The 2017 MIYHS data has just been released. State and public health district data is available to the public for the 5th and 6th grade survey, as well as the middle and high school surveys. Kindergarten and third grade parent survey data is available at the State level. Go to MIYHS website: https://data.mainepublichealth.gov/miyhs/2017_reports_results
Over 61,000 students from 300+ schools participated in this past survey. MIYHS is administered as a collaborative project involving Maine DOE and Maine DHHS in February of every odd year to gauge the health and health habits of Maine public school students in grades kindergarten through grade 12. Many thanks to the superintendents and principals who have chosen to participate in this biennial survey over the years!
For more information contact Maine Department of Education Health and Physical Education Consultant, Jean Zimmerman at Jean.zimmerman@maine.gov or (207) 624-6687.
The Maine Department of Education’s Office of Special Education would like to remind special educators about the provision of specially designed instruction on IEPs.
When students are out of school because of discipline, an abbreviated school day, or medical reasons, tutoring may be provided as a short-term measure to ensure that students receive instruction. Tutoring is not specially designed instruction.
Schools should make every effort, including re-entry plans and proposals for definitive placements, to ensure that students with disabilities are enrolled and attending school. The IEP must be revised to add tutorial instruction.
The Maine DOE acquired enough copies of the Maine Education and School Statutes 2017-2018 Edition law book from the publisher, Swan Island Press, to distribute one at no charge to each Superintendent of Schools in Maine.
The law books are in the mail and should be received soon. To purchase additional copies of this law book directly from Swan Island Press please complete the order form that was inserted with the book or contact Aaron Chase of Swan Island Press at info@swanislandpress.me.
The next meeting of the Commission on Educational Opportunity for Military Children will be held on Thursday November 30 at 1:30 p.m. in Room 228 of the State House in Augusta.
All 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, belong to the Military Interstate Children’s Compact Commission (MIC3). Each state appoints a council to oversee the implementation of the Compact at the state level.
States that sign on to the Compact commit to doing what it takes to:
Enroll children of military families at their new schools as quickly and seamlessly as possible, even in the absence of normally required official records and immunizations; and
Ensure that students with parents in the Armed Forces stay on track to graduate on time, even when such students’ academic records don’t comply perfectly with local graduation requirements.
All districts above the 1% for alternate assessments will receive an Action Plan document to provide justifications on November 20th. Action Plans will be submitted to the State by December 10th.. Maine will provide an opportunity for Public Comment before the December 19th submission of a state waiver.
Two webinars will be available to aid districts over the 1% for alternate assessments in development of their action plan. Districts will be given the opportunity to choose a webinar on November 27th at 2:00 pm or November 30th at 3:00 pm.
As a reminder, Maine’s percentage of students that participate in the alternate assessments is currently above the 1% federal regulation. If data is not entered into the Synergy State Edition Student System by November 17th to allow the Department to determine anticipated participation for the 2018 test administration, the MAARS reporting information for the spring 2017 tests will be used to capture the information.
For more information contact Sue Nay at sue.nay@maine.gov or 624-6774.
The Maine Department of Education (DOE) has developed a new survey called, Language Use Survey (formerly Home Language Survey) to be used in the identification of English learners. The Language Use Survey is to be administered to the parent/guardian of every student enrolling in a School Administrative Unit (SAU) for the first time and must be included in the SAU’s enrollment packet.
The Language Use Survey is available to download in English and 25 of Maine’s most commonly spoken languages from the Department website. It is also available via TransACT, a service provided through the Maine DOE to give districts access to ESSA-compliant parent notifications in English and other languages.
If you have additional questions regarding the Language Use Survey, please contact April Perkins, ESOL Specialist at april.perkins@maine.gov or office: (207)624-6627 cell: (207) 441-9043.
The Maine Department of Education is pleased to announce the Maine state selection committees for the 2017 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) program has selected as the state-level finalists for 7-12th grade teachers of mathematics Ellen Payne from Nokomis Regional High School and Priya Natarajan from Casco Bay High for Expeditionary Learning School.
The state-level finalists for 7-12th grade teachers of science are Sharon Gallant from Gardiner Area High School, Sara McQuarrie from Hodgdon Middle/High School, Bill McWeeny from Adams School, and Alyson Saunders from Dexter Regional High School.
All State-level finalists will be honored at state ceremonies this year.
