Superintendent's Update: December 3, 2021 Blog Update

I hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving break last week. I know I thoroughly enjoyed the additional time spent with my granddaughter Emelin. I can't believe she is already four years old...oh how the time speeds by! I'm sure many of you as parents/guardians are thinking that same thought often as your children also grow up somehow faster than they seemingly should! ☺

We've had a great run this past two weeks in the Gorham Schools...here's a few photos of our incredible students in action!

And now on to the informational part of the blog!

WHEN OUR STUDENTS MODEL KINDNESS - IT IS HARD NOT TO FOLLOW!

Before I go too far in sharing this specific story, I want to be clear that this is just two examples (of many) within our schools of how our students are modeling for all of us how to be kind to one another. I don't have space enough to share all the stories...so I thought just a few examples might do the trick!

At Village Elementary School, Mrs. Hurd's third grade class has created a "Kindness Garden" (seen below). Students "planted" this garden as part of their learning on the topic of empathy. Students wrote phrases and words of kindness for anyone experiencing a difficult emotion. In addition to the garden, there is an envelope of flowers that students (or staff) may "pick" and take with them to brighten their day! The student's hope in creating this garden is that the walk to pick their flowers and the positive messages contained in the garden will help a student (or staff) turn around their day if they need it! The students will periodically be replenishing the flowers as needed. What a cool idea!

Another great example of our students modeling kindness (and again, one of many around this district) is the recent sock drive led by Narragansett students to benefit the Maine Homeless Veteran's Alliance. You can see the fruits of their labor in the image below...but bottom line...these students have collected, and are now ready to donate 547 pairs of socks, 28 hats, and 16 pairs of gloves to this awesome cause helping our Veterans in need across the state.

As I walk around the district and see our K-12 students focused on kindness and empathy and the other important aspects of our District Code of Conduct (Respect, Honesty, Courage, Compassion, and Responsibility), it is hard not to follow their lead! I know I for one will keep trying! I encourage us all to do the same!

GORHAM WINTER ATHLETIC RULES AND EXPECTATIONS

Gorham High School and Middle School will be holding all winter athletic events this year. Please CLICK HERE to view the "rules of the road" and associated COVID 19 safety guidelines that must be adhered to.

We are so excited to have our GHS and GMS athletic programs back up and fully operational. Let's all be sure to follow the safety guidelines outlined...and we can be sure to have a full and exciting season! GO RAMS!

THANK YOU!

UPDATES ON IMPORTANT DISTRICT WIDE AD HOC

COMMITTEE WORK

The Gorham School Committee has several active district wide ad hoc committees. What is an "ad hoc" committee one might ask? Well, it is a committee specifically created by the Gorham School Committee for a specific purpose and/or task. These committees are often made up of community stakeholder representation that is broader than School Committee members only. They work on their specific task until completed, at which point they are dissolved and new committees with new tasks are formed. Long story short, ad hoc committees are temporary and not permanent like their other standing committees (such as policy or finance). Currently there are several active district wide ad hoc committees at work. In this blog, I wanted to update you on the work of three: Anti-Racism & Equity Committee, Strategic Design Committee, and the Little Rams Early Childhood Project Committee.

Anti-Racism & Equity Committee

The purpose of this committee is outlined by the School Committee as follows:

The Gorham School Committee and the Gorham School Department reject all forms of racism as (it is) destructive to the district’s mission, vision, values, and goals. This Committee is established in an effort to eliminate all forms of racism, intolerance, inequity, and disparity in our school system. We aim to ensure that each school creates a welcoming equitable culture and inclusive environment that reflects and celebrates the diversity of the district’s student population, their families, the community, and an environment that reflects our Code of Conduct.

The duties of this committee are outlined by the School Committee as follows:

The committee has met three times so far this year, September 29, October 20 and November 17th and is scheduled to meet again on Dec. 15. The committee meets as a large group each month to learn together and to share subcommittee work and then meets once each month in smaller subcommittees focused on (1) Policy, (2) Curriculum and (3) Training. These subcommittees report their work out at each large group meeting. You can follow meetings and agenda notes by CLICKING HERE.

