Maine DOE to Host Focus Groups for New Educators

Are you a first or second year educator (teacher, administrator, education technician)?  If so, thank you–AND we would love to hear from you!

Please join us at one of our virtual New Educator Focus Groups (June 17 6:00 – 7:00 pm or June 23, 9:00 – 10:00 am). Upon registration, participants will receive a Zoom link.

This will be an opportunity for you to connect with other new educators throughout Maine, to share challenges and successes, and for us to celebrate you! As a new educator during these unprecedent school years, your experiences are invaluable and will help inform our ongoing educator recruitment and retention efforts! If you plan to attend, please complete and submit the registration form for the date that works best for you.

June 17th Focus Group
6:00 – 7:00 pm
Register here
Upon registration, participants will receive a zoom link.		 June 23rd Focus Group
9:00 – 10:00 am
Register here
Upon registration, participants will receive a zoom link.

Questions? Please contact Tamara Ranger: Tamara.Ranger@Maine.Gov or Emily Doughty at Emily.Doughty@Maine.Gov

End of School Year 20’-21’ Checklist for Completing Reports; June 11 Webinar Available

The Maine Educational Data Systems Team will be hosting a webinar to discuss the end of year reporting requirements in this notification on Friday June 11th from 10:00am to 12:00pm. Register here

The following checklist is designed to assist School Administrative Units (SAUs) with publicly funded students in completing required end of year reports.  The dates listed after each report are when the report is open for entry and due for certification, if required.

Synergy:  The following items are available in the Synergy Student Information System. Please visit the Synergy Instructions Helpdesk Page for Synergy codes to be used for the items below.

Enrollments

Update/End ALL Enrollments (done last):

Manual Student Enrollment Exit Instructions

Upload Student Enrollment Exit Instructions

  • DOE will NOT be automatically ending enrollments
  • Concurrent enrollment MUST be ended before the primary enrollment can be ended
  • All students will need to be exited on their actual last day of school. This may be verified using “Attending Student Report” in NEO> Student Reports.
  • June 30 should not be automatically populated for the last day of school.
  • Future exit dates that are more than 7 days out are not permitted in the system.
  • Ending a student’s enrollment will end Economic Status and Truancy – to avoid this, update Truancy records prior to ending enrollments
  • Ending enrollments will prevent you from manually updating Attendance Data. Once an enrollment has been ended, attendance data can only be modified by uploading the data.
  • Please ensure that you exit all your graduates accordingly
    • Only exit students who have met graduation requirements by the graduation date
      • For those who are expected to meet graduation requirements over the summer, leave the exit blank for now and there will be an opportunity for you to exit them later in the summer (by August 15)
    • Do NOT graduate students in non-high school grades (Pre-K, Kindergarten, Eighth Grade, etc.)
  • Please remember to exit your enrolled home instruction students back to home instruction at the end of the school year.

New enrollments will need to be uploaded/entered as well as special education information each school year.

Annual End of Year Reports and Certifications:

The following items are Annual Reports for the 2020/2021 school year. Instructions for these reports can be found here. 

The reports listed below are linked directly to its corresponding certification report in NEO

If you have questions about these reports, (i.e. what should be entered) please contact the subject specialist listed below:

If you have questions about accessing the reports, please call or email the helpdesk, 624-6896 or MEDMS.helpdesk@maine.gov

If you do not have credentials for Synergy or NEO, the district superintendent may grant access using the appropriate webform on the Helpdesk Page: Access Request Form

Maine Virtual Career Fair for High School Students Offers Dynamic, Professional Experience

Maine Community Coordinators Collaborative (Maine C3 ), in collaboration with the Association of Computer Technology Educators in Maine (ACTEM) and Educate Maine offered a unique opportunity for high school students across Maine, from Caribou to Kittery, to engage together in real-time with representatives from a wide swath of cross-sector Maine companies and nonprofit organizations.

During the Maine Virtual Career Fair, students self-selected from the 168 live-streamed sessions and learned about the unique job expectations, skills, and potential career pathways of different jobs in large and small Maine companies and nonprofit organizations.