Up to five state-level finalists for each content area are forwarded to a national selection committee composed of mathematics and/or science educators, researchers, district officials, and past awardees who will meet to select the PAEMST awardees at the national level. The teachers chosen to be Presidential Awardees will be notified by the White House, honored at various ceremonies in Washington, D.C., and will receive $10,000 from the National Science Foundation.
Join us in congratulating the 2017 PAEMST State Finalist and wishing them luck in the national selection process.
Nominations are now open for the 2018 PAEMST Awards. This year’s awards will honor mathematics and science (including computer science) teachers working in grades K-6. Nominations close on April 1, 2018 and applications are due by May 1, 2018. Nominate a teacher today!
If you have any questions about the PAEMST program feel free to contact:
The Department has added a new knowledgebase feature designed to communicate known issues and updates pertaining to our data systems (NEO/Synergy). We hope this will provide those in need of help with a quick way to search and filter by issue or topic to find more information and possible resolutions.
Updates/Issues: Is this a known issue that has been reported or is it a system updates such as a code change, etc.
System: The Data System the issue is pertaining to such as NEO or Synergy.
Report/Upload: The name of the specific report or upload within the system.
Issue: Brief description of the actual issue reported or actual work done during the system update. Note: This field is hyperlinked and will display more information, including possible resolution, when clicked.
Description: This is a detailed description of the issue reported or work done during the system update.
Priority: Rating of Low, Medium, High or Completed.
Report to Helpdesk: If the issue is marked with a Yes in this column, please contact the Helpdesk to provide more information specific to your school or situation.
Last Updated: This is either the initial date the issue/update was entered or the last time information was updated for this specific record.
Left- Deborah Braxton, Maine Association of School Nurses, SNOY Chair Center- Ann Bouchard, Maine School Nurse of the Year 2017-18 Right-Patricia Endsley, SNOY 2016-17
The Maine Association of School Nurses has named Ann Bouchard Maine’s 2017-2018 School Nurse of the Year. A registered nurse for 40 years, the last 17 of them as a school nurse at Waterville Senior High School in AOS 92, Bouchard received her Bachelor’s of Science in 1977 from Boston College where she majored in nursing and sociology. She was commissioned as a Captain in the United States Air Force in 1978 and completed trainings in USAF Air Command and Staff College, USAF Squadron Officers School, the Flight Nurse course, and the Nurse Oncologist Certification course. Ann worked concomitantly as a flight nurse for the NY Air National Guard, nurse consultant for Albany Medical Center, and adjunct faculty lecturer for Russell Sage College. She earned a Master’s of Science in Nursing in 1983 from Russell Sage College and a Master’s degree in Leadership Studies from the University of Southern Maine in 2010. In addition to working full time, Bouchard is an active volunteer in her community, an experienced lecturer and has published some of her written work. She serves on several school committees, in addition to the Kennebec Valley Community Action, Hardy Girls, Healthy Women, Alfond Youth Center Board of Directors, docent for Colby College museum and has been a clinical supervisor for University of Maine Orono nursing students.
Bouchard has received numerous awards including awards from the Waterville Board of Education, Faculty Renaissance Award, Outstanding Educator, United States Air Force Air National Guard Nurse of the Year, Air Force Commendation Medals with Oak Leaf Cluster, as well as a Yearbook dedication from the Waterville HS Class of 2005.
Her colleagues frequently describe her as “dedicated, unselfish, committed to the needs of all students, and willing to help with anything at a moment’s notice.” According to the nurses who nominated her, “Her leadership style is transformational and defined by deep and authentic connections.”
As School Nurse of the Year, Bouchard receives a cash award of $500 and will be acknowledged as the Maine School Nurse of the Year at the National Association of School Nurses annual meeting in Baltimore, MD in June 2018. The program is administered by the Maine Association of School Nurses. Nominations for School Nurse of the Year are accepted each year beginning in March.
School Administrative Units (SAU) that canceled school days due to circumstances surrounding the recent storm should treat those cancelations the same as any other weather related school cancelation.
The state of emergency issued by the State of Maine was expressly to provide utility work crews relief from federal highway regulations in order to restore power to those who have been impacted – it does not result in an automatic excusal of missed school days.
As part of the standard procedure for meeting requirements for instructional days, written requests for waivers for storm days may be submitted by the district school board in the Spring when districts have a better sense of storm days used.
Maine DOE Newsroom 