April 26 Blog Post

Well we are in the "home stretch" of the 2023-2024 school year!  Hard to believe that by the time this blog is posted, we will have just six weeks left of school!  I'm sure students and staff are already getting excited, while perhaps parents/guardians maybe not as much! ☺. Lots of information and news to share, so I'll get right to it after sharing some great pictures of WHY we do WHAT we do of course - OUR STUDENTS!

Now on to the important information!

LET'S END THE SCHOOL YEAR STRONG - A REMINDER ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SCHOOL ATTENDANCE!

Good school attendance sets the stage for Gorham students to fully benefit from the many great learning resources and activities our schools offer each and every day.  Just look at some of the learning experiences that are seen in the pictures above and imagine trying to re-create those for students who were absent.  We can do our best, but there is nothing like being physically present when engaging learning is occurring in our classrooms (which is most of the time)!  

When students miss these experiences they just can't be 100% replaced.  Now, don't get me wrong - there are times when students need to be absent, and as a school we get that and support that.  Please have students stay home if they are sick and have a fever for example.  But absences should always be the "exception" and not the "rule" as my father always used to say to me growing up.

Did you know that...

-  Chronic absenteeism in the early grades correlates with reduced literacy and mathematical achievement over multiple years?

-  Chronic absenteeism at the middle and high school level is one of the strongest predictors that a student will fail to graduate on time or even drop out altogether?

-  Students who have regular attendance at school have been shown to achieve at higher levels than students who do not have regular attendance?

-  Students who fail to read at grade level by the end of third grade are four times more likely than students who achieve proficiency to drop out of high school.  Adults without a high school education generally earn lower incomes and experience higher unemployment than their peers who do earn a high school diploma, putting them at greater risk for poverty? 

-  students who are chronically absent in the early years of their education may not learn crucial school readiness skills (abilities such as critical thinking, problem solving, and creative thinking), and can fall behind their peers in social-emotional development?

(from https://www.attendanceworks.org/ April, 2024)

These are some really good reasons to make sure we all think about the importance of regular daily school attendance and the benefit that regular attendance has for all children.  Besides, when our students are absent, WE MISS THEM!  We only get them 175 days out of the whole year for just 6 hours each day and we want every single student for as much time as we can get them! 

Parents/Guardians - want more resources to better understand the importance of regular school attendance and perhaps learn about additional tools to help improve attendance for parents and educators?  There is A LOT of great information out there...but below are just a couple sites I might recommend to start with:

-  Attendance Works - a national nonprofit whose vision is that:  "Students of all backgrounds and circumstances attend school regularly, engage in learning and thrive".

-  Count ME In - a state nonprofit whose mission is: "Increasing student attendance through data-driven strategies so that every child is an engaged, successful learner".  

Let's all work together to end this school year STRONG in Gorham with all of us together in school!  I don't know about you - but I don't want to miss a single day!  GO RAMS!

UNDERSTANDING PUBLIC SCHOOLS VIDEO #4 of 4 IS READY TO VIEW!  TOPIC:  THE FUTURE OF GORHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS!

The fourth of a four part series of videos aimed at helping the general public better understand public schools here in Gorham is now ready to view.  The topic of this fourth video is on the future of our public schools with special "community champion" guest - Dr. Andrew Dolloff (Current Superintendent of Schools in Yarmouth, and long time resident of Gorham).

The video is about 45 minutes in length and (I have to admit)  a little "geeky" when you have two Superintendents sitting down to chat!  However, I think you will find it an extremely informative video about what we see on the horizon for public schools in the near to mid-term future!  Check it out using the link below:

Video #4 - Understanding Public Schools - The Future Of Gorham Schools

You can also view each of the previous THREE videos in the series using the links below:

Video #1 - Understanding Public Schools - Public Schools in the 21st Century with special guest - USM President Jackie Edmondson.

Video #2 - Understanding Public Schools - Public School Governance with special guest - Kathy Garrard, local business partner and long time Gorham resident.

