Happy New Year and welcome back to school for 2024! I hope everyone was able to enjoy their breaks. I have to share that at a recent meeting, I had a parent very publicly announce that they were "thankful that the schools had welcomed their children back from the break." Something tells me that a break from school is likely NOT a break for parents/guardians LOL!
Well even though we've only been back for a few days - we still have plenty of images since my last post to share that allow everyone to get a sneak peak into what is happening in our schools! Enjoy the pictures below and then on to the information!
PUBLIC PRE K ENROLLMENT NOW OPEN FOR 2024-2025! ENROLL TODAY!
We have had an incredible start to our new public Pre K program here in the Gorham Schools. Since September, we've had 57 students attending our new Pre K program with incredible success! Now, building on that success - we are opening up enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year for our Pre K Program! Applications Opened on January 1st!
Gorham families with children who will be 4 years old by October 15, 2024 are encouraged to apply for FREE half-day Pre-K!
- Our Pre-K program is conducted at Narragansett School and is open to all Pre-K aged students in Gorham. (If you reside in the Great Falls or Village district, your student will attend Narragansett for Pre-K.)
- Transportation will be provided for students enrolled in the program.
Click the following Pre-K Application Link to apply today! Please contact Theresa Connolly at 222-1295 if you have any questions or need assistance completing the application. See flyer below for more information!
Please help spread the word!
UPCOMING DECISION & COMMUNICATION TIMELINE FOR PK-5 ATTENDANCE ZONE SHIFT
Just one more reminder before we start kicking into actions associated with our planned PK-5 Attendance zone shift to make sure that all PK-5 families are aware of this upcoming important decision. An overview of the anticipated timeline is below...
A Reminder of the "WHY" . . .
This move is a planned move as part of our long term facilities needs planning. The long term goal will be to build a new PK-5 Elementary School in Gorham that would consolidate Narragansett Elementary and Village Elementary School. However, this long term plan will take 15-20 years to bring to fruition and we need additional space NOW in order to address a steadily growing student population as well as growing space needs for our specialized student populations across all three schools. Our intermediary plan, then was to build modular expansions at Narragansett Elementary School and shift student populations in that direction. The final phase of that expansion will be ready for Fall of 2024. By shifting attendance zones, we will be able to steer continued growth towards Narragansett while also providing additional room to grow at Great Falls and Village. Bottom line, this shift will allow us to provide needed growth space for all three schools while we work to accomplish our long term goal of a new elementary school.
How Do I Learn More?...
I would encourage all families who wish to learn more about this shift and the rationale behind it to attend a Zoom meeting scheduled for Jan. 29 at 6:30 p.m. A link will be sent out via our messenger system as we get a little closer to this date. This meeting will be open to all PreK-5 families in Gorham.
At this meeting, I will share the data and rationale behind the need for this move. I will also share the targeted numbers that were established for the move and outline the process through which we are working to create the final draft of our new attendance zones. I will encourage families to follow the Feb. 7 School Committee meeting at which time the draft plan will be unveiled and the School Committee will be asked to take action to approve. Finally, I will also review the expected timeline for communications document and help answer questions from families about the process.
GORHAM HIGH SCHOOL PARTICIPATING IN NEASC ACCREDITATION PROCESS
Gorham High School (GHS) will be hosting an accreditation visit from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) in March 2024. This accreditation process is a significant event for the school, providing an opportunity to highlight its commitment to high educational standards and continuous improvement.
The NEASC accreditation visit provides an opportunity for Gorham High School to undergo a comprehensive self assessment of its academic programs and educational environment. To maintain its accreditation, GHS needs to demonstrate alignment with the following five NEASC Standards for Accreditation:
A learning culture that promotes shared values and responsibility for achieving the school’s vision.
Student learning practices that maximize the impact of learning for each student.
Professional practices that ensure that practices and structures are in place to support and improve student learning.
Learning support that ensures the school has appropriate systems to support student learning and well-being.
Learning resources that ensure the school has the resources necessary to meet the learning needs of all students.
This fall, in anticipation of its accreditation visit, the GHS faculty has been undergoing a comprehensive self assessment, which includes collecting evidence that demonstrates its progress on each of the standards.
The accreditation visit is a collaborative effort involving students, educators, parents, and the broader community. Gorham High School encourages active participation and engagement from all stakeholders to showcase the collective commitment to educational excellence. As the school welcomes NEASC representatives, it looks forward to highlighting its achievements, addressing challenges, and working collaboratively to ensure that it continues to provide an outstanding educational experience for all its students. This visit will also allow the school to receive valuable feedback and recommendations for improvement from experienced educators and professionals associated with NEASC.
Any GHS parents who would like to be involved in this important process should reach out to Principal Brian Jandreau at 207-222-1128 or brian.jandreau@gorhamschools.org.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTENDANCE - A GREAT NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION PERHAPS?
With a new year comes new opportunities to build new habits and make positive changes! If, perhaps, school attendance has been a challenge for the first half of the year - now is a great time to re-commit to the importance of your child(ren) attending school each and every day!
Want to know more about the importance of school attendance. CLICK HERE for some great information for parents and families from "Attendance Works".
Simply put research clearly shows a direct relationship between regular attendance at school and student achievement. Good attendance = higher student achievement!
So if you are perhaps still looking for a solid new year's resolution - and your child(ren) may have struggled with regular attendance - now is your chance to recommit! We miss every child when they are absent and want to make sure we get to spend as much time with them as we can!
