March 28

The month of March is almost in the rearview mirror, and April will be coming into full view soon.  The school year is flying by, and it won't be long before we start feeling the pull of summer! Spring is such an exciting time in our schools!  While we work across our schools to celebrate the year of learning that has occurred, we are also simultaneously working hard to prepare for the year that will be!  The combination creates an electric atmosphere full of sharing, learning, celebration, and community!  As is always the case, the best way to follow all the various "happenings" across our schools is via each school's weekly update to families, through our website, or social media pages.  If you don't know how to access these digital resources, please contact your school's office; they can assist!  We don't want anyone to miss a thing!  Below are some images from the past few weeks across our schools, and then on to the information highlights from a district perspective!

THANK YOU MR. BAGEL! 

I normally do the more community related stuff closer to the end of my blog post, but this one was just too good!  I had to start with it!  Here's the backstory...

On Thursday, March 27, 2025 I got an early morning call from our H.S. Principal Brian Jandreau.  I have to admit, this was a new one for me to deal with in my 20 years as a Superintendent in Maine, but basically the story was that flying ants had unexpectedly taken over our high school kitchen and cafeteria space and that there was no way we could safely, and sanitarily provide food to our students until the ants were irradiated.   Of course this was discovered too late to cancel school as buses were already on the road.  The team jumped into action!

The first problem to solve was how to provide breakfast for the 100 or so students at GHS that eat breakfast daily.  At first we thought we might have to simply cancel breakfast and communicated to families that we may not be able to provide breakfast today.  But then a member of the team had a cool idea - why not reach out to one of our awesome community business partners?  A call was placed to Kristen at Mr. Bagel in Gorham and within five minutes she had cranked up the flat top and was working on making 100 breakfast sandwiches for our students!  Kitchen staff worked with school staff to develop a way to pass out the food, Raina, our SNP director had some other options brought over to the HS from our other schools, central office staff helped pick up the food and deliver it and before we knew it - 100+ GHS students had breakfast on time and on schedule by 7:45 a.m.!!!

Can I just say that I love working within a School system and within a community like Gorham!  

No problem is too big to handle and with just a few quick phone calls our community was right there standing beside us to help support us! What could have been an issue that would have canceled school for the day for GHS students (I know Seniors are disappointed still I am sure) became a demonstration to our students in how a community works together to make things happen for one another!

Kudos to Kristen and Mr. Bagel and all our other business and community partners in Gorham!  It feels so good to know that all we need to do is literally pick up the phone and reach out and you are there to help!

GO GORHAM RAMS! 

FY 26 PROPOSED BUDGET DEVELOPMENT 

PROCESS UPDATE

A little March snowfall may have shifted our budget timeline, but it hasn't dampened our resolve! With the storm on March 24 causing the cancellation of our budget workshop, we've adjusted our schedule to ensure thoughtful discussions before the School Committee's final vote on the proposed FY 26 budget (scheduled for April 9). Our updated meetings are as follows:

• Budget Workshop #4: Monday, March 31 at 7:00 p.m.

• Budget Workshop #5: Monday, April 7 at 7:00 p.m.

Following our March 17 meeting, we made significant progress in reducing our budget, bringing the overall expenditure increase to 6.9% (from an original 8.14%), with a projected tax impact of just 4.5%, its lowest in 7 years. However, new health insurance premium estimates from Anthem shared earlier this week—a potential 14% increase—pose a challenge, given that salary and benefits make up nearly 78% of our costs.

While we initially projected a 10% increase in health insurance costs, the additional 4%—equating to roughly $260,000—requires us to revisit our strategy. Despite this hurdle, our commitment remains unwavering: we will find a solution that best serves our students and community.

Our March 31 meeting will focus on revenue strategies before we refine expenditures to maximize efficiency while maintaining vital student programs. With teamwork, creativity, and determination, we will craft a budget that upholds our shared vision for success. 

Please follow our last two meetings to learn more!  They are live streamed on GoCAT TV and are recorded and shared on our district's budget information website.  I will have much more detail for you on the next blog scheduled for April 11 as the School Committee will have voted on a proposed budget by then.  As always - if you have any questions, please reach out.  I am always happy to assist in answering any questions the Gorham community has regarding the school budget.  Thank you!

GORHAM HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS EXPERIENCING ELO'S ACROSS MULTIPLE SECTORS!

Before I dive in here, just a reminder of what ELO's are.  They are Extended Learning Opportunities.  These are learning opportunities that get our students out into the "real world" via things like internships, co-op experiences, apprenticeship experiences, job shadowing experiences and more!  During the 2024-2025 School year thus far we have had 76 GHS students participate in ELO experiences at GHS.  You can learn more about ELO's by CLICKING HERE.

