We are out of the month of January! Forty seven more days until spring...but who is counting, really? ☺
Our winter athletic teams are doing great! GHS theater students are putting on Mama Mia at the MPAC, Read Across America is next week in our elementary schools, and our schools just generally continue to "buzz" with the wonderful sounds of learning! Check out the pictures below to give you just a snapshot of the fun (had to do TWO series as there were just too many pictures to share this time)!
One of the things that became clear during our difficult budget approval processes last summer was that as a school system we needed to do a better job of providing information to our community about what our schools do, how they are governed, what finances look like, and how schools are different today than they were even 10-15 years ago. In other words, we had to do a better job at educating our community about our schools!
How do we do this? That became the next big question! We already have social media accounts for our district, and for individual schools and programs. We already have our website. We already send home weekly communications to our families. We already tell our stories - What more could we do and who do we need to communicate better with?
That's when we turned to our friends at GoCAT TV right here in Gorham! We hatched a few ideas and topics, Georgia and her crew provided feedback and we came up with the idea to produce a 4 part video series aimed at helping our community to better understand our public schools. More specifically, the purpose of this video series is to dig more deeply into understandings of what our public schools do, why they do it, and how much it costs to do this important work to benefit our community!
With this overall purpose in mind, we brainstormed 4 key themes. Those are:
Theme #1 - Public Schools in the 21st Century. How are they the same and how are they different than schools just 15-20+ years ago?
Theme #2 - Public School Governance. How are public schools governed in Gorham and why?
Theme #3 - Public Schools and Public Funding. How are public schools funded in Gorham?
Theme #4 - Public Schools in the Future. What do we see for our Gorham Schools 10, 15, 20+ years out and how are we planning for this vision?
For each theme, we plan on inviting a community "champion" to ask specific questions of myself and the schools which we hope will provide a deeper insight into the identified themes from a community member's perspective.
Each theme's recording is planned for approximately 30 minutes, although this first one is a little longer. Once the video is recorded, we'll blast it out on the school's and town's website and social media for broad viewing by the public.
The FIRST VIDEO is available for viewing. Please click on the link below to view and feel free to send along any feedback that might help improve future recordings to heather.perry@gorhamschools.org.
THANK YOU to Georgia Humphries and her GoCAT crew for their work on recording this video and future videos in the series. THANK YOU to USM President Jackie Edmondson for her willingness to be our first "champion" and to share her expertise and perspective on how public schools operate in the 21st century. I think folks will find this video and future videos in the series informative.
Video #2 on the topic of school governance is due to be produced sometime before the end of February - so stay tuned for more then!
UNDERSTANDING PUBLIC SCHOOLS VIDEO LINK - CLICK HERE. TO VIEW!
K-5 ATTENDANCE ZONE CHANGE UPDATE
I want to begin by saying THANK YOU to those families who were able to attend the Parent Information Forum on our upcoming attendance zone changes that was held on Monday, Jan. 29, 2024 via zoom. It was a very informative meeting and some really great questions were asked.
I'm very sure there were many parents who likely wanted to attend but could not so we made sure to record the meeting.
CLICK HERE to view the meeting recording.
I also wanted to be sure to provide a link to the slide presentation used to guide discussion at the meeting. You can CLICK HERE to view that presentation. Please note - I had somehow messed up the first graph in the slide presentation for the meeting - this link contains the corrected graph that should have been on that first slide!
Highlights of the meeting:
- Currently two of three elementary schools at capacity and have no further room to grow. Narragansett School will be at just 70% capacity with final phase of modular expansion being completed this fall and therefore, has ample room to grow.
- A target of moving all three schools to 90% capacity has been established, which will allow all 3 schools to continue to grow over the course of the next 10-15 years.
- In order to meet this target, approx. 100 students will need to be moved from GF and Village towards Narragansett for the opening of school this fall. Students at Narragansett currently will not be impacted.
- YES these growth targets and capacities were calculated with full knowledge of the upcoming Robie development and what impacts that may have over the next 10-15 years here in Gorham.
Next Steps:
- The proposed attendance zone changes will be made public TODAY with the release of the School Committee meeting packets. You can find the full packet on our website, but I'm sure most folks would just like to see the revised maps that list the impacted regions and specific roads list. CLICK HERE to view the slide presentation that has this information. Please reach out to heather.perry@gorhamschools.org if you have questions after viewing.
- This information and more will be shared with the School Committee on Feb. 7, discussed and decided upon at this meeting. The SC may decide it needs additional information and asks could request to postpone the decision until the next scheduled meeting.
- PUBLIC COMMENT will be heard by the School Committee at their Feb. 7 meeting before a decision is made by the committee regarding the proposed changes. Parents who may be interested in speaking should plan on attending the Feb. 7 School Committee meeting. The meeting will start at 7:00 p.m. and will be held at the Gorham Municipal Building in the Council Chambers.