There is some great work going on behind the scenes on this important topic! At the October meeting of this group, we reviewed all that has been accomplished to date in our work here in Gorham. You can view that document and its associated links by CLICKING HERE.

In the area of policy, the group's next steps include diving more deeply into selected policies to provide feedback to the policy committee on potential adjustments and changes. In the area of curriculum, the group's next steps include working with school administration to ensure student voice is a core component of the Phase II curriculum work that is going on focused on the content area of social studies. In the area of training, the group's next steps include identifying gaps in training that may exist and brainstorming ways to fill those gaps.

Strategic Design Committee

The purpose of this committee is outlined by the School Committee below:

This committee has met three times so far this year on Sept. 20, Oct. 18, and Nov. 29, 2021. During these meetings the committee has worked to understand our mission/vision and. most recent strategic plan. The committee has discussed strengths associated with this work and has identified challenges and barriers in meeting the lofty goals laid out in our mission/vision. The group has researched future focused trends in education to gain a clearer understanding of the future of public education and the group has facilitated an initial Thought Exchange Survey to develop themes from key stakeholder groups when addressing the overall question posed, which was:

We had over 1,000 individuals participate in this initial thought exchange, sharing over 900 thoughts and rating those thoughts over 20,000 times! Our two largest participant groups were GHS students (over 600) and parents/guardians and community members (over 475). Initial themes seen in this data indicate a desired focus in the following areas moving forward:

1. Maintaining and continuing to strengthen opportunities for students to experience real-world, meaningful learning opportunities focused on aspirations. (Internships, CTE opportunities, Dual Enrollments, Job Shadows, ASPIRE Gorham work, etc.)

2. Maintaining and strengthening our focus on meeting the social/emotional needs of our students to include supporting mental and physical health. (SEL programs, guidance/social worker support, focus on relationships, equity and inclusion, co & extra curricular activities, etc.)

We still have to tease out this information more specifically to develop final themes from the data. The next steps will then be to take those themes and share them with focus groups to gather additional data to ensure we are creating goals in the right areas. Once done, we would then use these themes to develop action steps which become the foundation for our new Strategic Plan moving forward. This work will take the remainder of this year to complete and there will be many more opportunities for parents and community members to share their voices...so please stay tuned! You can follow the work of this committee by CLICKING HERE.

Little Rams Early Childhood Project

The purpose of this committee has been outlined by the School Committee as follows:

The group has met three times thus far this year and is scheduled to meet again on Dec. 16, 2021. We have reviewed our purpose together and worked to identify initial barriers and strengths in our early childhood programming across Gorham. We have conducted a broad scale data walk, which included initial data collected via a survey of Gorham families. The results of that survey can be seen by CLICKING HERE. Additionally, the group has most recently spent time trying to better understand current rules for licensing of child cares in Maine as well as rules for state approved 4 year old programs. At our next meeting we will be learning from our Kindergarten teachers regarding what overall expectations exist for students entering our public schools. After this information is shared, we will then begin to work to better understand our specific local needs by conducting additional surveys, and focus group meetings. From there we will use the data collected to develop themes, goals and brainstorm potential action steps that will be compiled to create an overall vision for early childhood programs in Gorham. This report will ultimately be presented to the Town Council and School Committee and will then be used as a tool to help guide decision making in areas associated with early learning in Gorham.

You can follow the continued work of this group by CLICKING HERE.

As you can see...we have been very busy here in Gorham moving our schools forward and working to ensure that the high quality educational programs our community has come to expect remain strong and vibrant for the children and families we continue to serve. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at heather.perry@gorhamschools.org.

THANK YOU FOR THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN ADDED TO OUR SUBSTITUTE LISTS!

There is no doubt that we STILL NEED SUBSTITUTES, but it has been wonderful to see the community's reaction to our cries for help thus far! We just added five new subs to our list yesterday and we are holding our first (in what looks like will be a series) of substitute trainings this week with 25 people signed up to participate! Granted, some of those 25 are already existing substitutes, but there's a good chunk of new folks in there too...and we are excited! We also have a waiting list of 7 more folks signed up to take the sub class that will be offered again in January. There is still time to sign up for January for those that are interested!