A few weeks ago we had two students present their ELO experiences to our School Committee at Great Falls Elementary School during our February workshop meeting.  The recording isn't awesome because it was done via zoom, but if you would love to hear directly from our students about their experiences, its a great way to hear them share!  CLICK HERE to view the recording of that presentation.

What I REALLY wanted to share with you in this blog piece though is a graph that was recently presented to the Business Roundtable at their meeting last week.  The following graph shows the various industry sectors that our students have had ELO experiences within.  Its pretty impressive!

You may have a hard time reading that so I've LINKED IT HERE so you can view it more clearly.  But what I hope you can see is that our students have had experiences this year over 20 different employment sectors ranging from the trades (which is a huge sector) to medical to engineering and lots in between!  

We have an incredible cadre of business partners who are behind the scenes helping to make all this happen for our students with over 200 partners who have either hosted students in the past or who are currently hosting our students for ELO experiences and this list continues to grow.  We also have a dynamic duo of Gorham Schools staff members who make this whole program run!  Eliza Kenigsberg is our Community and Career Coordinator who oversees our Aspire Gorham program and Michelle Bourget is our ELO Instructor.  

If you are a student or parent interested in learning more about our ELO program, please reach out to Michelle Bourget at:  michelle.bourget@gorhamschools.org

I hope that all of you are as proud as I am that our students have access to these incredible learning opportunities!  Our ELO program, under the umbrella of our Aspire Gorham Program is truly a vehicle through which we are working to meet our Mission/Vision to "Prepare and Inspire" All Students for their successful futures!

SUPERINTENDENT'S 360 EVALUATION SURVEY OPEN NOW THROUGH APRIL 18, 2025!

It is hard to believe that it is already that time of year again, but each year in the month of April, the process to conduct a 360 evaluation of the Superintendent of Schools begins with launching data collection tools that ask parents, families, community members, and staff to weigh in on how well I am doing (or not) in leading our schools.  This information is extremely valuable and is used each year to assist me in identifying areas of strength in my leadership, and areas where I can continue to grow as a leader to benefit our community.  Please read the message below from School Committee Chair Sarah Perkins, and then click on the links or use the QR codes provide to participate in this survey.   Be sure to use the right links!  There is one for Staff and then there is one for parents/families/community!

The Survey will be open now through April 18, 2025.  THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR VALUED FEEDBACK!

A Message From School Committee Chair Sarah Perkins:

Dear Participants,
 
Each year we ask all staff, leadership team members, parents, community and school committee members to complete a 360 evaluation survey regarding the performance of our Superintendent.  The results of this survey are used to inform her overall evaluation process with the School Committee and to assist Heather in the annual development of goals.  

This survey is completely ANONYMOUS.

I encourage each parent/guardian and/or community member to please take 10-15 minutes to complete this survey.  Your open and honest feedback is critical to her continued growth as a leader.  

The questions are purposefully broad to allow for you to provide feedback on what is working well and what she can do to improve upon her practices.  There is a spot at the end for any general comments you may have.  

THANK YOU!

-  Sarah Perkins, Gorham School Committee Chair

Parent/Family/Community Survey Link & QR Code:

Staff Survey Link & QR Code:

GORHAM SCHOOLS BRINGS ON TWO NEW PUBLIC PRE K PARTNERS FOR 2025-2026!

It was just three years ago that the Gorham Schools began its first PILOT Pre K public/private partnership with the Gorham Arts Alliance that had 10 public Pre K slots filled and paid for by the state of Maine.  

Then, two years ago now the Gorham Schools opened its own Public Pre K program at Narragansett Elementary School serving 64 additional Pre K children in our great community.  At the same time we brought on a new private partner with Seedlings to Sunflowers offering up to 32 additional public Pre - K slots.

Our ultimate goal is to reach the provision of "Universal Pre K" which means that we will provide public service options for all eligible 4 year old children in our community.  This would be approximately 200 total slots.  We can't do this alone, however.  The Gorham School facilities are full and so the only way that we can increase public Pre K slots in our community is to engage in additional partnerships with our incredible private partners and this is what we have endeavored to do! 

We will be bringing on TWO new private partners this coming year.  Imagination Station will be joining the public Pre K partnership team by offering up to 16 public Pre K slots.  In addition to that, House of Parker will also be joining the team by offering up to 10 additional Pre K slots.  With these new partnerships, we anticipate our Gorham public Pre K team now looking like this:

-  Narragansett Elementary School Programs - 64 slots

-  Gorham Arts Alliance - 16 slots

-  Seedlings to Sunflowers - 32 slots

-  Imagination Station - 16 slots

-  House of Parker - 10 slots 

This means we can offer up to 138 public Pre K slots to Gorham families for the 2025-2026 School Year!  THANK YOU TO ALL OUR INCREDIBLE PARTNERS FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE FOR OUR COMMUNITY!  