Video #3 - Understanding Public Schools - School Funding with special guest - Shawn Moody, local business partner and long time Gorham resident.

That is it for the series!  I hope you have found or will find these videos to be a solid resource to you as a community member in Gorham to better understand our public schools.  Special thank you to Georgia Humphries and Benjamin Dyke from Gorham GoCAT TV for helping to produce these videos!  It was a pleasure spending time with you!  We are lucky in Gorham to have such a great resource for our community!

A FEW IMPORTANT CALENDAR UPDATES/REMINDERS

As we begin what I lovingly refer to as the "sprint to the finish line" that is this time of year for any school, I thought it would be a good idea to just share a few BIG dates with you!

Important state NWEA testing will be going on during a 5 week window starting Monday April 29, 2024 and ending by May 31, 2024.  Grades 1-10 will be participating.  As mentioned earlier, attendance during this time will be important for LOTS of reasons - testing being just one of many!

The current last day of school for students and staff will be Monday, June 10, 2024.  Students will be dismissed at Early Dismissal times on this day to begin their summer vacations!  Staff will stick around for the afternoon's closing activities and messages to end the year.  

The GHS Senior Walk will take place at our elementary schools starting at approximately 9:00 a.m. on Friday, June 7, 2024.  This event will be "streamed" using our district facebook page for those that are interested in watching live!

The GMS 8th grade recognition ceremony has been moved to Friday, June 7 starting at 5:00 p.m. due to the two school days lost to our most recent storm.

GHS Graduation will be going on as planned on Sunday, June 9, 2024 starting at 4:00 p.m.  For details CLICK HERE.  

Again, there are many, many, many more events going on during the last 6 weeks of the school year across all of our schools!  The best way to track them is on our website!  Just go to www.gorhamschools.org and then click on your child's school and then scroll down to the activities' calendar or news posts!

And - we are off! ☺

SUPERINTENDENT 360 EVALUATION SURVEY REMINDER!  STAFF/FAMILIES/COMMUNITY MEMBERS NEEDED TO PARTICIPATE!

The following information was shared in my last blog post - but I wanted to remind folks to PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE participate and that the deadline for completion of the survey will be May 3, 2024.

Each year the Gorham School Committee conducts a 360 evaluation process regarding my performance.  Part of this process involves sending out surveys and asking key stakeholders to please share your thoughts/opinions on current strengths of my leadership and current areas where I can improve.  This process is a great process to provide me much needed feedback on how it is that I can improve my practices each and every year to better serve the children of our great community.

I would ask Staff, Parents and Community members to please take a moment to complete this important survey.  I'll also send links out via our school messenger system more broadly.  Please note there are two surveys below. One for staff and one for parent/community.  Please be sure you click on the right one!  

Last year I had well over 250 parents/community participate and well over 200 staff!  This information is shared with SC members and used to help develop my goals for the coming year - so the information is very important!  Thank you in advance for participating!  

LINK -  Staff 360 Survey For Superintendent

LINK -  Parent/Community 360 Survey for Superintendent

GORHAM FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE HAS ITS FIRST MEETING!

The Gorham Fiscal Sustainability Committee had its first inaugural meeting this past Monday night (4/22/24) and it was a great meeting!  

If you recall from previous posts, the purpose of this joint committee between the Town Council and School Committee 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".

There were also three key "deliverables" that this committee has been charged with:

1.  Develop a series of recommendations to the Town Council and School Committee for how to reduce costs (or mitigate continued cost increases).

2.  Develop a series of recommendations to the Town Council and School Committee for how to increase revenues that will offset direct taxpayer expenses at both the municipal and school levels.

3.  Develop a series of recommendations to the Town Council and School Committee for how to improve communications between various stakeholder groups within the community of Gorham to aid in understanding current and future financial limitations moving forward.

