picked up that student himself. In a world before COVID-19 this may not have been a viable solution, but right now that doesn’t matter. What matters is that everyone is a team player in the effort to get kids to school and learning and this is just one example of the pure heroism happening by school staff around the state.
Along with school staff and educators, community and state partners are also jumping in to help schools, families, and youth complete hybrid assignments remotely, stay connected even when at home, and provide childcare when needed. These selfless acts also help to solidify the relationships that lead to the strong community and state bonds that we take pride in here in Maine, and that we hope to sustain for generations to come.
Boys & Girls Clubs adapt programs to help local schools during pandemic
The clubs, which have been closed for nearly six months, will operate during school hours this fall as remote learning hubs, paid for with federal coronavirus relief funding. They will offer academic support, technology resources, nutritious meals and safe spaces where members can do schoolwork.
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School officials in Portland and South Portland sought the remote learning partnerships with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine. Similar agreements are being discussed with the Auburn and Lewiston school systems.
The Maine Department of Education has also focused efforts toward providing not only guidance on safety protocols, in addition to the latest COVID-19 resources for schools, and a responsive, working Framework for returning to school this year, but there has also been an intensive summer-long effort to launch a library of asynchronous learning modules that are aligned to Maine’s Learning Results through a project called MOOSE (Maine Online Opportunities for Sustained Education) and coming soon will be an additional library of social emotional learning (SEL) modules to supplement SEL curriculums statewide.
A lot of time, dedication, and planning went into ensuring students could go back to school in person and learn remotely this fall. We owe these heroes an enormous dept of gratitude for this important work. While this is only the start of an extraordinary year, we trust our school leaders, our educators, our fearless school staff members to keep students and staff safe while providing quality education to Maine students. Thank them today and every day.
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Are you thinking of someone in particular that has gone above and beyond in your school district? Nominate them for an award!
Information for this article was gathered through recent news articles, social media posts, and communications with Maine schools. To be featured in future articles of this nature, email stories, pictures, and ideas to Rachel at rachel.paling@maine.gov.
PRIORITY NOTICE: Graduation Reporting Process Simplified for SAUs
The Maine Department of Education Data Team is constantly striving to streamline and simplify required data collections. Recent work has been done to simplify 2019-2020 graduation reporting and processing. These efforts came swiftly and in response to data quality concerns and feedback received from our School Administrative Units (SAUs).
While the change may seem ill timed given the current demands on SAUs, we feel the improvements outweigh the interruption to the current reporting and processing cycle. Currently graduation reporting and processing is in Phase Two, which includes confirmation of graduating students who completed requirements over the summer, finalizing submission of 4, 5, and 6-year cohorts, and finalizing transfers-in, transfers-out, and completers. The Phase Two module will be modified, and this phase will now only ask for you to put in completion status for your summer graduates.
At a date later this calendar year, a report will be made available for you to certify your graduates for all 3 cohort years. Going forward, there will be no need for Graduation Phase One module, Graduation Phase Two module, and final submission. The goal is to have you simply validate and certify the students in the adjusted cohort, and whether they graduated the past year or not.
The reports will be more streamlined; there will be no need to validate transfers-in, and the work regarding transfers-out will be significantly diminished with validation and attention to correct usage of exit codes.
Please be on the lookout for a future webinar regarding these new processes. Dates for the new process will be forthcoming as well, as soon as we can schedule the work with our IT partners. The goal is for the new process to be in production prior to the end of this calendar year. We look forward to making this process easier for everyone. If you have questions about these changes, please contact Charlotte Ellis charlotte.ellis@maine.gov 207.624.6696
Five Portland Public Schools Students Named National Merit Semifinalists
Five high school seniors in the Portland Public Schools have been named Semifinalists in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program. These academically talented students now have the opportunity to compete for about 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $30 million that will be offered next spring.
The five Semifinalists are Portland High School seniors Liam Foley and Andrew Leonard; Deering High School students Aidan Blum Levine and Matthew Keast; and Casco Bay High School student Oscar McNally.
“Congratulations to these exemplary students!” said Superintendent Xavier Botana. “This is the highest number of National Merit Semifinalists from the Portland Public Schools in more than five years. The credit goes to not only these hardworking students but to their teachers and other supporters, including their parents. I wish them the best as they continue on in this competition.”