Want to learn more about our public Pre K options!  Check out our website LINKED HERE.  We will be adding our two newest partners soon!  Please reach out with any questions!  

GALILEE BAPTIST CHURCH SEEKS COMMUNITY FEEDBACK ON UPCOMING INITIATIVE - OPTIONAL SURVEY PARTICIPATION REQUESTED!

Assiociate Pastor Kevin Lambertson and members of the Galilee Baptist Church here in Gorham are working to kickstart an initiative aimed at helping single parents here in the Gorham community.  They want to make sure that their work is targeted to best meet the needs of single parents so they want to hear from single parents directly - what are your needs?  

As a school system working with children, helping strengthen our community is part of what we want to do so we have agreed to help spread the word about this survey to help the church better target its limited resources also aimed at supporting our great community!

Participation in the survey is ENTIRELY OPTIONAL.  If you are interested in participating, please see the information flyer below and use the QR code to participate.  You can also CLICK HERE for the PDF version of the flyer. 

TOWN OF GORHAM SEEKING FEEDBACK TO DEVELOP NEW OPEN SPACE & TRAILS PLAN!

Please read the message below from Steve Chabot, a member of the Open Space and Trails planning committee!

Attention all Gorham residents: the town of Gorham is developing an Open Space & Trails Master Plan and is seeking input from all residents. We are asking you to identify opportunities, connections, and issues to address by completing the Gorham Open Space & Trails Survey. We will take this information to the Open Space & Trails Steering Committee. The survey should take no more than ten minutes to complete and will help inform the town's priorities during this period of growth. 

Please email steve.chabot@gorhamschools.org if you have any questions. 

Thank you! 

PROJECT GRADUATION 2025 UPCOMING FUNDRAISING EVENT - CORNHOLE TOURNAMENT! 

Please read the message below from Project Graduation and check out the flyer for more details! 

Skolfield Sports Performance is hosting the Spring Toss Cornhole Tournament on Saturday, March 29th at 1pm at their facility in Saco!

All proceeds will go to Gorham Class of 2025 Project Graduation!

There will be cash prizes for the tournament in addition we'll have auction items and raffles! See more details in flyer below. and spread the word

You can register using this link: 

https://share.scoreholio.com/MCXx8Y8XXPb

Board Sponsors!

We're looking for 10 board sponsors. If you're a business and would like to advertise or just want to have your cool boards used in the tournament email Jenny Skolfield - JLSkolfield@gmail.com! $100 to have your boards featured!! A thank you to all our board sponsors with a link to your business for all to see at the tournament!

That's all for this blog post!  Next one will be April 11!  Hopefully by then snow will be fully in our "rearview mirror"! 

THANK YOU!

March 14 Post

You can finally feel that Maine's spring is in the air! With spring comes spring parent-teacher conferences, which have been ongoing all week. Thank you to the 95% of families who participated in conferences and the staff who worked tirelessly all week to ensure that every family feels important and part of our great school community! Spring conferences are a great time to reflect and celebrate the incredible learning of our students while also being clear about the priority learning goals that must be in place between now and the end of the school year. I know June feels like a long way away, but trust me...it will be here before we blink!

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks, and then on to the information!

WEEK OF THE YOUNG CHILD COMING APRIL 5-11!

The Week of the Young Child (WOYC) is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) to recognize the importance of early childhood education and the needs of young children, their families, and educators. This week-long event highlights early learning, honors the dedicated professionals who support young children, and raises awareness about the critical role of high-quality early childhood education in shaping a child’s future. Each day of the week features a special theme to engage children in fun, educational activities that promote creativity, literacy, and healthy development. The themes for this year's celebration are:

-  Music Monday

-  Tasty Tuesday

-  Work Together Wednesday

-  Artsy Thursday

-  Family Friday

Through community events, classroom activities, and family engagement, the Week of the Young Child serves as a time to celebrate young learners and advocate for policies that support their growth and success.

Want to learn more about how you and your family can participate?  Visit the NAEYC home page and have some fun celebrating our young children!

As part of the WOYC celebrations, the Maine Department of Education seeks nominations for an Outstanding Early Childhood Learning Professional Spotlight.  What a fantastic way to celebrate our early childhood professionals in the community of Gorham!  Interested in learning more?  CLICK HERE!  The deadline for nominations is March 21!

