YUP! Its November! WOW! Soon, we will blink, and it will be Christmas and the New Year! I swear, the older I get, the faster time speeds up!👀 Enjoy the pictures below summarizing the past few weeks in our schools! I had to do two sets of photos as the past few weeks have been busy with incredible events such as our Adopt A Classroom program, Socktober, music concerts, fall playoffs and more!
MOVING FORWARD AFTER THE ELECTIONS
Did you know that the U.S. Constitution is the longest-surviving written charter of Government in the world? So, even though in the scheme of our world, the U.S. is relatively "young,"...our Constitution has stood the test of time better than any other government in recorded HISTORY! Our forefathers took great care in developing a system of government that could stand the test of time, and clearly, they succeeded. That is saying something! I don't know about you - but that gives me great faith in our country's ability to navigate contentious elections, difficult conversations, political divides, culture wars, roller coaster economies, and anything else that can be thrown at us! Our history has proven this fact to be true. Our constitution and way of governing have stood the test of time and will continue to do so.
Whatever the outcome of the upcoming Nov. 5 election is, it will likely create uncertainty among our community's citizens regardless of age or beliefs. Our students in our schools will not be immune to this uncertainty. They represent the wonderful community where we live, work, and grow. They will want to talk about and think about - so what is next? Civil discourse is never a bad thing. It is always a good thing and the background of our great democracy.
As a school system, we are prepared for this potential. As we move forward, we will continue to anchor to our Code of Conduct first and foremost. We will ensure that every interaction at school holds true to our FIVE core values of RESPECT, HONESTY, COURAGE, COMPASSION, and RESPONSIBILITY. We will model these values and those of civil discourse with our students. We will use the safe spaces we have already created in our classrooms to ensure students feel secure in sharing their varying opinions with one another in an environment of trust and learning. We will remain bipartisan while helping students hone and strengthen their critical thinking skills in ways that help them determine their own beliefs and understandings and prepare them to be the active and informed citizens of tomorrow.
So, as families - you might be wondering - what can you do to be a safe and steady presence for children (especially our older children) after the election, regardless of the outcome? Here are a few ideas generated from the National Association of Secretaries of State I thought were pretty good:
- Open Lines of Communication: Encourage open and honest conversations about the election. Ask your child how they feel and what their thoughts are, ensuring they know it’s safe to express their emotions without judgment.
- Listen Actively and Empathetically: Practice active listening by giving your child your full attention. Validate their feelings and let them know it’s normal to experience a range of questions about what happens next after an election.
- Provide Age-Appropriate Information: Share factual information about the election and its implications that is suitable for your child’s age. Help them understand the political process and dispel any misconceptions they may have.
- Encourage Critical Thinking: Engage your child in discussions about the issues at stake and different viewpoints. Encourage them to ask questions and think critically about the information they encounter.
- Promote Positive Actions: Help your child find ways to get involved in their community or advocate for causes they care about. This can empower them and foster a sense of agency, showing they can and do make a difference.
By using these strategies, parents can provide support and guidance, helping their children navigate their questions and understand the broader context of the election.
At the end of the day - there is one thing for sure - Gorham is a strong community. We will continue to thrive together! GO RAMS!
FINAL REMINDER - TWO LOCAL SCHOOL BOND REFERENDUMS ARE ON THE BALLOT TOO - BE SURE TO VOTE NOVEMBER 5!
Please CLICK HERE for an overview of the TWO local school bond referendum questions on the November 5 ballot.
Many of you may have already voted. Some of you may not have voted yet. If last year's school budget validation referendum showed us nothing else, it showed us the value of every single vote in our community. Regardless of whether you vote "yes" or "no," please be sure to get out and vote!☺
UPDATE ON THE WORK OF THE FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE
The Gorham Fiscal Sustainability Committee met for the sixth time earlier this week. The video recording of the meeting has not yet been posted on the town's website, LINKED HERE, but it should be soon. In the meantime, the written minutes from the meeting can be found by CLICKING HERE.
