Just a few more weeks until school is out for the summer! I am sure our students are getting pretty excited, ESPECIALLY our seniors who are set to graduate on June 9! ☺ I wanted to be sure to start off this blog post with a SPECIAL THANK YOU to our GHS Senior class of 2024 for their "awesomeness". Each year the senior class is a special class, and this year is no different. I have witnessed these seniors in action, on the athletic fields, in theater, band, and chorus performances, in the classroom, working with younger students, volunteering their time in our community, and everything in between. They truly exemplify our district's Code of Conduct! Whether our students are planning to go on to a four year university, community college, certification programs, military or directly into the work force - we know they are leaving us "Prepared and Inspired" to meet the challenges of this complex world head on and succeed! Best of luck to all of our graduating seniors!
Now, a few pictures that capture all the fun in our schools from the past few weeks!
On Tuesday, May 28 beginning at 6:00 p.m. I will be at Baxter Memorial Library to share highlights of the Understanding Public Schools video series with the public and to answer questions folks may have regarding public schools, how they may be different than they were just 10 years ago, how they are governed, how they are funded, and what we see for the future of the Gorham Public Schools.
All Gorham residents who are interested in learning more about our public schools, are invited to attend this special event in collaboration with Baxter Memorial Library. And just in case some folks can't make it, but you are interested in watching the video series to learn more - feel free to click on the links below.
Once again - THANK YOU to Georgia Humphrey and her team at GoCAT TV for their incredible work in recording and producing these informative videos!
- Video #1 - How Public Schools are Different Today than 10-20 Years ago? (Special Guest President Edmundson from USM)
- Video #2 - How Are Public Schools Governed? (Special Guest Kathy Garrard)
- Video #3 - How are Public Schools Funded? (Special Guest Shawn Moody)
- Video #4 - What is the Future of Public Schools in Gorham? (Special Guest Andrew Dolloff)
More detailed information is below in the flyer...feel free to share widely and hope to see you there!
FY 25 PROPOSED SCHOOL BUDGET APPROVAL PROCESS UPDATE
On Tuesday, May 14, 2024 the Gorham Town Council Voted 6-0 to approve of the proposed Gorham School Budget without changes.
As you know this is NOT the final step in the school budget approval process. Unlike the Town's municipal budget, the school budget requires one final step called the budget validation referendum. This referendum will take place on Tuesday, June 11 at your local polling places. Absentee ballots are also available at the Gorham Municipal Office.
At the polls, voters are asked to "validate" the total budget that was passed by the School Committee and the Town Council. A "YES" Vote means you approve of the proposed budget as is. A "NO" Vote means you do not approve of the proposed budget as is. A school budget must pass all three steps (School Committee approval, Town Council approval, and voter approval) in order to finally be approved. As we experienced last year, if the validation vote does not approve the budget, it requires that we "go back to the drawing board" and repeat the process until all three steps can be approved.
As you can see, this is a very important vote for our local community so I urge EVERYONE to PLEASE GET OUT AND VOTE on June 11 (if not before).
The Gorham High School Senior Class of 2024 will participate in their annual "Senior Walk" on Friday, June 7, 2024 starting at approximately (give or take 20 min. or so) 9:00 a.m.
The walk will begin with seniors being bussed from GHS to Great Falls Elementary School where they will walk through the school and be cheered on by our students and staff. From there seniors will travel to Narragansett Elementary School, then Village Elementary School and then round out their trip with a senior walk through the halls of Gorham Middle School.
Each year Mr. Parvanta does a wonderful PROFESSIONAL video of the senior walk that is typically available to viewers the next day or two after the walk. However, I also go through each building with the seniors and live stream the event via our district facebook page so families can tune in and see in real time. Of course the quality of the recording is not as great as Mr. Parvanta's...but you can certainly get a sense of the electric atmosphere and positive energy throughout the event and catch glimpses of our seniors walking proudly through the halls of our schools getting ready for their special day.
If you don't already follow us on our district facebook page, just search Gorham School Department and follow us so you can watch the special event!
SMALL CHANGE TO 2024-2025 SCHOOL CALENDAR IMPACTING INCOMING KINDERGARTEN FAMILIES ONLY
On May 22 the School Committee voted to make a small change to our previously approved 2024-2025 School Calendar.
Originally the calendar had our new incoming Kindergarten students starting on the Tuesday after Labor Day (Sept. 3). When Principals and teachers were planning for the new year they discovered that if we started K students on that Tuesday morning they wouldn't have time the previous week to do an open house and parent welcome prior to K students beginning. We feel strongly that this type of relationship building is important to do before students start their school experiences as we want the whole family to feel good about starting school, not just the incoming students.
Because of this, we are now moving the first official day of school for our incoming Kindergarten students to Wed. Sept. 4 so that we can have an open house and meet and greet event specially for our Kindergarten students before they begin school.
If you are the parent of an incoming Kindergarten student in Gorham, please adjust your calendars accordingly and our schools will be in touch with the details as we get closer to the beginning of the new school year. If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to your school's office and ask. Thank you!
FISCAL SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE
2nd MEETING HELD
The Joint Fiscal Sustainability Committee held its second meeting of what will be a year long process to achieve its purpose and goals. The purpose of this committee is to: 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 five to 10 years.
As a reminder, the "Deliverables" for this committee's work are as follows:
- Development of a series of recommendations to the Town Council and School Committee for how to reduce costs (or mitigate continued cost increases) through efficiencies.
- Development of 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.
- Development of 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.
At this most recent meeting of the committee, some great initial information was shared. The School Department shared information on our historical enrollments, current enrollments, projected enrollments and information from a recent demographic study that was completed showing what we should expect if the current developments that are "on tap" in the town were to come to fruition and how that may impact student enrollment. It was a very informative meeting.
You can check out information on the committee by visiting the Town's website LINKED HERE.
You can also watch the meeting video recording by CLICKING HERE.
TREE DEDICATION CEREMONY - MRS. SUE MOSES
The Gorham Middle School Community will be coming together on Friday June 7 at 4:55 to plant a tree in the front of Gorham Middle School dedicated to an incredible GMS teacher who passed unexpectedly this year - Sue Moses. Sue was a passionate educator who touched the lives of GMS students for many years here in Gorham. Her husband Bill will be present along with the GMS community. All community members are welcome to attend.
GORHAM ARTS ALLIANCE TO OFFER AFTER SCHOOL PERFORMING ARTS PROGRAM THIS FALL!
Check out more detailed information by CLICKING HERE if you are interested!
FINAL STEEL DRUM BAND CONCERT OF THE YEAR ANNOUNCED!
Check out the flyer below for details! Always a great performance! Be sure to check it out!
GORHAM HIGH SCHOOL SUMMER GEAR SALE!
For those of you interested in adding to your "Gorham Swag" collection, now is a perfect time! CLICK HERE to shop...here's the deals and check out the flyer below for details!
Student leaders at Narragansett Elementary School recorded these two videos to share with their peers about what they think two of our core Code of Conduct beliefs mean to them - Courage and Honesty! Check out these important messages that work pretty darn well for adults too! ☺
Have a great long weekend and see you for my final blog on June 7!
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