We are definitely making progress...but as can be seen in the data below - we have a ways to go before we can consider ourselves back to "normal" or at least even "reasonable" levels.

This data shows a historical look at what we call "fill rates". This is the percent of classrooms that need substitutes each month vs. the percent that are actually filled with subs. Those that are not filled with subs must be filled with other means by pulling ed. techs or asking teachers to double up or use planning periods, etc. I think the historical look below tells the tale...check it out:

Where we like to have the fill rate is at 80% or above. When it is between 60-70% we can manage, but when things drop below 60% things really get difficult. As you can see in the data above, we've been below 60% A LOT this past year and so far this year. This is the stress we describe that has been placed on staff due to lack of substitute teachers. Our goal is to get these numbers back up to closer to 70-80%. If we can do that...we will be in much better shape! Again, we appreciate all the assistance from our families and community as we work together to address this problem. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT OF OUR SCHOOLS!

FY 23 BUDGET DEVELOPMENT PROCESS/TIMELINE

Each year our school administrative team works closely with the School Committee to develop our annual proposed budget, which is then brought to the Town Council and then eventually to the taxpayers of Gorham for approval. I wanted to make sure folks had a sense of what to expect and what the timelines look like so you can follow along if you'd like:

Wednesday, December 1, 2021 – Draft of Capital Plan for 2022-23 by Facilities Director completed. Principal requests to program directors due to program directors:

Technology requests to Technology Director
Maintenance Projects/Transportation Requests to F&T Director
Curriculum & PD requests to Asst. Superintendent
SNP requests to School Nutrition Director
Meetings to occur between Program Directors and Building Principals for review of what will be placed in program directors budgets must take place during this week.

Tuesday, December 7, 2021 – ALL BUDGETS from ALL SCHOOLS AND PROGRAMS due to Business Manager. Budgets will be submitted through ADS. The following will also be submitted via a common template provided by Central Office:

Highlights of new proposals & funding recommendations

Monday, December 20, 2021 – Finance Committee meeting to review initial budget development parameters, focus points, and targets.

December 21 – January 21, 2022 – Individual budget meetings with DLT (Principals and Program Directors). Meetings will be held with each Principal and Program Director with the Superintendent, Business Manager, and Assistant Superintendent to review each budget request line by line. K-5 Principals will meet together as one group.

Wednesday, February 2, 2022 – Superintendent’s Proposed Budget Completed.

Wednesday, February 9, 2022 – Superintendent’s Proposed budget presented to School Committee at their regular meeting. Questions will be collected via google docs.

Monday, February 21, 2022 – Questions from School Committee members on Superintendent’s proposed budget are due to Central Office via google doc.

Saturday, March 5, 2022 – Full Day budget workshop meeting with School Committee and DLT.

Tuesday, March 8, 2022 – Budget Workshop Mtg. #2 (if needed).

Tuesday, March 15, 2022 - Budget Workshop Mtg. #3 (if needed).

Tuesday, March 22, 2022 – Budget Workshop Mtg. #4 (if needed).

Wednesday, April 13, 2022 – School Committee votes to approve FY 23 Budget.

April 13 – April 20, 2022 – Superintendent, Business Manager Finalizes FY 21 Proposed Budget and prepares to deliver to Town Manager. - TENTATIVE

Wednesday, April 20, 2022 – FY 23 Proposed School Budget Delivered to Town Manager (Note: Town Charter requires budget to be submitted at least 70 days prior to the beginning of the new fiscal year). – TENTATIVE

Tuesday, May 10, 2022 – FY 23 Budget Workshop with Town Council. – TENTATIVE

Tuesday, June 7, 2022 – Public Hearing on FY 23 Municipal Budget (Including School Budget) and Town Council Vote. – TENTATIVE

Tuesday, June 14, 2022 – Public Referendum on FY 23 School Budget. - TENTATIVE

Once we get to the School Committee budget meetings, we will post draft budget materials on our website. As always, if you have questions, please reach out!

