Before I dive into the updates for the week...I wanted to take a moment to provide a special thank you to OUR SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS! If you weren't aware, this past week was School Bus Driver Appreciation Week across all of Maine's schools. We have incredible bus drivers here in Gorham who care passionately about the students and the community they serve...and our students and staff most certainly gave them a strong sense of appreciation this week. Just a few pictures below, but please know our drivers got cards, notes of encouragement and plenty of smiles underneath those masks this past week and they deserved every piece of recognition they got! OUR SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS IN GORHAM ROCK!
Now, on to the updates...
GHS STUDENTS PRESENT: IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE!
Our GHS students aren't going to let a little Global Pandemic get in the way of their fall play! What a creative bunch! Yes - they have found a way to still have a play while following all the safety rules as a RADIO PLAY! SO PROUD TO BE A RAM! AWESOME WORK!
Check out the flyer for more information:
Live Streaming!
It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play
Friday November 13 and Saturday November 14 at 7:30
GORHAM FOOD PANTRY COULD USE YOUR HELP!
I know this is pretty short notice, but ...the Gorham Food Pantry is doing a food drive TOMORROW, October 24th from 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. You can drop food items off anytime between that time. They are located next to St. Anne's Church at 299-B on Main Street in Gorham. Please see the flyer LINKED HERE for more details. This organization has helped our community so much over the years, and now more than ever they need our help to keep doing the incredible work they do to support Gorham!
GORHAM ACTION TEAM FOR YOUTH - ASKS FOR YOUR FEEDBACK!
The Gorham Action Team for Youth is a coalition of people focused on promoting positive youth development and preventing at risk behavior for youth! We are looking for your input in what our Gorham community needs are, so we can continue to do this work. Please fill out this brief survey to let us know your thoughts and ideas so we can better serve our Gorham Youth. Please take just a few minutes to fill out this survey.
BAXTER LIBRARY - GETTING IN ON SOME
HALLOWEEN FUN!
Baxter Memorial Library folks wanted to get in on the Halloween fun this year! Of course this year has created some special challenges in what may have been traditional methods of celebrating, but that hasn't stopped them from becoming creative! They've worked to create a fun alternative for children and families alike!
Introducing the Harry Potter Horcrux Hunt! We will be placing flags with familiar horcrux insignias around downtown Gorham. We will have poetic clues posted on our website with a google form that participants can fill out with their answers. Check out the flyer LINKED HERE and learn more on Baxter Memorial's website by CLICKING HERE. Looks like loads of fun!
A REMINDER...NOVEMBER 3 IS A REMOTE LEARNING DAY FOR ALL STUDENTS K-12
I had put this out a while ago, but I've recently gotten some questions so wanted to make sure to be clear that because three of our schools will be utilized as polling locations this year, we have moved the November 3 date to a remote only learning day for all students across grades k-12.
This move will allow the town to utilize our schools as polling locations that are large enough to spread folks out and ensure appropriate distancing and other safety measure are in place for voting safely. Please know that at the end of the evening, buildings will be sanitized thoroughly and will be ready for use by students again the next day.
Students in group B who would have had their face to face learning day on Nov. 3 will now have their face to face learning day on Friday, November 6, 2020 so that all students still get their 2 face to face days of instruction that week.
As a related reminder, if you want to keep track of A and B learning days scheduled throughout the school year, you can CLICK HERE to view our school district calendar.
SPEAKING OF NOV. 3 - BE SURE TO GET OUT AND VOTE!
If you haven't already done so (and many of you have), please remember to make a plan to get out and vote on November 3rd! Need information on polling locations for this year? CLICK HERE. Need information on what's on the ballot? CLICK HERE. Need information on the School's bond referendum question and the need for approval of our $5,689,000.00 bond request...check out my blog posts for:
* October 2, 2020 and
You may need to scroll a little on each blog post linked above, but each post gives specific details on all six projects requested as part of the school bond referendum question. If you don't want to scroll for those details, you can CLICK HERE for a one page summary of each project as well.
Also for those of you that weren't able to watch the Candidates forum for School Committee members...the link is below if you want to watch...
There is no more important civic duty than voting and this year, more than ever, our leaders definitely need to hear our collective voices! See you at the polls!
RESULTS OF THOUGHT EXCHANGE SURVEYS
COMING SOON!
We are currently working on coding themes for Thought Exchange Survey Results...we had incredible participation, which is awesome...but that means it takes a little longer to code responses for accurate theming. Our plan at this point is to present the findings of all three surveys (Parents, 6-12 Students, and Staff) at the November regular School Committee meeting. That meeting is scheduled for THURSDAY, November 12 at 7:00 p.m. We typically don't meet on Thursdays but due to the Holiday that week, it was moved. The meeting will be live streamed on GOCAT for those that wish to watch. We will then post the survey result summaries to everyone immediately after that. I want to take a moment to THANK those that participated...the information gathered has already begun to be used to help strengthen programming for our students!