UPDATE ON FY 26 SCHOOL BUDGET 

DEVELOPMENT WORK

On Tuesday night, the Gorham School Committee met for the 2nd time to work on the proposed FY 26 Budget.  They had some really great discussions and, by the end of the night, had trimmed the budget by approximately $400,000.00 through reductions with minimal impact to student programming.  Highlights for where the DRAFT budget currently stands are as follows:

-  Overall expenditure increase - 7.31% (down from 8.14% originally)

-  Overall projected Mill increase - .51 (down from .64 originally)

-  Overall projected Mill % increase - 5.36% (down from 6.71%)

There is still much work to do. This vital work will continue at the school committee's next scheduled meeting, which will be held on March 17 at 7:00 p.m. During this meeting, the School Committee will continue its process of tentative agreements, which will lead to the Committee's final decision on the proposed budget at its April 9 Regular meeting. All meetings are open to the public and allow comments. 

Meeting recordings are linked below if you want to watch them.  You can also find them on our budget development webpage, along with additional information.  If you want to follow this work and ensure you get accurate, factual data, the website is the place to go! 

-  Link to Budget Workshop #1 Recording

-  Link to Budget Workshop #2 Recording

Another incredibly informative document you can check out to help you follow the work is the School Committee Budget Q&A Sheet. School Committee members use this sheet to ask all budget-related questions that help inform their decision-making as they work through the budget development process. The Q&A document is open to the public to view and is also on the website.  

You can also reach out to me at any time with questions regarding the proposed FY 26 budget.  My email is heather.perry@gorhamschools.org

GORHAM SCHOOL DISTRICT CALENDAR 

APPROVED FOR 2025-2026! & UPDATE ON CURRENT 

YEAR END.

For those of you who like to get a head start on planning, the Gorham School Committee unanimously approved the 2025-2026 School Calendar on Wednesday. It will soon be posted on the website, but it is linked below for those who want an early look!

2025-2026 Gorham School Department Calendar.

Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions (heather.perry@gorhamschools.org).

On a related note, folks might like an update on our current status for the last day of school in June of 2025. Now, I realize that by doing this, I have likely jinxed us, and we will have a snow day, but the warm weather this week has made me optimistic, so here goes! We have used just two snow days out of the five from our calendar so far this year.  IF THINGS REMAIN THE SAME, the last student day would then be Friday, June 13.  Again, if we use additional snow days, that date will move, so please treat this as an early estimate.  Once we get to April break, I will finalize the end-of-year scheduling!  In the meantime, just keep thinking happy spring warm weather thoughts!☺

UPCOMING P.I.E. MEETINGS W/SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS

The Gorham School Committee visits each school's P.I.E. (Partners In Education) meeting annually to engage with families, staff, and students in person. Their goal in these meetings is to simply listen. While they may share some updates on the school committee's current happenings, the meetings are an opportunity to listen to the conversations, have constituents ask questions, and share their responses.  Below is the schedule for School Committee attendance at upcoming PIE meetings.  Please mark your calendars to come out and join us!

-  March 18 at 5:30 p.m. - Gorham Middle School P.I.E.

-  March 20 at 6:00 p.m. - Village Elementary School

-  April 7 at 6:00 p.m. - Narragansett Elementary School

-  April 10 at 5:30 p.m. - Great Falls Elementary School

Each meeting is held at the school listed.  Just come in and join us!  Its a great way to meet others in the school community!

Note:  The HS has already held their meeting earlier in March, that's why it is not listed above.  

SCHOOL COMMITTEE NOMINATION PAPERS AVAILABLE TO FILL OPEN SEAT

If you feel a little déjà vu and think we just released something about this, don't worry—your memory is working fine!☺

If you recall, former School Committee member Stewart McCallister resigned his seat on the School Committee earlier this winter.  The School Committee worked to fill the open seat until the next regular election in June.  THANK YOU to Jaci Reynolds for stepping up to fill this important role!  

Stewart's original term expires in November 2025. Therefore, the rules require that we hold an election in June 2025 to fill the seat until November 2025, when the full three-year seat will be open.

What does all this mean?  Jaci will continue serving until June 2025 as an appointed member.  Individuals interested in filling the open seat from June to November must take out nomination papers and return them to the Town Clerk.  That will place their name on the June ballot.  Whoever wins the election in June will serve on the SC until November of 2025, when the seat re-opens, and a new process to take out nomination papers must occur.  Whoever is elected in November of 2025 will serve a full 3-year term.