STILL UNDECIDED ABOUT COVID 19 VACCINE FOR YOUR 5-11 YEAR OLD?

The Maine Department of Education is hosting a webinar open to all Maine parents entitled: COVID 19 Vaccines For School Aged Children: What Every Parent Should Know.

This webinar will be held on Dec. 9 at 8:00 p.m.

CLICK HERE to read the details and to learn how to register if you are interested in attending!

A MESSAGE FROM GREAT FALLS CIVIL RIGHTS TEAM ABOUT THE UPCOMING HOLIDAY SEASON

This message was sent to students and staff at Great Falls Elementary School earlier this week, and I thought it was one that was valuable for us all to consider as we enter into the Holiday season here in Gorham. And yes, this message was from our students...check it out:

It’s the civil rights team here with an important message as we enter the month of December, a time where many like to celebrate with Christmas traditions.

Teachers and students, as you plan your holiday celebrations this December, consider learning about some of the other winter celebrations around the world. Join us in representing different cultures, celebrations, traditions other than our own. Let’s learn about new celebrations of light together and remember that Santa, elves, reindeer, and Christmas trees only show one winter holiday and there are so many different ones to explore.

Did you know that there are celebrations of light and winter all over the world? While Christmas is celebrated in over 150 countries around the world, did you know there are a number of different holidays in the winter months celebrating light and the sun? Let us tell you about some of them as you plan for the weeks ahead.

Hanukkah, the festival of light lasts 8 days. Those who observe Hanukkah are Jewish, it is celebrated in over 20 countries around the world. Each day a candle is lit on the menorah. Hanukkah is November 28th - December 6th of this year.
Diwali is a five-day festival of lights, celebrated by Hindus and Sikhs across the world. It is known to be a festival of new beginnings, celebrating the triumph over darkness (the sun). For some this holiday coincides with harvest and the new year. It is celebrated in countries around the world. Diwali was on November 4th.
Kwanzaa is a celebration of African culture and not a religious holiday. It is observed during the time of solstice and harvest. Those who celebrate Kwanzaa light candles on a Kinara, 7 candles for the 7 principles (unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith). Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26th - January 1st.
Yule is the Pagan celebration of solstice, one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world, and takes place from December 21st - January 1st. Similar to Christmas, Yule celebrations can include mistletoe, feasts, and gift-giving. Yule is most celebrated in the Nordic countries of Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, and Denmark.
Las Posadas is celebrated in Mexico and Latin America and has many rich traditions. It symbolizes the journey of Mary and Joseph as they searched for shelter to give birth to Jesus. It is celebrated each year between December 16th and December 24th for the last 400 years.

We have such incredible students...GO RAMS!

SPENDING AN AFTERNOON WITH GMS 8TH GRADERS

AT WRVC

I had a great time on Thursday, Dec. 2 spending the afternoon with a group of 20+ GMS 8th graders as they traveled to their "tech start" program at WRVC (Westbrook, Regional Vocational Center).

These students have been participating in this new partnership between WRVC and GMS since school began back in September. They have been rotating between all the programs offered at WRVC to learn about each one. The group I was assigned to today was learning about the CDL program.

The students were so excited to board the bus and head to WRVC. Once there, there was no shortage of learning going on! Wow, what can be packed into a short hour of hands on learning is pretty incredible! Students cooperated to move equipment out into an open parking area. They learned how to jump start a dead battery properly (remember, red first folks) and they learned how to drive the mini lawnmower tractors used for instruction. Students learned about safety protocols and then were given the opportunity to jump behind the wheel and try it all out. Reverse, forward, throttle, braking, safety, taking turns...all were practiced skills in real time. When done, students helped put equipment away so that it was ready for the next day's learning.

This was just one quick example of the exciting learning at WRVC for these students. I had a chance to speak to these students and to see them talk about their experiences...well you can clearly tell the learning that is happening and when you watch them at it, you can see the engagement as well.

Thank you to Winni Moreland who was my designated "guide"...and to all the 8th graders that let me hang with them on the bus and in their classroom. They even let me ride the tractor too! A great program for our students and one that we hope sticks around for a while to come!