"LISTENING TOUR" ON TOPICS OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION DATES ANNOUNCED FOR PARENT PARTICIPATION
As promised, I am moving forward with plans for a large scale "listening tour" with students, parents and staff on the important topic of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in our schools. I am currently working with Civil Rights Team leaders and others to determine the most appropriate means through which I can listen to the stories of our student experiences across grades K-12 and hope to have those plans solidified within the new few weeks. For parents, I have developed a two step listening tour process. The first involves voluntary participation in a google survey. The aim of the survey is to offer up an ability for parents to share their experiences within the Gorham Schools with the issues of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in a safe and anonymous way. The survey won't be your typical survey. It won't ask your opinion. Instead, it will ask you to share your experiences through the telling of stories. At the end of the survey you will have the opportunity to share your name and email contact information if you'd like to set up a one on one meeting with me to more deeply share your stories and experience. For those that wish to participate in this piece, I will then reach out to schedule a time to meet with you.
To be clear, these surveys and potential follow up meetings will NOT be a time for me to lecture to you on this topic, and conversely, it is not intended to be a time whereby you lecture me on this topic. Instead, the focus is on SHARING REAL STORIES...SHARING OUR REAL EXPERIENCES...and on LISTENING to these shared experiences as they relate to our schools. No judgement, no blame, no finger pointing. Just respect, honesty, courage, compassion and responsibility - sound familiar? ☺
I would ask parents who are interested in participating to please complete the survey/story by November 20, 2020. I look forward to hearing from you and as always, if you have questions, please feel free to email me at heather.perry@gorhamschools.org
Here is the link to the survey.
A REMINDER - SCHOOL LUNCH/BREAKFAST PROGRAM IS MOVING FROM SATELLITE SERVICE TO HOME DELIVERIES BEGINNING NOV. 2, 2020 - PLEASE PARTICIPATE IN SURVEY!
As was shared in my last blog post, I just wanted to remind families that beginning on November 2, 2020 we will be closing down our two breakfast/lunch pick up sites. Instead we are moving this program to full home delivery status. This means that any family can get a free breakfast/lunch delivered to their home on their "at home learning days" or if you are a remote only family, on any day of the week. Students will still be eligible for a free breakfast and lunch on the days they are present at school. If you are interested in participating in this home delivery service, please go to the SNP website LINKED HERE and complete the survey. Thank you!
SNOW DAY DETAILS COMING SOON
Well if you visited the SNP website from the previous section, you probably saw a little something on there about snow days too. I know, I know...most people DO NOT want to be thinking about snow right now, myself most definitely included! Unfortunately, it is getting close to that time of the year once again when we need to be thinking about snow days! Along with everything else in 2020, COVID 19 is placing its "fingerprint" on snow days as well. I wanted families to be aware that we are putting the finishing touches on plans for how we will deal with snow days this year, in a year like none other! The good news is...it looks like we'll be able to continue our learning programs on snow days in a similar fashion to how at home learning days are occurring now. This means that we will NOT have to make these days up at the end of the year as usual which ultimately results in an earlier start to our summers. The bad news is...well, that traditional snow days are likely not going to occur this year. I know! I can hear the collective groans of students from here...and likely even louder screams from our GHS seniors! My apologies! This is why I wanted to get this news out there earlier rather than later! A detailed parent letter will be going home on Thursday of this coming week with more information on exactly what to expect and how these days will be communicated. I will also link that detailed letter into my blog post so folks can be sure to see it. For now, just wanted to make sure you all knew it was coming so you can look for it and be sure to read it when it is sent. Please stay tuned.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT COORDINATORS - PARENTS HELPING PARENTS!
Participation is picking up on these important sites...which is GOOD. There is nothing like knowing there are other parents out there struggling with the same things you are, and focused on helping one another through these difficult times. Sharing ideas, "tricks of the trade" and other resources with one another! These pages are all about parents helping parents get through these unprecedented times! You can join to seek support or you can join to offer it, or - more likely - BOTH...but I strongly encourage you to join! Here are the links and numbers of members for each page...Hope to see you online!
- Gorham Community Support: Great Falls Elementary K-2 (so far 53 members)
- Gorham Community Support: Great Falls Elementary 3-5 (so far 76 members)
- Gorham Community Coordinators Village K-2 (so far 84 members)
- Gorham Community Support Village 3-5 (so far 82 members)
- Gorham Community Support Narragansett K-2 (so far 60 members)
- Gorham Community Support Narragansett 3-5 (so far 47 members)
- Gorham Community Support GMS Gr. 6 (so far 91 members)
- Gorham Community Support GMS Gr. 7 (so far 122 members)
- Gorham Community Support GMS Gr. 8 (so far 71 members)
- Gorham Community Support GHS (so far 108 members)
That's plenty for this week...ENJOY YOUR WEEKENDS!
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