These students are among 68 Maine seniors named as Semifinalists in the 2021 contest. There are approximately 16,000 Semifinalists nationwide. Semifinalists were selected from a pool of more than 1.5 million high school juniors that entered the 2021 competition by taking the 2019 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.
Of the 16,000 Semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. To become Finalists, Semifinalists must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be involved in school and community activities, show leadership abilities, be endorsed by a high school official, write an essay, and earn SAT or ACT scores that confirm their earlier performance on the qualifying test. Of those Finalists, about half will win a National Merit Scholarship and become National Merit Scholars.
Three types of National Merit Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2021. The National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced in four nationwide news releases beginning in April and ending in July. These scholarship recipients will join approximately 353,000 other distinguished young people who have earned the Merit Scholar title.
This story was submitted by Tess Nacelewicz Communications Coordinator for Portland Public Schools as part of the Maine Schools Sharing Success Campaign. To submit a story or an idea, email Rachel at rachel.paling@maine.gov.
UMFK and Region Two School of Applied Technology Partnering to Provide Students with First Year of a Nursing Degree
Imagine being a high school student enrolled in the Health Sciences Program at the Region Two School of Applied Technology knowing you can graduate from high school with the first year of a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree from the University of Maine at Fort Kent complete. A new collaboration between the UMFK’s Nursing Program, Region Two School of Applied Technology in Houlton, and UMFK’s Rural U Early College and Concurrent Enrollment Program now makes that opportunity possible for these high school students.
The new program, called Rural U Nursing: Health Sciences Alliance Program brings together the strengths of the programs mentioned above and provides students the opportunity to earn 24 or more university credits, one full academic year of credits that serve as the first year of a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing at UMFK. Students completing the program can come into UMFK’s Nursing program as 2nd year students. UMFK’s Nursing program is also available at the University of Maine at Presque Isle adding yet another option after high school for these students.
“We are so pleased to partner with Region Two to bring freshman level college courses to high school students who are interested in pursuing a nursing degree,” states Dr. Erin Soucy, UMFK’s Dean of Undergraduate Nursing. Dave Keaton, Director of the Region II School of Applied Technology adds, “What a tremendous opportunity for our Intro to Medical Professions students and for the workforce in Aroostook County!”
Credits earned in this program will include articulated credit UMFK grants for Maine CNA Certification earned at Region Two, credits from a concurrent enrollment NUR 200 Introduction to Professional Nursing to be taught at Region Two by Health Sciences Instructor Amber Sloat, credits for Anatomy and Physiology I and II classes taught at the Houlton Higher Education Center, and early college and concurrent enrollment classes earned through UMFK’s Rural U program. While this program provides an accelerated pathway to a nursing degree, students will not be charged tuition for any of these credits; thus also providing a more affordable pathway to a BSN degree. Scott Voisine, UMFK’s Dean of Community Education adds, “All early college programs like Rural U give students a chance to experience college learning and earn credits more affordably, but this new collaboration takes it one step further provides a direct onboarding of students into a rigorous and rewarding career pathway at UMFK.”
Rural U Nursing is a direct response to the need to increase the number of nurses in Aroostook County, in Maine, and in the Region. Students will be able to begin the program immediately this fall.
This story was submitted by Dave Keaton, Director of the Region Two School of Applied Technology as part of the Maine Schools Sharing Success Campaign. To submit a story or idea, email it to Rachel at rachel.paling@maine.gov.
Now is the Time to Recognize the Amazing People in Maine’s Schools: Seeking Nominations to Honor School Staff and Educators
Now, more than ever, as our schools embark on the most extraordinary school year the world has ever experienced, it is important to take the time to recognize the outstanding people who are going above and beyond to serve our schools, the students, and their community as hardworking employees and educators. With that in mind, the Maine Department of Education invites community members, co-workers, fellow educators, parents, friends, families, and students to nominate school employees and educators for the following honors that are now seeking nominations.
RISE Award – for Classified School Employees
The Maine Department of Education, in collaboration with the Office of the Governor and the U.S. Department of Education, are accepting nominations for the Recognizing Inspirational School Employees (RISE) Award. This federal award, passed by Congress and overseen by the U.S. Department of Education, is intended to honor and promote classified school employees who provide exemplary service. Nominees must demonstrate excellence in: Work performance; School and community involvement; Leadership and commitment; Local support (from co-workers, school administrators, community members, etc., who speak to the nominee’s exemplary work); and Enhancement of classified school employees’ image in the community and schools.
