Good afternoon and HAPPY FRIDAY to everyone! Week #11 is "In the books"!
Hard to believe we are coming up on the Thanksgiving break and (knock on wood) are still rolling with our hybrid learning model. Of course, that could change at any moment, but dog gone it...I think it is worth celebrating for now! Many of us (myself included) thought we'd only get 2-3 weeks of face to face learning in before having to close down due to COVID 19! It just goes to show the importance of following those safety protocols! As I said even before school began - it is going to be UP TO US as a GORHAM COMMUNITY to choose to follow our safety guidelines and thereby strengthen the probability that our schools could remain open - and look where we are now 11 weeks in!
Of course as I've also said before, although we can (and should) take a moment to pat ourselves on the back, we also can't let our guards down now! We need to keep:
* Staying home when sick, even when it is inconvenient (which it always is).
* Completing our daily symptoms checker to help our nurses monitor trends.
* Wearing our face coverings.
* Keep that 6 ft. of physical distance going.
* Keep washing/sanitizing those hands frequently
IT REALLY WILL COME DOWN TO THOSE FIVE ITEMS TO KEEP OUR SCHOOLS OPEN!
A heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone for following these rules thus far...let's keep it rolling Gorham! GO RAMS!
GOVERNOR MILLS ANNOUNCES NEW TESTING SITES AT WALGREENS
As the virus ramps up for the cold winter months, as folks are getting tested in preparation for traveling for the Holidays and as more and more people people experience symptoms that may also be cold or flu related, getting access to tests is becoming a little more difficult. This isn't because there are a lack of testing kits across the state mind you, but its because of a lack of testing site capacity. In order to try and help address this need, Governor Mills announced recently that Additional Wallgreens locations will be added as testing sites across the state. The list of those sites is below:
Walgreens BinaxNOW COVID-19 Testing Locations in Maine:
Auburn: 61 Union St.
Auburn: 698 Minot Ave.
Augusta: 403 Water Street
Augusta: 2007 N. Belfast Ave.
Bangor: 566 Union St.
Bangor: 706 Broadway
Bath: 11 State Rd.
Belfast: 268 Main St.
Bethel: 28 Mayville Rd.
Biddeford: 335 Alfred St.
Blue Hill: 17 South St.
Boothbay Harbor: 223 Townsend Ave.
Brewer: 437 Wilson St.
Buxton: 226 Parker Farm Rd.
Calais: 223 North St.
Caribou: 112 Bennett Dr.
Cornish: 151 Maple St.
Damariscotta: 365 Main St.
Dover Foxcroft: 151 E. Main St.
Ellsworth: 226 High St.
Falmouth: 33 Depot Road (opens next week)
Farmington: 317 Main St.
Ft. Fairfield: 355 Main St.
Ft. Kent: 84 E. Main St.
Gardiner: 9 Spring St.
Gorham: 120 Main St.
Gray: 62 West Gray Road
Guilford: 3 Hudson Ave., #147
Hampden: 65 Western Ave.
Houlton: 137 North St.
Kennebunk: 37 Portland Rd.
Kittery: 15 Shapleigh Rd.
Lewiston: 430 Sabattus St.
Lincoln: 2 W. Broadway
Lisbon Falls: 575 Lisbon St.
Livermore Falls: 81 Main St.
Machias: 144 Dublin St.
Madawaska: 429 Main St.
Manchester: 943 Western Ave.
Milo: 35 Park St.
Naples: 665 Roosevelt Trl.
Newport: 36 Moosehead Trl.
Norway: 53 Paris St.
Oakland: 19 Main St.
Old Orchard Beach: 15 Saco Ave.
Pittsfield: 506 Somerset Ave.
Portland: 616 Forest Avenue (opens next week)
Presque Isle: 320 Main St.
Rockland: 28 Park St.
Rumford: 7 Portland St.
Saco: 461 Main St.
Sanford: 868 Main Street
Scarborough: 233 US Route 1
Scarborough: 600 U.S. Route 1
Skowhegan: 225 Madison Ave.
South Portland: 279 Main Street (opens next week)
Topsham: 77 Mallett Dr.
Waterville: 210 Main St.
Wells: 1036 Post Rd.
Westbrook: 465 Main St.
Windham: 741 Roosevelt Trl.
Winslow: 36 China Road
Winthrop: 16 Peck Farm Rd.
Yarmouth: 478 US Route 1
York: 400 U.S. Route 1
While the BinaxNOW rapid antigen test is best used for people experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, other types of testing is available in Maine to people who think they need a test, regardless of symptoms and without the need for a referral from a health provider. This testing is available at more than two dozen "swab and send" testing locations that offer molecular testing at no charge under separate agreements with DHHS. Results from swab and send locations are provided by the State Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory within 48 hours of receipt at the lab (the time from the sample collection to the delivery of the result to the patient may take longer). For more information, visit the Keep Maine Healthy website.
RECENT QUESTIONS ON CLEANING PRACTICES AFTER A POSITIVE CASE
I've recently had several folks as me to remind them about what our protocols are for cleaning of facilities after a positive case has been identified so I thought maybe more folks were wondering and it might be worth a quick refresher.
