Good morning everyone! Has it already been two weeks since my first blog post for the 2025-2026 school year? Things have gotten off to a fast start here in the Gorham Schools, and we are already "rock'n'-n-rollin'" with our learning across all five schools! Check out some pictures below, and then we are on to the important information!
Each year, the Gorham School Committee works in partnership with the Superintendent to set a focused set of annual goals—typically four to six high-priority tasks that guide our collective work. These goals serve as a roadmap for our schools, helping us align resources and energy so we can fulfill our mission to “Prepare and Inspire” every student for future success.
Sharing these goals with staff, families, and the wider Gorham community keeps our work transparent and invites collaboration. The priorities outlined here cannot be accomplished by any one person or department; they depend on the commitment and expertise of many hands across our schools and community.
Below you’ll find an overview of our top five goals for the year, and you can view the full document [linked here] for more detail on specific timelines and planned action steps. We welcome your questions, feedback, and partnership as we work together to achieve these shared aspirations.
Our current Metrics for Success were created and approved by the Gorham School Committee during the 2021-2022 School Year. We have been operating with the current metrics for the success document for three full school years now, and I believe it is time to review and “refresh” to ensure alignment with our mission/vision and core beliefs about learning.
Once our metrics are revised, I would like to work with our data coordinator to develop a method for more effectively sharing this information with the community. I will work with her to create a new “data dashboard” that can be placed front and center on our website. This dashboard will show the highlights of our metrics and where we are with trends for our “top five” key data points. As we saw last year, being able to quickly and easily share the narrative of how our schools are doing in more than just a single test score is important and helps the larger community know that we measure the success of our schools strongly and in multiple ways.
Transparency leads to trust, and we need trust more than ever! This will be a crucial goal to achieve in the coming year.
When AI began to make its way into public schools, the Gorham School Department created an initial set of AI guidelines to help staff better understand how we wanted AI to be utilized in our classrooms. Our initial approach has been to incentivize teacher learning and experimentation with AI so that they can better understand the various ways in which AI may be used to improve instruction.
After more than a year of focused experimentation across our schools, we are now ready to take the next steps in strengthening our guidelines regarding the use of AI in our classrooms. We will work to create a set of frameworks, guiding principles, initial goals, guiding questions, resources, and methods to measure success in the work for teachers that can be used to safely utilize AI in our classrooms to enhance student learning. These new guidelines will provide the foundations necessary for our classrooms to safely harness the power of AI to amplify human connection and strengthen student learning across all schools.
The Bright Futures for Little Rams Report was finalized in the spring of 2022. This work was a comprehensive effort involving stakeholders from across the Gorham community interested in strengthening and supporting early childhood education in our community across multiple platforms.
It was this document that launched the Gorham School’s work to create a public Pre K system, offering universal public Pre K to all Gorham families eventually. Narragansett Elementary School, in partnership with the Gorham Arts Alliance and Seedlines to Sunflowers, launched its initial programs in the fall of 2023. Since then, we have brought on two new partners in House of Parker LLC and Imagination Station - both high-quality early childhood programs operated in Gorham. In those two years, we have gone from having no public Pre K slots in Gorham to now serving 126+ Pre K students in Gorham.
Additionally, since that time, the state of Maine has passed legislation that will transfer the FAPE (Free and Appropriate Education) responsibilities for three- and four-year-olds to individual public schools across the state. Yes, this includes Gorham.
Much is changing in the world of early childhood, and Gorham as a community must continue to lead the way in developing community-based systems that strengthen our programming for early childhood education for all eligible children. It is time to “brush off” the broader recommendations of the “Little Rams” report and come together to make more of its recommendations a reality for our children and families.
That is the purpose of this goal.
When the legislature approved the supplemental budget in the spring of 2023, part of that budget included language that requires public schools to provide Free and Appropriate Educational Services (FAPE) for all 3- and 4-year-olds in the state. Previously, a separate governmental agency called Child Development Services (CDS) was responsible for providing FAPE to eligible 3- and 4-year-olds and their families. Public schools have four years (2027-2028 school year) to assume full responsibility for FAPE services for this age category. This shift in responsibilities will be significant.