For students, the ME Virtual Career Fair offered a window to feed their curiosity, aspirations, plans and actions towards a vision they have for themselves. For teachers who attended the sessions with their students, the ME Virtual Career Fair offered an opportunity to make direct connections among the learning targets in their classrooms across all content areas and the skills, understandings, and context of the job expectations and potential career pathways to the jobs.  For Maine companies and nonprofit organizations, the ME Virtual Career Fair provided an opportunity to make connections with students, be a part of building student aspirations, and offer examples of the value of living and working in Maine.

During the live-streamed sessions, students communicated with the presenters by typing their questions into a chat space. The 30 minute live-streamed sessions gave students ample time to deepen their understandings with follow-up questions. Maine C3 educators served as the moderator of the sessions by keeping the questions flowing and making connections. Presenters often shared their own career journeys to their current positions, sometimes surprising students in the way skills, knowledge, and experiences build and transfer across career clusters.

The ME Virtual Career Fair offered a dynamic, professional career exploration experience for Maine high school students to engage with companies and nonprofit organizations from across Maine and hear the thoughts and questions from other students. The concept for the virtual career fair grew out of a deep desire to create a statewide experience and offer all high school students the opportunity to explore a variety of career options together in real-time and see possibilities for their lives.  Maine C3 has created an experience worth repeating  and they are committed to making this an annual event.

For questions regarding Maine C3 and the 2021 ME Virtual Career Fair, contact Planning Committee  Co-Chairs, Samantha Brink at sbrink@sanford.org or Sheree Inman at inmansh@spsdme.org.

For questions regarding the Maine Learning Results Life and Career Ready standards contact Maine DOE Life and Career Ready Education Specialist, Diana Doiron at diana.doiron@maine.gov or 207-592-2128.

2021-2022 Leadership Development Opportunities- Information Session

Do you love being an educator in Maine? Is developing your own leadership capacity intriguing to you? Do you strive to ensure more equitable outcomes for your students? Do you thrive by learning with a diverse group of thoughtful and engaged educators? If so, please consider attending an information session coming to you from the Maine Department of Education to learn more about our year-long professional learning experiences for leaders in education.

Representatives from The Transformational Leaders’ Network and Maine’s Leadership Development Program will share more about these programs and answer any questions you may have. The session will take place virtually on June 7, 2021 starting at 3:15pm.

If you would like to attend, please email Emily Doughty (Emily.Doughty@Maine.gov) or Teri Peaslee (Teri.peaslee@maine.gov) for a registration link.

If you are interested, but unable to attend, we welcome the opportunity to meet with you directly as well.  Please feel free to reach out by August 1st to make alternative arrangements.

To learn more about these offerings, please visit the Maine LDP (Maine’s Leadership Development Program | Department of Education) and TLN (Transformational Leaders’ Network | Department of Education (maine.gov) websites.

Maine DOE Joins MCLA in Honoring Top Curriculum Leaders

The Maine Department of Education (DOE) joins the Maine Curriculum Leaders Association (MCLA) in honoring Beth Clifford, Curriculum Director of Maine Indian Education, as the 2021 Curriculum Leader of The Year, and Susan O’Brien, Instructional Coach in RSU 22, as the 2021 Instructional Coach Of The Year.

Beth Clifford Maine Indian Education
Beth Clifford

Beth Clifford
Curriculum Director of Maine Indian Education
2021 Curriculum Leader of The Year

Throughout her sixteen years with MIE, Beth has put learner equity and access at the center of her work with the MIE learning communities.  She is a dedicated professional who selflessly works to ensure that every person has access to exceptional education, young learners and adult learners alike.  Beth has served on the MLCA Board longer than any other board member, and is a cherished holder of historical MLCA knowledge.  She has also given her energy and expertise to AXIOM Education and Training Center, the Cohort For Customized Learning, and to professional learning initiatives across Washington County.

Susan O'Brien
Susan O’Brien

Susan O’Brien
Instructional Coach in RSU 22
2021 Instructional Coach Of The Year

After a distinguished career as a classroom teacher, Susan moved into Instructional Coaching in 2017.  Since then she has inspired and nurtured the professional learning of many teachers and coaches within RSU 22 and across Maine.  Susan’s coaching is rooted in relationships and respect, and supports people at all stages of their professional learning, from new teachers, to teachers working towards National Board Certification, to teachers ready to become coaches themselves.  All of her work centers around students, and how we create the most optimal learning experiences for them.  We look forward to having Susan O’Brien join us on the MCLA Board.

