UPDATED: The program will launch on August 16 and 17 with an opening retreat and will conclude in late June 2013.
The Leadership Maine: Education Leaders Experience offers established educational leaders a truly unique learning opportunity over a span of 12 months.
Continue reading “Leadership program for superintendents, principals welcomes applications”
By Alana Margeson
As an only child growing up surrounded by potato fields in beautiful Aroostook County, I dreamed of visiting faraway places. My mother subscribed to National Geographic, and PBS was one of the three channels that came in without adjusting the rabbit ears too much. These two resources fueled my imagination.
The final rule, “Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs” was published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) on January 26, 2012. This final rule updates the meal patterns and nutrition standards for the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs to align them with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Continue reading “Maine schools to implement new nutrition rule”
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) requires that an additional six-cents-per-lunch reimbursement be provided to School Food Authorities (SFAs) certified by the Maine Department of Education, in compliance with new meal pattern requirements. On October 1, 2012, this additional reimbursement becomes available to certified school food authorities. Certification procedures will require SFAs to submit documentation demonstrating compliance with the updated meal patterns consistent with the final meal pattern regulation.
Continue reading “Additional lunch reimbursements available”
The National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the “Nation’s Report Card,” has set testing dates for the 2012-13 school year. In Maine, a sample of 2,500 to 3,000 randomly selected students in fourth and eighth grades will participate in mathematics or reading assessments between January 29 and March 9, 2013. NAEP has recently released a new parents’ brochure (PDF) to help families better understand the test. Participating districts may wish to share this brochure with their students’ families.
Continue reading “NAEP parents’ brochure, testing dates available”
UPDATED: School districts that are interested but do not think they can make the Friday, July 13 deadline should contact Scott Harrison by Friday to give notice of their interest and discuss plans for submission.
As Commissioner Stephen Bowen announced last week at the annual Superintendents’ Conference, and based on the strong indication of interest by superintendents in attendance, the Department will work with school districts to apply for the current Teacher Incentive Fund 4 grant cycle.
Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Education has placed an extremely short (July 27) deadline on applications. Despite the short window of opportunity, if the response from districts is as strong as it seemed it would be, we will proceed with the application.
Maine DOE encourages interested school districts to notify us by next Friday, July 13.
Continue reading “Districts invited to participate in Maine’s TIF 4 grant application”
The Maine Superintendents’ Conference packed a lot of workshops and presentations into two days last week. Superintendents got to hear updates from Maine DOE staff about six projects affecting Maine’s education system.
Participants in the 101st annual Maine Superintendents’ Conference last week attended five of nine possible workshop sessions addressing one overarching topic: strategies to help each individual learner meet proficiency. State educators, Maine DOE staff and outside program leaders conducted sessions on subjects such as student-centered data management and the Maine Schools for Excellence teacher evaluation initiative. Here is a closer look at three of the workshops offered:
Continue reading “Superintendents learn strategies for student success”
The Maine Department of Education recently approved CPI’s Nonviolent Crisis Intervention® training program as an option for training regarding the use of restraint and seclusion in Maine. This is the first and, so far, only training program approved.
Continue reading “Nonviolent Crisis Intervention training program approved”
Maine DOE will close the 2011-12 school year as of Saturday, June 30. It is imperative that schools properly exit all students who are not expected to return in the 2012-13 school year. This must be done prior to the closing of the 2011-12 school year. Continue reading “Urgent: Student exit forms due June 30”
Maine DOE Newsroom 