A classified school employee is defined as an employee who works in any of the following occupational specialties: paraprofessional, clerical and administrative services, transportation services, food and nutrition services, custodial and maintenance services, security services, health and student services, technical services, and skilled trades (pre-kindergarten through high school).
The Maine Department of Education will recognize each nominee and put forth two finalists to the U.S Department of Education. The U.S. Department of Education will share the story of one of Maine’s finalists to inspire excellence among classified school employees around the nation.
The deadline to submit a nomination is October 13,2020. Nominate today by clicking here.
Maine DOE Educator Talent Pool
A great way to ensure a robust educator workforce is to develop and engage a network of outstanding educators as exemplars and leaders for our state. By promoting the excellence that exists in classrooms and schools across Maine, we hope to increase the trust and respect given to educators, and encourage and support others in an outstanding career working with Maine’s students.
We are seeking recommendations for our Maine Department of Education Talent Pool. This opportunity is for the unsung heroes who are making a difference for students, and likely will continue to expand that impact far beyond their classrooms or schools. The Department of Education hopes to connect these current educational luminaries to one another, to decision making at the department, and to other practitioners in the field. By tapping into their professional expertise and insights, and encouraging educator to educator collaboration and sharing, Maine’s learners will continue to thrive! Those who are recommended can determine their capacity and interest in engagement, there is no expectation beyond being an outstanding educator.
Please help us in the expansion of our Talent Pool, and with our continued efforts to support and celebrate the amazing work being done in classrooms across Maine every day!
Important News: We will now be accepting recommendations on a rolling basis! Submit your recommendation no later than September 30, 2020 to have an educator considered for the 2020 pool!
For more information and to nominate, please check out the Maine Talent Pool Recommendation Form.
For more information about the RISE award visit the RISE informational webpage. For more information about the Educator Talent Pool visit the Educator Talent Pool informational webpage. Further questions about either opportunity can be directed toward Emily Doughty at Emily.doughty@maine.gov or (207)624-6748.
Career and Technical Education (CTE) Teacher of the Year
Maine Administrators of Career and Technical Education (MACTE) has opened nominations for the annual Career and Technical Education (CTE) Teacher of the Year Award. This is an annual award that recognize teachers who are providing outstanding career and technical education programs for youth and/or adults in their respective fields and communities. Recipients of this award must be nominated by their CTE Director.
Eligibility: Individual members who are currently employed as full-time classroom/laboratory teachers in a career and technical education program in Maine are eligible recipients for this award. Nominees must be classroom/laboratory teachers at the time of selection. Contributions and achievements on which the nomination is based should have been made within the past ten years. The nominee’s Center needs to be an active member of the Maine Administrators of Career and Technical Education, MACTE at the time of application.
How to Nominate: Submit a completed nomination form (word doc) and supporting nomination materials electronically via e-mail to rcallahan@lewistonpublicschools.org by September 18, 2020. Please note that this year, due to COVID-19 restrictions, MACTE is unable to complete the nomination process at their summer meetings.
All nominations will be reviewed by the MACTE Executive Committee and a winner will be chosen from nominations submitted. The announcement of the winner will be made at the virtual MACTE conference on October 8, 2020.
For more information about how to nominate, including what the supporting nomination materials are, see the nomination (word doc). Further questions can be directed to MACTE President Rob Callahan at rcallahan@lewistonpublicschools.org.
Maine Kids Rock Initiative Welcomes New Educators for 2020/21 School Year
The Maine Kids Rock Initiative, a statewide program that offers professional training to teachers as well as grants for instruments and equipment to schools with identified needs, enters its fourth year with the addition of the following educators to its roster:
- Kate Smith (Central School, RSU 35)
- Janice Marro (Great Works School, RSU 35)
- Michelle Snow (South Portland High School)
- Mike Hutchinson (Houlton Southside School, RSU 29)
- Sharyn Walker (Mill Pond Elementary/Hodgdon Junior/Senior High School, SAD 70)
- Scott Walker (Hodgdon Junior/Senior High School, SAD 70)
These teachers join the ranks of nearly 60 additional teachers across Maine who utilize the Modern Band approach to music education with nearly 1,000 students at all grade levels.
The Maine Kids Rock initiative continues as a partnership between the Maine Department of Education and the national non-profit organization Little Kids Rock.
Throughout the year these teachers will receive free professional development opportunities, and their schools will receive a set of classroom instruments for students to use as they explore music education through a modern music lens. Learning opportunities for students go beyond just learning to play a guitar or drums; they also explore songwriting, the development of interpersonal skills, and boost self confidence as performers.