For more information about the awards for the MLCA, please visit their website: https://www.mainecla.org/.

Leading Early Learning—A Professional Learning Series for Elementary School Administrators

As Maine elementary schools have added preschool programming and continue to support the development of children in the Pre-K -Grade 3 span, many elementary principals have requested additional professional learning to support their work as educational leaders.  The Maine Department of Education (DOE) and several Maine educational organizations, listed below, have collaborated to design an exciting new professional learning series to address identified needs and support professional growth.  We are pleased to announce that the first cohort for this series will launch during the 2021-22 school year.

The series will not only provide participants with opportunities to deepen their knowledge of early learning pedagogy and best practices related to supporting students and teachers across Pre-K-3, but it will also provide participants with a professional learning network, opportunity to target a self-selected aspect of practice through a project-based approach, and be supported through facilitated discussions and coaching opportunities.  Participants will be engaged in a variety of modes of learning, from asynchronous learning modules to professional learning communities, to attendance at a statewide early learning conference.

If this opportunity interests you, please review the details of the series in the informational guide.  A link to apply for the series is included in the informational guide.  The series will be able to support up to 20 participants.  Applications will be received through June 30, but once spaces are filled, a waiting list will be generated.

An optional informational session about this professional learning opportunity will also be held on June 15 from 3:30-4:30 for anyone who is interested in learning more and who has questions about the opportunity.   Register for the informational session using this link.

For additional information, please contact Lee Anne Larsen, Early Learning Team Coordinator at Maine DOE, leeann.larsen@maine.gov.

Leading Early Learning Partner Organizations

  • Maine Department of Education
  • Maine Roads to Quality Professional Development Network
  • Maine Principals Association
  • Maine Association for the Education of Young Children
  • UMaine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies

Merrymeeting Adult Education Awards 52 Diplomas on May 25th

Merrymeeting Adult Education awarded 52 diplomas on May 25 in a very special hybrid ceremony held both on Zoom and in person under a tent at Mt. Ararat Middle School. These adult learners completed either the High School Equivalency Tests (HiSET, formerly GED) or traditional high school diploma during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 academic years.

Director Allen Lampert led the celebration, followed by opening remarks from Bob Lucy, interim superintendent of Maine School Administrative District 75.

Faculty members Jan Crosson, Kathy Ingmundson, Bob Goddard, and RSU 1 site coordinator Dawn Wheeler welcomed Elizabeth Begin, Diego Howard, and Alyanalyn Saenz to the National Adult Education Honor Society. College Transitions student Benedita Kakahuba achieved this distinction, as well.

Commencement speeches by Sharrod Mosley, David Namwira, and Alyanalyn Saenz were followed by the inaugural presentation of Merrymeeting scholarships.

In memory of the longtime office administrator who passed away unexpectedly Feb. 2, 2020, the Carolee Tupper Memorial Scholarship was awarded to her daughter Kiley Tupper, a senior at St. Joseph’s College in Standish. Two additional scholarships were presented to David Namwira, who attends Husson University in Bangor, and Benedita Kakahuba, who attends Southern Maine Community College.

Diplomas were presented by Lampert and Wheeler to the following graduates who attended in person. Class of 2020: Joseph Bellevue, Bethany Cole, Jeff Joy, Jr., Sharrod Mosley, and Spinoza Leboundoza (RSU 1). Class of 2021: Richard Evens, Diego Howard, David Namwira (RSU 1), Alyanalyn Saenz, Duane Wilcox, and Margery Whelchel.

Douce Namwira, Class of 2020, and Nevaeh Pinkham (RSU 1), Serenity Ross and Grady Suhr, Class of 2021, attended the ceremony on a Zoom webinar hosted by Paul Elisha, academic counselor, and his wife – and HiSET proctor – Elsbeth. Forty guests joined them.