When a positive case associated with the Gorham Schools has been identified, the first thing we do is identify close contacts and work diligently to make those notifications as quickly as possible. The second thing (which really happens simultaneously to the contact tracing work) we do is to identify all the spaces in a building, or bus, or playground, etc. that the positive case spent time in. This could be a classroom, or it could be multiple classrooms. It could be the cafeteria, or the nurses clinic. Whatever those areas are, they are identified and communicated immediately to our facilities director. Our facilities director then works with our contracted service provider to thoroughly sanitize those spaces before we allow students or staff back into those spaces. In Gorham we utilize an electrostatic spray system that allows us to complete a thorough sanitizing process of an entire room in just minutes. This, in combination with the fact that we wipe down common touch surfaces in our buildings at least 2 times per day and continue to sanitize the whole building each night allows us to feel confident that students and staff can return to a safe and sanitized learning environment even after the identification of a positive case associated with our schools.
Bottom line...we make sure our building spaces are thoroughly sanitized after the identification of a positive case before allowing students or staff back into those spaces. I hope that helps to answer questions folks may have, but if you have more, please keep asking! ☺
ANTI-RACISM WORK UPDATE
First of all, thank you to the 30 + parents and 20+ staff who shared their "stories" with me via my most recent survey. I am currently going through the results and am compiling the themes from those stories. Once compiled, I will share back out with families so you can see the results. Additionally, if you indicated that you wanted to meet with me one on one from that survey I will be reaching out after the Thanksgiving break to set up those meetings using the email provided. Please stay tuned.
I have also been working to meet with students across the district to hear their stories. Just today I met with a wonderful group of students from Village Elementary School's Civil Rights Team. They had just gotten done conducting a survey of all Village School students asking students to share what is going well at Village and to share their experiences and the challenges they have identified in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion. A clear message I heard from the students at Village Elementary School is that they feel as though these conversations are important, that they are needed and that they want teachers and other adults to help them have these kinds of conversations in meaningful and safe ways. The students went so far as to say that one big thing that would help them would be to work with all students to help provide a language/vocabulary that kids could use to talk to other kids on these important topics. They expressed that they want to have these conversations, but sometimes don't know how and need us to help them strengthen that language of respect.
Every time I speak with our students I am so refreshed by their honesty, their compassion and their willingness to understand. I have meetings scheduled across all schools coming up over the next few months and will definitely work to share themes from these important conversations too.
I also wanted to update folks who have reached out to express interest in serving on the new Gorham School Committee's Anti-Racism Subcommittee. First, I am still accepting names for folks that may be interested in volunteering. We need 1 parent per grade span (K-5, 6-8 and 9-12) and two community members. It's not too late. If you are interested, just email me at heather.perry@gorhamschools.org. I will be meeting with the chair of the newly formed committee in early December. At that time we will review the names and make selections to ensure the broadest and most diverse membership possible and will notify folks during that second week regarding final membership. The hope is to have the committee's first meeting before the December Holiday break.
Finally, a reminder that the Gorham School Committee is still working on its DRAFT Anti-Racism Policy. It was approved for first reading in October and is scheduled to come back to the School Committee on December 9 for a second and final reading. Folks who want to send any feedback directly to the policy committee (which is the group working on revisions at this point) should email any direct feedback to School Committee member Anne Schools (anne.schools@gorhamschools.org) or you can send feedback to Assistant Superintendent Chris Record who facilitates this committee. His email address is chris.record@gorhamschools.org. So far we've had lots of great feedback that the policy committee will be meeting to discuss and do its best to incorporate into this important process.
A MESSAGE FROM GHS CLASS OF 2021
Dear Gorham Community,
As you are well aware, the Class of 2021 seniors are not getting the year we all planned. It's likely that our entire senior year will be different, including graduation and end-of-the-year events. In order to make those events as special as they can be during these difficult times, we need to fundraise.
Luckily, we have a very fun and easy fundraiser: a Pampered Chef online fundraiser!
All you have to do is click on the ordering link and it will bring you straight to the Pampered Chef website where part of all the proceeds will go towards our class fundraiser. Your purchases will be shipped directly to you.
Link: pamperedchef.com/go/
This link can be shared with ANYONE, so please spread it by email, text, or a different platform to your extended family, friends, and anyone else you can think of!
This fundraiser will end on Wednesday, December 2nd. Thank you so much for your support.
From the Senior Class Officers,
Emily Paruk, Alie Peterson, Sophie Kaufman, and Sierra Cummings
ANNUAL GORHAM SWIM TEAM CHRISTMAS TREE SALES - STILL HAPPENING!
Looking to get that Christmas tree up and decorated early? Our GHS swim team students can help this year even with COVID 19! Check out the flyer below for details!
Looking for cross generational conversations to engage students at the Thanksgiving meal? Need conversation starters for that virtual family Thanksgiving gathering? ASPIRE GORHAM is here to help! Why not talk about aspirations and careers? This conversation can be had at the dinner table with children of all ages! Here's a few ideas - one focused on grades K-5 and the other for grades 6-12.
Gr. K-5:
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