“The Maine Kids Rock program has helped give more kids opportunities to be a part of a music program that would not normally be in the department,” says Kevin Mania, music educator in RSU 29 in Houlton and a member of the first cohort of Maine Kids Rock educators four years ago. “In fact, there are many kids that take this class that are looking for a place to fit in, and be a part of a collaborative learning environment. Jazz band is still very important in our school music programs, modern band is fulfilling the need for kids to play current music that inspires them today. It breaks barriers by letting kids start out late in the game and develops lifelong learners.”
Kate Smith, a member of the newest cohort, says “Participating in the Maine Little Kids Rock Initiative is very important to me because I know it’s a critical step in ensuring my curriculum content is relevant and culturally inclusive. The training I received at the Modern Band Summit in July not only helped me understand how to teach traditional modern band instruments, it also offered workshops that helped me understand the modern band’s role in cultural expression and tradition.”
For more information about the Maine Kids Rock Initiative through the Maine Department of Education, please contact Visual and Performing Arts Content Specialist Jason Anderson at jason.anderson@maine.gov.
New Webinar: Quarterly Attendance Reporting
To assist those who are responsible for the important task of reporting quarterly attendance data to the Maine Department of Education, the DOE Data Team will be holding a webinar on Wednesday September 16th, from 10am to 11am.
This webinar will be an open session for the DOE and the School Administrative Units (SAUs) to discuss quarterly attendance reporting. We will review frequently asked questions answered during previous reporting periods. This is also an opportunity for SAUs to ask any questions, provide comments, and voice concerns regarding the quarterly attendance reporting process.
To register for the webinar, please click the following registration link and fill out the appropriate fields.
For assistance or more information, contact us at: medms.helpdesk@maine.gov or (207)624-6896.
Get to Know the DOE Team: Meet Cristy Osier
Maine DOE Team member Cristy Osier is being highlighted this week as part of the Get to Know the Maine DOE Team Campaign. Learn a little more about Cristy in the question and answer below.
What are your roles with DOE?
I am the Management Analyst II for the ESEA Federal Programs team. I review and manage Title reimbursement requests from school districts state wide to ensure Federal and State compliance. My additional contributions include, but not limited to, managing the ESEA website and being the teams Advantage guru.
What do you like best about your job?
Working/collaborating with my ESEA team/family both in the department and in the school districts across our beautiful state, as they are some of the most driven, professional, supportive, and caring individuals.
What do you like to do outside of work for fun?
Exploring and experiencing the world with my children.
MEDIA RELEASE: Maine Department of Education Launches an Online Platform of PK-12 Modules as an Open-Access Learning Resource!
AUGUSTA – The Maine Department of Education is excited to announce the official launch of our MOOSE (Maine Online Opportunities for Sustained Education) Learning Platform! MOOSE is live today and available as a resource to anyone who is interested.
“We are so excited and proud to launch the MOOSE library today,” said Beth Lambert, DOE Director of Innovative Teaching and Learning. “These high quality, project-based, anytime/anywhere, interdisciplinary learning modules can be used and adapted by educators to foster engaging and meaningful learning experiences for all of Maine’s students.”
MOOSE features an online library of asynchronous, interdisciplinary, project-based modules aligned to the Maine Learning Results for grades PK-12. Over the summer, over two hundred Maine educators from across the state developed nearly one hundred modules to populate the first quarter of content available today! Embedded in the modules are elements of social, emotional, and behavioral learning as well as considerations for all learning styles. It is not a curriculum, but a library to choose from, based on interests, content standards, or topics. MOOSE was designed as an optional, educational resource for students, educators, and families to include in their remote learning plans. The platform is open access and does not require users to register.
“We are grateful to all of the educators who pioneered this innovative project with us over the summer,” said Commissioner of Education, Pender Makin. “We look forward to feedback from those using this resource as we continue to make it authentic and accessible for Maine students!”
The Maine Department of Education, in partnership with Maine teachers, curriculum leaders, and educational organization leaders will begin developing modules for Phase II of MOOSE today; the second quarter of content and materials will be available by the end of November, 2020.
For more information about MOOSE, please contact:
Beth Lambert, Director of Innovative Teaching and Learning – beth.lambert@maine.gov
Page Nichols, Chief Innovation Officer – page.nichols@maine.gov
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