Members of the Committee include:

The first meeting was an organizational meeting where we spent some time getting to know each other a little better before brainstorming the various topics we feel we need to understand before being able to start focusing on the details of the "deliverables" and then we worked to schedule 1 years' worth of meetings!  Everyone left very optimistic about the future of our strong community!

You can view the past and upcoming agendas and other materials for the committee by going to the Town's website LINKED HERE.

You can view the recording of the meeting held on April 22, 2024 by CLICKING HERE.  

FY 25 PROPOSED SCHOOL DEPARTMENT BUDGET PROCESS UPDATE

On Tuesday, April 23, 2024 the Gorham School Committee met jointly with the Gorham Town Council for its annual Budget Workshop meeting.  

You can view the full recording of the meeting by CLICKING HERE.

You can view the slide presentation shared at the meeting by CLICKING HERE.

Finally, you can view the Town Council Budget Booklet by CLICKING HERE.

During this meeting the School Committee shared an overview of the proposed FY 25 School Department budget with the Town Council and offered up an opportunity for Q&A and dialogue regarding the budget.  There was a great exchange of thoughts and ideas shared between the Town Council and School Committee with no substantive changes being recommended.  The meeting ended with an offer for continued questions to be asked by Town Councilors using the Q&A Budget Document SHARED HERE right up until the scheduled May 14 Town Council vote.

The next step in the process for the approval of the proposed FY 25 School Department Budget will be for the Town Council to vote on the proposed budget as part of the overall Municipal Budget.  This vote is scheduled to take place on May 14 at a meeting scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. in council chambers.  

There will be a public hearing on the budget at that time for individuals that may like to speak to the Town Council directly to share their opinions regarding the proposed budget.  Individuals may also email council members directly in advance of the meeting to have their comments considered in the decision making process by the Town Council.  

Once the vote is taken at this meeting (May 14), the final step in the FY 25 School Department budget approval process will be the public referendum vote that is scheduled to take place on June 11, 2023.  Please mark your calendars now to make sure you go to the polls!

ASPIRE GORHAM APRIL NEWSLETTER READY TO VIEW!

Check out April's Aspire Gorham newsletter by CLICKING HERE!  Lots of great articles keeping you up to date on the incredible work happening in our Aspire programming across the district!

PK-5 SOCIAL PARENT INFORMATION NIGHT - TOPIC:  SOCIAL MEDIA!

If you are a parent of a student in grades PK-5, you are NOT going to want to miss this information night!  Check out the flyer below for more information!

NEW GORHAM ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS ANNOUNCED!

The Gorham School Department is proud to announce that Dr. Quinton Donahue, will serve as the new Assistant Superintendent of the Gorham School Department, beginning July 1, 2024.

Dr. Donahue enters this level of leadership with an extensive breadth and depth of experience in both administration and the classroom with over 20 years of experience in fostering academic excellence and cultivating positive learning environments. Over the past five years, he has served as the Principal of Gorham Middle School, demonstrating a proven track record of driving student achievement, implementing innovative educational initiatives, and promoting a positive, relationship-centered school climate.

Prior to his role at Gorham Middle School, Dr. Donahue served as Principal of Mount View Middle School (Thorndike, ME.), where he achieved significant academic growth and earned recognition for his leadership. Before his administrative positions, he dedicated 10 years to teaching high school math at Hampden Academy (Hampden, ME.), inspiring students to excel in mathematics.

Dr. Donahue holds a Ph.D. in Education with a focus on Educational Leadership from the University of Maine. His research centered on enhancing critical thinking in mathematics classrooms. Additionally, he earned a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Mathematics Education from the University of Maine.

Beyond his professional achievements, Dr. Donahue is an active member of the Gorham, ME community, where he resides with his wife, Jessica. Passionate about empowering students and educators, Dr. Donahue continues to make a profound impact on education, inspiring excellence at every level.  

We look forward to welcoming Dr. Donahue to his new position within the Gorham Schools!

That is it for this blog post! Will check in again in a couple of weeks!