Any registered Gorham voter interested in running for the position must submit nomination papers with no fewer than 35 and no more than 50 signatures of persons who are registered voters in the town.  Completed nomination papers must be submitted to the Town Clerk's Office at the municipal center no later than 5 p.m. on April 10.  The election will take place on June 10, 2025.

GORHAM STUDENTS MAKE SCHOLASTIC NEWS!

Words into Action: During the 2021-22 school year, Narragansett students in Mrs. Laurie Kenny’s First Grade class were inspired to raise money to purchase inclusive playground equipment for our playground. These student-led efforts resulted in being able to purchase three new pieces! Mrs. Kenny retired after that year, but she returned to Maine to participate in a ribbon cutting celebration with her former students, who are now fourth graders. Scholastic News recently spotlighted these efforts in their Scholastic News Education Solutions publication. 

Most definitely an example of our Code of Conduct in Action!  GO RAMS!

Check out the full story by clicking this link: How Scholastic News Motivated Students to Support a More Inclusive Playground

GORHAM BEE CLUB AND SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAM COLLABORATION FEATURED BY MAINE FARM & SEA TO SCHOOL NETWORK

Our GHS beekeepers were at it again, but this time, a collaboration with our School Nutrition program caught the attention of folks at the state level!

It all started when our school nutrition director, Raina Lee Cooper, walked through the halls at GHS while our beekeepers sold their wares to interested students. Raina stopped and talked with the students and became immediately interested in how she could use the student-produced honey in creative ways in our school lunch program. Let's say the idea took off like a bee after pollen!  

Check out the article LINKED HERE to learn how Raina and our GHS beekeepers collaborated to bring a sweet Maine treat to our students in creative ways across all five schools! 

GHS DREAM FACTORY CLUB TO HOST FUNDRAISING BREAKFAST!

Recently, GHS student Ella Senatore told me that the GHS Dream Factory Club will host their annual pancake breakfast to raise funds to support the Dream Factory.  The dream factory works to support children suffering from complex illnesses and we are so proud of our students who participate to help raise funds for this deserving non-profit.  

Want to learn more about the Dream Factory?  CLICK HERE.  Then make plans to come out and support the student's fundraising efforts, get a great meal, eat with great company...and COME HUNGRY!   Check out the flyer below for more details!

That's it for this blog! Remember, you can follow all of the district's activities using our website and social media sites. There are always so many great things happening in our schools!

P.S. THANK YOU TO ALL STAFF AND FAMILIES PARTICIPATED IN OUR SPRING PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES THIS WEEK!  As always, we had a great turnout across all schools!  It shows how engaged our families are in their children's education and how much our staff cares about each family!  Whenever I am "out and about" in the state talking to other public school educators, I always brag about how involved our families are in our schools, and our Gorham families never disappoint!  Thank you for doing all you do for our children - all our children!  Being a parent in today's complex world is no easy job, and our Gorham families are ROCKING IT! GO RAMS!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

February 28 Post

And there it is!  The month of February is in the books!  Now marching on to March!  The groundhog says we have a few more weeks of winter yet, but I don't know about you - I'm hoping he's wrong!  With that little stretch of warmer weather earlier this week, I heard the birds singing for the first time...definitely got me thinking of spring!  Maybe if we all think spring, we can make it come quicker!  Until then we can enjoy all that our great state offers for outdoor activities regardless of the season!  

Some pictures from the past few weeks in our schools below, and then on to the updates!

FY 26 SCHOOL BUDGET DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

The initial 1st draft of the proposed FY 26 school budget has been shared with the School Committee and made available to the public on our website.  For convenience's sake, I've linked it below for your viewing.  It is 100+ pages of detailed information regarding the 1st draft budget - all that any budget lover could hope for!  

1st Draft FY 26 Gorham School Committee Budget Booklet

The School Committee will begin its series of budget workshop meetings this coming Monday, March 3, 2025.  The meeting will start at 7:00 p.m. in the upstairs conference room at the Gorham Municipal Center. All budget workshop meetings are open to the public to attend, and they will also be live-streamed or recorded and placed on the website for viewing.

These meetings are very informational and give people a sense of the detailed conversations held when developing a school budget.  Those who follow along will get a strong sense of the +/- and reasons why decisions are made.  If you want to stay informed about the budget - following these budget workshop meetings is the way to do it!  Below is a list of all Budget workshop meeting dates so you can follow along.  