Additional diplomas were awarded to Class of 2020 graduates Heather Adams, Zachary Blair, Sarah Blake, Noelle Brown, Taylor Chubbuck, Jonas Cloukey, Robert Creamer, Alexis Deguio, Antonia DiPietro, Laelin Fischer, Elizabeth Felkey, Richard Griffin, Narcisse Isafamba, Will Kinney, Spencer Letourneau, Emily Mitchell, Robert Mitchell, William Panzino, Pirx Rhodes, Marina Tuefel, Quinn Underwood (RSU 1), Trevor Wallace, Sean Webster, and Syan Wheeler (RSU 1).

Additional Class of 2021 diplomas included Elizabeth Begin, Amanda Bisson, Devon Blodgett, Cody Caron, Alexandra Cook, Matthew Plutchak, Jr., Mark Proctor, Alyssia Russell, Miranda Vining, and Michael Pinkham (RSU 1).

Merrymeeting Adult Education provides opportunities for adult learners to complete a traditional high school diploma, earn a HiSET, prepare for college, train for careers, and develop skills and interests in a variety of personal enrichment classes, everything from canoe paddle making to private pilot ground school.

For more information about Merrymeeting’s academic and enrichment classes, visit merrymeeting.org or call 729-7323.

Information for this article was provided by Merrymeeting Adult Education Program as part of the Maine Schools Sharing Success Campaign. To submit a story or an idea, email it to Rachel at rachel.paling@maine.gov.

Maine DOE Update – May 28, 2021

From the Maine Department of Education

Reporting Items

| Visit the DC&R Reporting Calendar |

News & Updates

PRIORITY NOTICE: 2021-2022 NEO Maine Schools for Private Schools and Updated School Approval Process

In accordance with 20-A M.R.S. Chapter 117, the Maine Department of Education (DOE) requires private schools seeking approval status to be approved annually. What follows are updates and reminders of the annual and ongoing reporting requirements to attain and maintain approval as an approved private school for attendance and tuition purposes by the Maine Department of Education.| More

MOOSE Distinguished Educator Announcement

The Maine Department of Education is seeking educational experts to join the Office of Innovation team. These full–time, fully remote, contracted positions will provide leadership in the creation of pk-12, asynchronous, interdisciplinary learning progressions for the MOOSE (Maine Online Opportunities for Sustained Education) platform. | More

Three Maine Schools Win a Brand New $100K DON’T QUIT!® Fitness Center

Today, Governor Janet Mills and fitness icon Jake (Body by Jake) Steinfeld, Chairman of the National Foundation for Governors’ Fitness Councils (NFGFC), announced three Maine schools have won a state-of-the-art $100,000 DON’T QUIT! Fitness Center. The multi-million dollar DON’T QUIT! Campaign has selected Deer Isle-Stonington Elementary School in Deer Isle, Gorham Middle School in Gorham and SeDoMoCha School in Dover-Foxcroft for new fitness centers in recognition of their commitment to the health of their students. | More

Unpacking the Public Pre-K Guidebook

The Maine Department Of Education’s Early Learning Team is excited to offer a summer professional learning series focused around the newly released Pre-K Guidebook. This resource was designed to support expansion of high-quality and inclusive public Pre-K in Maine. | More

Notice of Concussion Workgroup (LD 104)

As directed by L.D. 104, An Act to Protect the Health of Student Athletes by Requiring the Department of Education to Report on the Incidence of Concussions which was signed into law by Governor Mills on March 17, 2021, the Department of Education’s Concussion Workgroup is expanding its work. The law requires that the Department work with the Maine Principals’ Association to use existing or new collection methods in order to report on the incidence of concussion in Maine schools. The Department, together with the Maine Principals’ Association is pleased to continue working with the Maine Association of School Nurses and Maine Concussion Management Initiative (MCMI) as the Concussion Workgroup. | More

PRIORITY NOTICE: Adopted English Language Development Standards; Process and Support

In March of 2021, WIDA released the refreshed ELD Standards Framework, 2020 Edition, which serves as a foundation for systems that foster engaged interactive student learning and collaborative educator practice. The Framework is centered on equity for all students and fosters the assets, contributions, and potential of culturally and linguistically diverse children and youth. It also provides a clear and coherent structure to guide the development of curriculum, instruction, and assessment of content-driven English language learning. | More