MARCH 5 = REMOTE LEARNING DAY FOR GMS AND GREAT FALLS STUDENTS ONLY
As you may be aware, Gorham Middle School and Great Falls Elementary School are used as polling locations here in Gorham. As you may also be aware maintaining the safety and wellbeing of our students is paramount to our schools. At Great Falls Elementary School, the physical space itself prevents us from being able to separate students from members of the public entering our schools for the purpose of voting.
At GMS we have sometimes kept school open in the past while the building is being used as a polling location by cutting off student access to the gym area and by using temporary barriers to close off the school to members of the public using the gym to vote.
What individuals may not know is that when schools are used as local polling locations, the Federal and State rules and regulations associated with polling locations overtake rules associated with our schools. In other words, priorities shift away from students and instead shift toward making sure voters have free and unrestricted access to the polling location.
In our current climate, these two things are becoming more and more at odds with one another. As Superintendent of Schools, it is becoming more difficult for me to ensure the safety of students while at school if the school is also being used as a polling location. Because of this, I am moving instruction on March 5 to remote instruction for students at GMS and Great Falls only.
I understand that this decision will impact families. I hope that this communication provides ample time for parent planning and the child care adjustments that may be needed as a result. Additional communications will be coming from GMS and Great Falls directly as we get closer to this day to make sure families are clear on what to expect for remote learning activities.
ASPIRE GORHAM JANUARY NEWSLETTER AVAILABLE TO READ!
The Aspire Gorham newsletter for January, 2024 is ready to read! Check out all the great stuff happening as part of our Aspirations focus here in the Gorham Schools!
CLICK HERE to read!
RECENT REPORTS TO SCHOOL COMMITTEE - GREAT INFORMATION - CHECK IT OUT!
At our January 3, 2024 regular school committee meeting, members of our Gorham Schools team made FOUR different informational presentations to the School Committee that I thought everyone might want to check out. The incredible team at GoCAT live streamed and recorded the meetings. You can CLICK HERE for the link to the overall meeting recording. Below I have listed each presentation and the approximate time on the video that each presentation began. VERY INFORMATIVE...and definitely worth the review!
- GMS Student Council Presentation (2:27 minute mark)
- PK-12 Library/Media Presentation (13:18 minute mark)
- Gifted & Talented Program Presentation (36:52 minute mark)
- Public Safety Presentation (1:01:01 minute mark)
Thank you to Georgia Humphries and her incredible team at GoCAT for making this information so easily available to the public!
JANUARY'S TOWN COUNCIL REPORT
What follows is the information shared with the Town Council by the School Committee at the Town Council's last regular meeting. . .
Town Council Report – Jan 2, 2024
GHS NEASC Accreditation Work: Gorham High School staff are working to complete their NEASC accreditation self-study process in preparation for their upcoming NEASC site visit scheduled for later this spring. NEASC stands for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and it has been the accreditation body for Gorham High School for decades. Due to the recent pandemic and some changes in the accreditation process itself, it has been 10 years since GHS has completed this important work.
NEASC Accreditation is a respected, effective, and time-tested methodology for school improvement and growth. It is not a single event, but rather an ongoing, voluntary cycle of comprehensive internal and external assessments, short- and long-term strategic planning, and periodic reporting sustained by professional partnership and support. It is intended to serve as a framework for schools to meet their own unique goals for student learning while maintaining alignment with research-based Standards for Accreditation that define the characteristics of high quality, effective learning communities.
Multi-Lingual Learner Population in Gorham: At the December 13, 2023 School Committee meeting (available on GoCAT) the Multilingual learner staff provided an important update on the growing population of our ML students and their changing needs. As a reminder, our ML program is mandated at both the state and federal level under what’s known as a Lau plan.
Currently over 25 languages are spoken in Gorham schools:
Our overall population of ML learners has increased by 30% since 2017-28 (24 students).
In addition, the needs of ML students and their families have changed significantly. In the past, incoming students most likely had prior experience with the English language. This has shifted to the majority of incoming ML students having little or no English speaking or writing experience. This requires more intense services for student learning, which cannot be not met with current staffing levels, as you can see below.
This will likely become a discussion point in our FY 25 budget development process.
Budget: Once again thank you for attending our Joint Budget meeting held on December 5, 2023, which can be viewed on GoCAT. During the meeting we discussed the creation of a running Q&A document that Town Council members could use throughout the budget development process to ask important questions and get answers well in advance of our more formal budget meetings in May and June.
During the course of the meeting we collected questions that were asked and added them to the document, which can be found at www.gorhamschools.org under "About Us,” "School Committee,” "School Budget Information.” At the top of that page you will see the Q&A sheet link listed. So far there are 19 questions with answers. All Town Council members have editing access to this document so please keep adding questions and we'll check it periodically to provide additional answers.
Joint Fiscal Sustainability Committee: We are moving right along in our preparation to hold the first committee meeting. As a reminder, this committee’s purpose is to understand the existing financial landscape for the Town of Gorham and the Gorham School Department. To evaluate the future financial landscape, and to use this knowledge to make recommendations for how to maintain sustainable taxes while continuing to manage the present and future growth of our community over the next 5-10 years.
The Town Manager and Superintendent have met and are close to finalizing a contract with the facilitator. In addition, both groups are working to finalize membership of the committee and anticipate having the first meeting of this group in February, 2024.
We are very much looking forward to this important work as a community.
Concerts Coming Up: Our music students are gearing up for some great concerts at the GHS Performing Arts Center. Here’s the schedule:
Any questions, please feel free to reach out: Sarah.Perkins@gorhamschools.org.
Well, that's enough information for this post! See you all for my next post scheduled for Jan. 19, 2024!
