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!