- Individuals who are not able to make the meeting, but who have questions or who would like to share their comments may email School Committee chair Sarah Perkins and cc Superintendent Heather Perry using the following email addresses: sarah.perkins@gorhamschools.org and heather.perry@gorhamschools.org. All email correspondence sent to SC members is read by all SC members and will be responded to by the chair.
- Building principals will reach out personally to families that may be impacted to make sure they are aware and to answer any questions families may have during the week of Feb. 12-16.
- Great Falls will host an information night for impacted families on Feb. 27 at 5:30 p.m. to address questions and share information. Village Elementary School will host an informational night for impacted families on Feb. 29 at 5:30 p.m. for the same purpose.
- The remainder of the year will be spent working with families and staff to ensure a smooth and positive transition in preparation for the beginning of the 2024-2025 School year.
REMINDER - GMS & GREAT FALLS WILL BE FULLY REMOTE ON TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 2024
Just a quick reminder to families that GMS and Great Falls Elementary Schools will utilize remote learning days on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 due to these two schools being used as polling locations for the "Super Tuesday" primary elections scheduled on this day.
Specific information will be sent home to families from each school outlining learning expectations on this day.
ALL OTHER STUDENTS attending GHS, Village Elem. School and Narragansett Elem. School should report to schools as usual on this day.
FEBRUARY IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH!
The month of February is designated as black history month and is a time set aside by Americans to celebrate the achievements made by African Americans and to recognize their important roles in the development of our great country.
Although every day is a day that we celebrate all students and the incredible diversity they bring to our classrooms, this month is a month that families and organizations around the country emphasize the contributions African Americans have made to our past, our present, and our future.
As families you might be looking for resources for having these important conversations with your children so I thought I might provide just a few "tried and trusted" resource links for families to use if interested. Our American history is so rich in so many ways and stories told through the eyes of those living their experiences can be a powerful way to add vibrance and context to the beautiful fabric of our world.
Here are just a few of my favorite resources...
- The History Channel - Black History Month
- Common Sense Media - Black History Month Resources
- PBS for Kids - Black History Month Resources
- National Geographic For Kids - Black History Month Resources
NATIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELOR WEEK IS NEXT WEEK!
THANK YOU...
- Betsy Anastasoff, Trisha Cherry, Kate Stevens and Samantha Teixeira (GHS)
- Emma Ambrose and Heather Richards (GMS)
- Debra Leone and Stacey Sawyer (PK-5), Ellen Berry (GF), Rachel Dunbar (Nar.), and Becky Hayward (Village).
STUDENT SUBMISSIONS NEEDED FOR MARCH 12 "EAT AND LEARN" EVENT!
The Anti-Racism and Equity Committee and the Community Outreach Equity Subgroup are excited to be hosting the 2nd Annual "Eat and Learn" event. This year, we are looking to showcase, through artistic mediums and expression, the concept of advocacy. As a committee, we understand the many issues facing students, and how our public understanding of how to be an advocate can enhance a positive learning environment.
We invite any student to sign up and provide an artistic submission that answers the following question: When did you need an advocate, or what has been your experience of advocacy? Through any artistic medium including physical art, sculpture, audio/visual, or spoken word, we want to hear from students on how to understand this concept.
Submissions are due the last week of February, with an art Gallery to commence on March 12th at 5:30 p.m. If you want to participate, sign up through our online form LINKED HERE.
For those that wish to attend the EVENT but not submit artwork...
See the flyer below for additional information and CLICK HERE to RSVP!
CLASS OF 2024 FUNDRAISER
Looking for a way to support our Senior Class as they get ready to walk across the stage in just a few short months to get their diplomas? Check out this opportunity to purchase custom Sea Bags! See flyer below and then click on the link to shop Gorham Rams Sea Bags!
https://docs.
CODE OF CONDUCT COMMUNITY TALKS ANNOUNCED!
The Code of Conduct Committee has been working all year to "refresh" our current Code of Conduct across all schools to make sure that this incredible document that has helped to guide our schools for the past 20 years continues to be relevant and lead our school's expectations into the next 20 years!
If you need a refresher on our school's Code of Conduct, CLICK HERE. If you need a refresher on the Code of Conduct Committee's purpose and work overview - CLICK HERE. To view Committee membership, CLICK HERE.
We have done some great work to gather initial data and themes and now we are seeking direct community feedback on our work. Check out the flyer below and mark your calendars to attend!
In closing with our Code of Conduct theme...I wanted to share this incredible song that was recorded by one of our Village School Families (Dad and daughter - names are below) and shared with the school after learning about singing sentences in class one day.
CLICK HERE to hear the recording...lyrics are below.
THANK YOU to John Espejo and his daughters Juliana and Abby for sharing their incredible talent with Village Elementary School! We have such incredible families here in Gorham! Proud to be a Gorham Ram!
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