Ultimately, this move is a good one, as CDS has not provided full services to this age level for several years now, and our public schools have been paying a high price for per-pupil costs as a direct result. With improved early services, the same outcome can be achieved as with our work to create a strong Public Pre-K program: that services can be provided earlier, more effectively, and at lower overall costs than the current ineffective system.
That being said, a great deal of work went into initial planning during the 2024-2025 school year. Initially, we had thought that this work would be something we would focus on on our own; however, during the course of our work last year, we began looking first at what we could do regionally via the GSEA. The idea being that we should determine what we can do collaboratively together to reduce overall costs, and then what we need to plan on doing on our own to meet state and federal FAPE requirements.
We established a working group that began to make these determinations, and this is where I want to pick up with this goal moving forward. Ultimately, by the end of this school year I’d like to have a solid plan developed with the GSEA regarding what we will do collaboratively to meet these requirements and then utilize the following year (2026-2027) to plan what we need to have in place as an individual SAU so that by the time 2027-2028 rolls around we are ready to hit the ground running.
Therefore, this year’s goal is specifically focused on the remaining GSEA work.
Rampant misinformation, political polarity, and difficulty with civil discourse. This is not a judgment on our society; it is simply the reality of the environment in which we currently live. Ignoring this and wishing it would go away are not proactive or productive approaches to leading an organization whose mission is so critical to the success of our community.
Communication in the Gorham Schools is already a strength, but we can continually improve. First of all, our communication is often one-way (outward) when we need to work to strengthen methods for offering two-way communication so that stakeholders (which should strongly include our students) can let us know what they are thinking, what they want our public schools to look like and be like for our children, etc. We need to improve our methods to allow stakeholder voices to be heard and incorporated into our decision-making processes.
Secondly, even our outward communications tend to overlook a large segment of the community that is not directly connected to our schools. Families whose children are not yet in school, retired community members, and others also need to know what their investment in our public schools contributes to our community as a whole.
This year’s goal will focus on continuing to strengthen our “outward” communications to all stakeholder groups, while also building and constructing stronger methods for gathering feedback and community voices to inform better decision-making in our schools.
Those are the five key goals for the 2025-2026 School Year! You can also click on the link provided above to read more details about specific action steps and timelines for these goals. I look forward to working together with all stakeholders to successfully complete these goals!
YOUR FEEDBACK IS NEEDED TO INFORM FY 27 BUDGET DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES!
Speaking of trying to improve 2-way communications (Goal #5 above)...we have just recently launched a Thought Exchange Survey that allows staff, parents/families, and community members to provide critical feedback that will help shape our budget priorities moving forward. This survey is open to all staff, parents/families, and community members of Gorham! So far, we have had 293 responses, 72 from staff, 214 from parents/families, and 44 from community members!
The survey only takes 5-10 minutes to complete. The link and QR code to access the survey are below. If you haven't finished it yet - PLEASE DO. If you have, feel free to share with your neighbors and encourage them to complete as well! Deadline for completion is Sept. 22! I will share the data collected in an upcoming blog post! THANK YOU in advance!
Survey Link: https://tejoin.com/scroll/431503135
QR Code:
Each year, the School Committee creates its calendar of meetings. This calendar provides an excellent overview of the different types of meetings our School Committee members have and the general topics that they want to make sure to discuss throughout the course of the year. It is, of course, subject to change, and certainly doesn't list all topics that will be addressed, but it provides a nice overview to the public about the types of topics, the types of meetings, and how the year will flow if folks want to follow the work!
Please CLICK HERE to view the meeting schedule for 2025-2026. Also, please note that you can go to our district website (www.gorhamschools.org) to see scheduled meeting dates/times on the events listing. If changes occur we make them to the website so that is always the most up to date!
The School Committee also recently approved its FY 27 Budget Development Timeline that outlines all the key steps in our annual budget development process. You can CLICK HERE to view, and please follow along!