There was some great discussion regarding how we could look to create a financial strategic plan that would help us monitor the town's economic health while also creating "guardrails" for budgeting purposes for both the town and the school. One of our members, Michelle Littlefield, who is also a School Committee member, presented some of her work to analyze spending patterns as a whole community (Town and School) over the past ten years to create key performance indicators that could be used as part of this possible financial strategic plan. You can view the slide presentation by CLICKING HERE.
Then, there was a robust conversation about what key performance indicators we might want to examine more closely if we are to suggest to the Town Council and School Committee the creation of a financial strategic plan. The group brainstormed some key indicators and tasked the Town Manager and Me with coming back to the next meeting with data.
The Fiscal Sustainability committee's next meeting will be November 21, 2024, at 6:00 p.m. in Conference Room A at the Gorham Municipal Center. Meetings are open to the public.
HOW TO FOLLOW THE WORK OF THE GORHAM SCHOOL COMMITTEE
As the election season draws to a close and budget season begins to heat up, some may be asking how to follow the work of the Gorham School Committee.
There are many ways to follow the work of the Gorham School Committee. The first place I would go is our website (www.gorhamschools.org). Once there, go to "About Us" and click on the drop-down arrow to navigate to "School Committee." Once there, you will see links to all SC agendas and minutes for the current year. You can click on the link at the top of the page to view the full agenda packets given to the school committee.
If you want to watch our meetings, you can either watch them live on GoCAT TV or watch the recordings once they are posted. School Committee meetings are typically held on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month.
There are THREE types of School Committee meetings.
Our "Workshop" meetings are held on the fourth Wednesday of each month in the upstairs conference room at the municipal center. They are typically less formal, with agenda items related to discussion. During these meetings, the School Committee does not take any action. Instead, they are opportunities to learn and understand, ask questions, and prepare for future discussions and decisions by the committee. These also include our budget workshop meetings each year in February and March.
Our "Regular" meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of each month and are typically held in the council chambers at the municipal building. These meetings are more formal and often address our action items.
The third type of full School Committee meeting we may have is called a "Special Meeting." These meetings can be called at any time and are for a specific purpose for the Committee to take action. These could be used for student discipline hearings, or sometimes, when we have to take action at a workshop meeting, we may switch the workshop to a special meeting so votes can be taken.
All meetings are posted on our district website, Google Calendar, for easy viewing.
Every meeting of the Gorham School Committee allows for a public comment period. During this agenda item, members of the public in attendance can share thoughts/questions/ideas/concerns with the School Committee in person. When allowing public comment, we follow our public participation policy LINKED HERE. Please know that this is the public's time to speak and the Committee's time to listen; therefore, School Committee members will not engage in discourse during this time.
Members of the public may also share written statements with the School Committee at any time by emailing School Committee members directly. Their emails can be found by CLICKING HERE. Typically, when you email School Committee members, I suggest you email them all. Still, please understand that you would only get a response from the School Committee chair, as that is our communication protocol to ensure the committee speaks with one voice. Please know, however, that all emails are read by all School Committee members, even though only the chair may respond.
Finally, when School Committee budget meetings begin to "heat up" (typically starting in late February or early March of each year), you can follow all of that work separately on our School Committee Budget information page. You can CLICK HERE to view information from last year but know that we will be adding information as the year progresses and the work to build our FY 26 proposed budget moves forward.
Please let us know if you have any questions. It is crucial that members of our community feel comfortable following our essential work.
OVERVIEW OF 2024-2025 ENROLLMENT DATA FOR THE GORHAM SCHOOLS
We just finished our October 1 reporting to the Maine Department of Education, so I wanted to share the updated enrollment data with everyone so you can get a solid sense of the district's overall demographics.