National Funding to Support Enhanced Access, Utilization of Wabanaki Resources

The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded a grant of more than $59,000 to the University of Maine’s McGillicuddy Humanities Center to support development of a centralized digital portal that will improve access to Wabanaki historical and cultural resources and archival collections currently distributed across UMaine and, in the future, to incorporate collections curated by several external institutions. | More

Free Inclusive Practices Training & Technical Assistance for Public Preschool Programs

School Administrative Units (SAUs) are asked to apply by June 4, 2021 to take advantage of this exciting professional development opportunity.  Notifications of acceptance will be provided by June 10, 2021. | More

Get to Know the Maine DOE Team: Meet Regina Lewis

Maine DOE team member Regina Lewis is being highlighted this week as part of the Get to Know the Maine DOE Team Campaign. Learn a little more about Regina| More

Maine Schools Sharing Success Stories

| Submit your Maine School Success Story |

Professional Development & Training Opportunities

Wabanaki Seminar June 12, 2021 9am-12:15pm

The Maine Department of Education is delighted to invite educators statewide to our June 12 virtual recognition of the 20th Anniversary of the signing of LD 291 which requires the teaching of Wabanaki History and Culture in Maine classrooms. Please join us and a variety of educational leaders from 9-12:30 on Saturday, June 12. We will begin the morning with greetings from Governor Mills, Commissioner of Education Pender Makin and a keynote by legislation sponsor, Hon. Donna Loring. | More

Students Against Destructive Decisions Offers Free Programming to Maine Schools

Students Against Destructive Decisions is expanding its reach throughout the state and offering all educational institutions free access to resources on mobility safety; substance use and prevention; mental health and wellness; and leadership and engagement. SADD offers students the chance to make big changes in their communities and improve the culture and climate of their schools through peer-to-peer education. SADD”s programming is evidence based, student led, and completely free. | More

| Visit the Professional Development Calendar |

Latest DOE Career/Project Opportunities

View current Maine Department of Education employment opportunities here

Wabanaki Seminar June 12, 2021 9am-12:15pm

The Maine Department of Education is delighted to invite educators statewide to our June 12 virtual recognition of the 20th Anniversary of the signing of LD 291 which requires the teaching of Wabanaki History and Culture in Maine classrooms. Please join us and a variety of educational leaders from 9-12:30 on Saturday, June 12. We will begin the morning with greetings from Governor Mills, Commissioner of Education Pender Makin and a keynote by legislation sponsor, Hon. Donna Loring. Register here

For more information about the Wabinaki Seminar, contact Joe Schmidt at joe.schmidt@maine.gov

Free Inclusive Practices Training & Technical Assistance for Public Preschool Programs

Reminder, the deadline for applying is fast approaching!

School Administrative Units (SAUs) are asked to apply by June 4, 2021 to take advantage of this exciting professional development opportunity.  Notifications of acceptance will be provided by June 10, 2021.

This offering is available to any SAU in Maine with a public preschool program. The 2021 cohort will consist of 3 classrooms of 6 participants each. Teams must include the preschool teacher, ed tech, principal, special ed director, elementary special ed teacher and a regional CDS consultant or teacher. The purpose of team participation is to ensure consistent understanding and application of the course content so that high quality inclusive practices will be supported and sustained.

More detailed information about this opportunity can be accessed here.

The complete application is available at this link.

You may access this PDF version to preview the application prior to completing.

The project requirements include: Projected timeline:
Completion of the on-demand training: Inclusive Environments in Public Pre-K. By August 18, 2021
Participation in a half-day virtual orientation session. Mid-August 2021
Completion of an 18 hour online training: Creating Inclusive Preschool Settings Classrooms. September-November 2021
Participation in 2 PLCs scheduled as follow-up support during the online training. October 2021
Participation in consultation.

*It may be necessary to align class coverage on the days of consultation for some period of time.*

  • 2 (1-2 hour) classroom based consultations (onsite or technology-based).
  • 2 (1-2 hour) administrative consultation (onsite or technology based)
 October-November 2021
Participation in a wrap up meeting hosted by the DOE to evaluate the project and short district team presentations to showcase your learning. December 2021

For more information, view the FAQ  or contact:

Nicole Madore at Nicole.madore@maine.gov or

Marcy Whitcomb at Marcy.r.whitcomb@maine.gov