While we are on the topic of following the work of the School Committee, I wanted to point out several different ways to do that and provide associated links from our website.
- School Committee Members List
- Gorham School Committee meeting minutes and agendas (you can also view the most current meeting packets on this page)
- Meeting minutes archives (goes back to 2006-2007 school year)
- Town Meeting Recording videos (this includes school committee meeting recordings)
At the end of the day, if you have a question and don't see where to find the information you seek on our website, just reach out to me at heather.perry@gorhamschools.org, and I'll be sure to point you in the right direction.
RESULTS OF GORHAM SCHOOL DEPARTMENT'S RECENT CAPITAL CONSTRUCTION APPLICATIONS TO THE MAINE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Last year, I shared that the Gorham Schools had submitted three capital construction applications to the Maine Department of Education for potential state funding:
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Gorham High School
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Narragansett Elementary School
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Village Elementary School
Our goal was to seek funding for a new high school to address both aging facilities and overcrowding, while also exploring the possibility of consolidating Narragansett and Village into one modern elementary school.
These state-funded construction opportunities open only once every 7–8 years, and only projects ranking in the top ten of the state’s rating list are considered for funding.
In late July, we received the draft rankings:
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Narragansett Elementary: #19
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Gorham High School: #42
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Village Elementary: #62
Unfortunately, none of our projects scored high enough to qualify for funding in this cycle.
What This Means
The next application cycle is unlikely to open for another 7–8 years, meaning Gorham is likely 17–18 years away from any possibility of state-funded construction under current conditions.
Moving Forward
Although we won’t receive state funding, the process provided valuable benefits:
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Updated Facility Studies – Our architects, Lavalle/Brensinger, recently completed updated studies for Gorham High, Narragansett, and Village. [View the report here.]
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We also continue to reference the CHA districtwide facilities study, completed three years ago. [View the report here.]
Together, these reports give us a clear, district-wide picture of facility needs. With this information, the School Committee has updated its Ten-Year Capital Plan. We will continue to:
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Work with the Town to explore shared funding and collaboration opportunities.
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Pursue local bonds as needed to address critical projects.
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Remain alert for any future state or federal funding sources that may emerge.
While state funding is not available this cycle, our commitment to providing safe, modern, and inspiring learning environments remains firm. We will keep our community informed as plans develop and welcome your ongoing feedback and support.
REMIX - INFORMATIONAL VIDEO SERIES - UNDERSTANDING PUBLIC SCHOOLS
A little over a year ago, the Gorham Schools worked with key community leaders to develop an informational video series. We partnered with GoCAT TV to produce a four-part video series helping community members to better understand public schools. You can CLICK HERE to view each of the four videos. Titles for each are below, and they are just as accurate today as they were a little over a year ago! If you haven't already watched them - Check it out!
1. Public Schools in the 21st Century
2. Public School Governance
3. Public School Funding
4. The Future of Public Schools
Thanks to our special guests in each video, USM President Jackie Edmundson, Gorham Business Leader Kathy Garrard, Gorham Business Leader Shawn Moody, and fellow Superintendent of Schools in Maine, Andrew Dolloff.
MEET THE CANDIDATES NIGHT IS COMING SOON!
This year, we have several candidates running for the Town Council and the School Committee. This event is designed to introduce you to candidates and provide them with an opportunity to share a little about themselves, their beliefs, and why they believe you should vote for them on November 4.
The event will take place on September 30 at Baxter Memorial Library at 6:00 p.m. Folks are welcome to attend in person, or you can watch the livestream from the comfort of your own home. It's a great way to engage in our civic responsibilities of learning before voting! The link for the live stream is below:
https://youtube.com/live/
EPISODE ONE OF LEARNING FROM MAINE IS AVAILABLE TO VIEW!
Perhaps you have noticed the collaborative mural that graced the main entrance this morning?
The process for the mural began during open house and Narragansett students have been continuing the work in class. The challenge was to draw and create in the negative space around the letters, not the letters themselves…or the positive space.
I hope you enjoy the mural and stayed tuned…there is another one coming soon!
Best,
Laurie