-  March 3 Budget Mtg. #1, 7:00 p.m. in the Upstairs Conference Room at Municipal Center

-  March 11 Budget Mtg. #2, 7:00 p.m. in the Upstairs Conference Room at Municipal Center

-  March 17 Budget Mtg. #3, 7:00 p.m. in the Upstairs Conference Room at Municipal Center

-  March 24 Budget Mtg. #4, 7:00 p.m. in the Upstairs Conference Room at Municipal Center (As Needed)

-  March 31 Budget Mtg. #5, 7:00 p.m. in the Upstairs Conference Room at Municipal Center (As Needed)

Video links to the recording of these meetings will be posted on our budget website LINKED HERE.  

After these workshop meetings, the Gorham School Committee will be asked to vote on the proposed budget on April 9, 2025.  Whatever budget the School Committee approves on this date will be brought forward to the Town Council for consideration.  Here is the timeline of processes you can expect for this segment of the work:

-  April 16, 2025, Budget Booklets are delivered to the Town Council.

-  April 29, 2025 - Joint Budget Workshop meeting with Town Council and School Committee, 6:30 p.m. Downstairs Conference Room at Municipal Center.

-  May 6, 2025 - Joint Budget Workshop #2 with Town Council (IF NEEDED), 5:30 p.m. in the Downstairs Conference Room at Municipal Center.

Once the Town Council is fully informed of the School's proposed budget and its potential implications for the entire municipal budget, it is then asked to approve a proposed School Budget.  This is done at a public hearing on the Town's budget scheduled for May 13, 2025.  The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. and will be held in Council Chambers.  Typically, we begin the meeting with a discussion and vote on the School's Proposed Budget, and then the Town Council moves on to a debate and vote on the Municipal Budget at this same meeting.  The Town Council may vote to approve a school budget that is the same as what was presented by the School Committee, or they can reduce the overall budget or increase it by an amount.  Whatever School Budget is approved by the Town Council on this night then goes on to the last step in the process - A public budget validation referendum.

The school budget validation referendum is scheduled for Tuesday, June 10, 2025.

Now that you have all the essential dates for your calendars...please follow along and reach out with any questions!  

REMINDER ABOUT THE POSSIBLE USE OF REMOTE LEARNING DAYS!

It is the end of February, but in Maine, that means we still have two solid months of possible snow days...so I wanted to send a quick reminder to families about expectations for snow days and the possible use of remote learning days.

In Gorham, we schedule 5 snow days into our calendar each year.  This means we can use up to five snow days each year without impacting the end of our calendar year.  On our school calendar each year we indicate the five snow days in June using a (*).  So, for each of the five days we use, that becomes the last student day.  The image below illustrates what I mean...

So as you see, the 12th, 13th, 16th, 17th, and 18th are all marked with the (*).  These are our built-in snow days.

Right now, we have used 2 snow days.  This means our last student day would be the 13th if we had no more snow days.  If we were to use all five snow days, the last student day would be the 18th of June.  

Now here is where remote learning days MAY come into play.  Let's say we use all five snow days, and then we have another day that could be a snow day.  Well, no one wants to extend the school year any further into the summer...but for each day we miss, we have to make it up because we have to have 175 total student days each year.  Because of this, if we have a sixth snow day and don't want to make it up, it needs to be a Remote Learning Day.  

A remote learning day would be called the DAY BEFORE a potential storm.  The information would be sent home with students sharing clear expectations of what that learning should look like.  We would also send bagged school lunches home to families that request them the day before so that we can provide lunch to students as required by law.  

Why am I sharing all this?  Well - mostly because I know that if we are all prepared to use remote learning days, Murphy's law tells me we won't have to!☺  But also, because if we do - for whatever reason - use all five of our snow days, I want it to be clear to families that we would then move to the use of Remote Learning Days so that we do not have to extend the school year further into the summer months.  I want folks to be aware and be prepared for this just in case we have to use this "tool" in our proverbial "toolbox".  

If you want to learn more about what a remote learning day might look like for your student, please contact your child's school principal to learn more.  In the meantime, I want to remind families that if we ever use a remote learning day - you would need to sign up IN ADVANCE for school lunches.  Right now, we only have a handful of families who have signed up, so I want to remind families who may be interested in their child having a bagged lunch if we have to use a remote learning day how to do that.  

The link to the school lunch for remote learning days is below.  Just click on the link and sign up...you only need to do it once a year, and we use that list for any remote learning days that may occur in that school year.

REMOTE LEARNING DAY LUNCH SURVEY FOR FAMILIES 

Now, with all that...let's all do a spring happy dance and hope we don't have to go there! ☺

DO YOU KNOW HOW OUR INCREDIBLY TALENTED TEACHERS CONTINUE TO GROW AS PROFESSIONALS?

With all the negativity that can sometimes be out there about public school teachers, I wanted to take a moment to share with you that our teachers are incredible professionals who don't just go to school for their training once and are then "done."  Our teachers continue to learn, grow and sharpen their craft year after year after year!