Our total enrollment for the 2024-2025 School Year in the Gorham Schools is 2819. This includes 86 public pre- K students. This is down overall from last year's total enrollment by 22 students. Enrollment projections predicted this slight overall down turn but also expect that by next year (2025-2026) we will be at 2,857 students in grades PK-12.
Of those 2819 students, 601 students are designated as socioeconomically disadvantaged students, this is approximately 21% of the overall population. This is up from last year's counts of just 9%. Thank you to those who completed your Free/Reduced lunch forms this year! This will most definitely assist us in our state subsidy funding for FY 26!
Our population of students of diverse backgrounds continues to increase. We now have 401 total students in our district of color, almost 15% of our population. This is up from last year's number of 366, which was nearly 13%. The chart below shows a history of this data for our district:
Our population of students who require special education services has gone down slightly this year. The special education population now stands at 484 total students, down from last year's 507 total students. This represents approximately 17.7% of our student population. The graph below provides a historical look at our special education population.
The number of students requiring 504 services in our schools has continued to increase this year. We currently have 157 students across all five schools receiving 504 services. This is up from last year's 140 students. The graph below shows a historical look at this data.
We have 74 students in our district that speak over 28 different languages in our schools. This is up from last year's total of 72 students. The graph below shows a historical look at this data.
This year we have 200 Gifted & Talented students, which is up from last year's 186 G&T students. The graph below shows a historical look at these numbers.
GHS STUDENT TECH TEAM SEEKING TO HELP OLDER COMMUNITY MEMBERS MEET THEIR TECHNOLOGY NEEDS
There is a group of GHS students who are interested in helping out Senior Citizens in Gorham with basic technology needs FREE OF CHARGE, but they need to gauge interest in offering this type of service to our community. This program is designed to help senior citizens of Gorham but could be open to others as well. The idea would be that GHS students interested in helping would make themselves available on a specific date/time when those interested in the service could stop by to get assistance in things like:
- iPhone/iPad or other smartphone set up or use.
- Laptop set up & use
- Kindle set up & use
- Learning more about online safety & security
If you or someone you know might be interested in such a program - PLEASE REACH OUT USING THE INFORMATION ON THE FLYER BELOW TO EXPRESS INTEREST. If we have enough interest, we'll move forward in planning. If we don't, we'll move on to figure out other great ideas on how our students can better serve and learn from our broader community!
GHS TASTE OF NATIONS EVENT IS TOMORROW!
COME JOIN US!
GHS will be sponsoring a community-wide "Taste of Nations" event on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. in the GHS cafeteria. ALL ARE WELCOME TO PARTICIPATE. The event is free - you only have to bring a small dessert to share! See flyer for details!
GORHAM MUSIC PROGRAM ANNUAL PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE SHARED!
I don't know about you, but sometimes I find it hard to keep up with all the cool events happening at our schools! It is always nice when you can see a list of events all in once place! Our friends in the Gorham Music Department have done us the favor of putting all of our planned concerts for the year on one flyer so folks can mark their calendars early to attend! Check it out below! You can also CLICK HERE for the pdf version.
GMS STUDENTS SPONSORING A COMMUNITY BINGO NIGHT!
Students in the 7th grade at GMS are sponsoring a BINGO NIGHT on November 12 from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. in the GMS Cafeteria as another unique way to try and get the broader community involved in our schools. This event will be open to everyone and Senior Citizens will get to play FOR FREE! Check out the flyer below and get your stamps ready folks! Bingo is fun for ALL AGES!
UPDATED GHS FALL ATHLETICS PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
Our GHS fall athletics teams remain busy even during playoff season! The Girls' Soccer, Field Hockey, and Volleyball teams are all still playing! Our Football team will play later tonight, and our boys' XC team will compete in the state championship on Saturday. Our students LOVE having the community come out to support them in their athletic endeavors! Check out the flyer below for more details, grab your Gorham swag, and head to a game to cheer them on!
That's it for this edition of my blog! See ya for the next one on November 15!