There are layers upon layers of ways that our teachers continue to learn while working in our schools with your children.  Some are minimal expectations required to maintain their teaching certificates from the State of Maine, while others are incentivized like working to obtain their National Teacher Certification Credential and everything in between!  I thought it might be good to provide an overview of the various ways our teachers continue to grow to help demonstrate how dedicated these adults are to the children they serve!

First, it is important to note that all fully certified teachers have a four year degree under their belts which includes at least a semester of student teaching, or specific on the job training before they can get their initial certification and begin teaching.  

Once in the classroom, each teacher is assigned an experienced mentor teacher to work closely with them for the first few years of their practice.  These mentors are master teachers who work hard to share their incredible practices with one another.  In addition to the assigned mentor, the minimal requirement for all teachers in Maine is that they complete at least six college credits (or the equivalent in specific job related contact hour training) every five years in order to maintain their certification.  This is a minimum.  I can share that in Gorham - our teachers far exceed this minimum.  Well over 60% of our teachers have either multiple certificates (meaning they are highly qualified in multiple areas) or they have advanced degrees in their fields of study.

Our bargaining agreements also incentivize teachers to advance their degrees.  We do this because there is clear research that demonstrates that the more highly trained teachers are, the better achievement results are attained by their students.  So in Gorham, we provide modest salary increases for teachers who obtain their Masters Degree for example, or for teachers that go above a Masters degree to earn things like their C.A.S. (Certificate of Advanced Study) or who may even earn their Ph.D.   These incentives are part of what creates a system whereby a large portion of our professional staff have advanced degrees.

In addition to formal coursework, our teachers also participate in many different levels of Professional Development at the National, Regional, State and local levels.  Often these types of PD opportunities are specific in nature.  For example, we may have a team of teachers and tech integrators that attend a national conference on technology integration, or perhaps a team of teachers that attend conferences to improve Literacy Instruction at the state level, or a team of our early childhood teachers attending a state wide conference on how to strengthen the use of purposeful play in the classroom.  These are just a few examples of many.  The Maine Department of Education hosts a wide range of high quality training that is often free to our professionals to attend.  Most content areas and grade levels have specific PD opportunities across all the levels mentioned above that are high quality, focused trainings that our teachers participate in on an annual basis.

At the local level (or in-house), we offer specific trainings during our full day teacher workshop days or during our early release days.  These trainings are typically very focused trainings on specific needs we have in our district.  For example, they could be focused on providing staff safety care training for how to work with students who may have special needs, or how to use these practices to improve regular classroom environments.  We may be working on implementing a new curriculum and need to provide specific training in this area, or perhaps we have seen something in our data that requires us to look more closely at our practices in order to improve results for our students.  This past year we've spent a considerable amount of time during our PD days at the PK-5 levels on training in the area of literacy instruction while implementing our core curriculum in this area.   Again, these are just some examples of many.

Also at the local level, we offer our teachers participation in PLC's (Professional Learning Communities) where groups and teams of teachers can work collaboratively on their craft together during the course of the regular school day.  Often at the elementary level these PLC's are grade level based, at the MS they are often team based, and at the HS level they are often department based.  This work may involve bringing together evidence of student learning, calibrating assessment practices, and making sure instruction is aligned to specific standards and much more.

Finally as part of our PE/PG system (Professional Evaluation/Professional Growth), teachers are evaluated based on specific standards.  For first and second year teachers, we require a self assessment and goal setting process each year that is combined with at least two formal observation processes completed by their supervisors.  After the first two years, teachers are required to complete a self assessment, set goals and complete formal observations every three years.  For those that might be interested in what our evaluation standards for teachers look like, we use what is known as the Danielson Model, a national set of competencies created by Charlotte Danielson that look like this:

For each of the four domains, there are specific indicators listed and then for each indicator listed, there are specific competencies.  Teacher must demonstrate proficiencies in each.  Its a very thorough process that is heavily focused on continuous growth in teaching practices across the district.

These are just some of the ways our teachers work every day to sharpen and grow their craft to benefit our students.  I hope what you can tell from this high level overview is just how dedicated our professionals are to making sure that our classroom learning environments are strong and that our students - all our students - are well prepared for their future success after graduating!  We have an incredible team of professional educators here in Gorham and that is not by accident! 

ASPIRE GORHAM UPDATE

Earlier this week Eliza Kenigsberg, our Career Aspirations and ELO Coordinator for the Gorham Schools, shared a presentation with the School Committee on the continued strength of this program even after grant funds have run out and we are now entirely supporting the program locally.  

I thought that folks might want an update to know just how well the program is doing even though we are now "on our own".  You can CLICK HERE to view the full slide presentation.  And if you are interested in hearing the presentation - which includes two of our incredible students - you can CLICK HERE to view the video.  The presentation takes up the first 28 minutes of the meeting.  Special THANK YOU's to Abby Rogers and Gabe Harrington for sharing their incredible learning stories with all of us! 

Once you view these items, I think it becomes very clear that even after the original grant funds have run out to support this program, Gorham continues to invest in this important work for our students and we continue to lead the way in the state of Maine in this work!  

Here are just a few highlights from the presentation below...

First a reminder of what Aspire Gorham is:

Second, ELO's (Extended Learning Opportunities) are a core component of this work!  These are semester long or year long job embedded learning experiences for our student that gain HS credit (and sometimes college credit) for workplace learning experiences.  The number of students participating in this portion of our programming continues to grow and we want to see that continue!

Third, although we lost our full time communications coordinator because of the shift from grant funding sources to local funding sources to operate the program - we have not lost the investment from staff in this important work.  What has emerged instead is the creation of school based "Aspire Champions" from our staff!  These staff help lead the way for this work at each our schools!  Thank you Champions!

Fourth, Eliza included a snapshot of how students are involved in this work across all grade levels.  Here are the summary slides on that:

Finally, I wanted to highlight how community members can get involved in this work!  If you are interested in perhaps sharing your craft with our students via one of our Career X events - just reach out to Eliza at eliza.kenigsberg@gorhamschools.org.  If you are interested in perhaps helping to mentor a student for an ELO experience - just reach out to Michelle at michelle.bourget@gorhamschools.org.  If you are a business owner and want to learn more about the program and perhaps how you can engage, the best way to do that would be to join our Gorham Business Roundtable.  If you are interested in joining that group - you can email me at heather.perry@gorhamschools.org.  We have over 100 business partners and are always looking for more across all levels of engagement!  Thank you!

SCHOOL MEALS DURING RAMADAN NOW AVAILABLE!

We are excited to announce that the USDA has approved the Maine Department of Education’s waiver permitting our Nutrition Department to serve meals to students who are fasting to observe Ramadan in 2025!  Families who observe Ramadan can request meals by completing the following Google Form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeyB6cNn_1G8SadONMyg8G6Qng1GZnMvoaZ-H0uCQQh5uR6qg/viewform?usp=sharing

All students who have been signed up and who are present in school that day are eligible for a meal.  Beginning March 3rd, meals will be available for pick up at the end of each school day during the observance of Ramadan.  Our goal is to make this process as simple as possible, ensuring students can observe their religious practices while still having access to nutritious meals after their period of fasting ends.  Please direct any questions to our Nutrition Department at (207)222-1375 or rainalee.cooper@gorhamschools.org 

EAT AND LEARN EVENT REMINDER & 

REGISTRATION LINK!

The Gorham Anti-Racism & Equity Committee will be hosting its third annual "Eat and Learn" event coming right up on Monday, March 10, 2025 starting at 5:30 p.m. at the GHS Library.  Check out the flyer below for more details and PLEASE REGISTER TO ATTEND using the following registration link:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2025-eat-learn-tickets-1247279609889?aff=oddtdtcreator

CONGRATULATIONS TO GORHAM STUDENTS WHO EARNED P.A.T.H.S.  STUDENT OF THE QUARTER HONORS! 

Way to go Eben and Cameron!  GO RAMS!

GORHAM INCOMING KINDERGARTEN PARENT INFORMATION NIGHTS ARE NEXT WEEK!

Each of our three elementary schools are hosing a parent information night for all INCOMING Kindergarten students who will begin Kindergarten in the Fall of 2025.  These will be held on Thursday, March 6 at each of the three schools.  Check out the flyers below for details and call your school to register today!  

A NEW VIDEO ABOUT THE FAMOUS MURALS AT NARRAGANSETT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL!

If you are a local history buff like me, this new video created by Georgia Humphrey and the GoCAT Team here in Gorham on the Dahlov Ipcar murals housed at Narragansett Elementary School is for you!  A Fascinating look at a local gem unique to our schools!  Check it out and Enjoy!  Thank you Georgia! 

https://vimeo.com/1060924212

Dahlov Ipcar - Mural at Naragansett Elementary - Gorham, Maine Well known Maine artist Dahlov Ipcar painted the 108 foot mural that is displayed at the school.Over the years thousands of children have passed through the doors… vimeo.com

Well that's it for this blog post!  See you again for the next one scheduled for March 14th!  Hopefully by then we can be seeing a little more spring type weather! ☺