Somehow, we have already made it to October! Where did that first month of school go? The routines of a new school year are settling in, the leaves are beginning to turn, and the unmistakable crispness in the morning air reminds us fall has officially arrived in Maine.
Of course, we Mainers also know what comes after fall, and I hate to say it, but it won’t be too long before that white stuff starts falling from the sky! Until then, I hope you and your family have a chance to slow down, get outside, and enjoy all that this beautiful season has to offer. There is nothing quite like fall in Maine!
A few pictures from the last few weeks, and then on to the information!
This Week's Topics Include (In scrolling order below)...
- THE IMPORTANCE OF PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES
- EMERGENCY RESPONSE PUBLIC PLAN
- UPCOMING BOND REQUEST ON NOV. 3 BALLOT
- A.I. HANDBOOKS FOR STUDENTS AND FAMILIES
- GORHAM MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS HOSTING TRAVELING EXHIBIT: ANNE FRANK, A HISTORY FOR TODAY
- OTHER COMMUNITY EVENTS
- CLOSING
THE IMPORTANCE OF PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES
Since parent/teacher conference week is coming up the week of Oct. 19, I thought it might be a good idea to spend a little time sharing the importance of Parent/Teacher conferences and how families can make the most of this time with teachers!
These conversations are an important opportunity to strengthen one of education's most powerful partnerships: the partnership between families and schools. Teachers know students as learners in the classroom, while families know their children in ways no one else can. When we bring those perspectives together, we gain a much fuller picture of how each child is doing and how we can best support their continued learning and growth in partnership with one another.
Parent/teacher conferences are an opportunity to talk about your child's strengths, interests, relationships, work habits, areas of growth, and overall experience at school. They also provide families with a chance to better understand what students are learning, how they are progressing, and what they may need next. Just as importantly, conferences give teachers an opportunity to learn from families about what they are seeing at home.
To make the most of your conference, consider talking with your child beforehand. Ask what they enjoy most about school, what they feel proud of, what feels challenging, and whether there is anything they would like you to ask their teacher. It can also be helpful to jot down two or three questions you want to make sure are addressed.
You might ask:
- What are my child's greatest strengths?
- Where are they growing?
- Is there an area where they could use additional support?
- How are they engaging with classmates and participating in learning?
- What can we do at home to reinforce their success?
Most importantly, approach the conversation with curiosity. Teachers and families share the same fundamental goal. We want to see each student thrive. Sometimes that means celebrating successes, and sometimes it means having candid conversations about challenges in order to determine the best supports and pathways for your student. Both are valuable. The most productive conferences are those in which everyone listens, asks questions, shares information, and leaves with a clearer understanding of how we can work together for the student.
Finally, remember that a conference should never be the only time families and teachers communicate. We want and actively seek your genuine partnership. That means more frequent conversations than just on P/T Conference nights. If questions arise afterward, or at any point during the school year, please reach out to your child's teacher. Strong schools are built on strong relationships, and those relationships grow through ongoing, open communication. We are ALWAYS here to support our parents, and we know our parents are always here to support us! ☺
Thank you to our families for being active partners in your children's education and to our teachers for the care and commitment they bring to these important relationships. As families, I hope you get as much out of P/T Conferences as we do! We LOVE seeing our families!
EMERGENCY RESPONSE PUBLIC PLAN
As a continuation of my past two blog posts on emergency preparedness, I want to share the public-facing version of the Gorham School Department’s Emergency Response Plan with our families.
The safety and well-being of our students and staff are always our highest priority. We maintain detailed district and school-specific emergency plans that guide our staff and emergency responders through a wide range of situations. For important safety and security reasons, we keep those operational details confidential. At the same time, we believe families should understand how we prepare for and respond to emergencies, and what you can expect from us if an emergency occurs.
The public-facing plan linked below provides an overview of our emergency response procedures, including some of the information I have shared in my recent blog posts. While some of it may feel repetitive, repetition helps us all better understand what to expect and how to respond.
Please take a few minutes to review the plan and reach out with any questions. We hope we never need to put many of these procedures into action, but being prepared is essential to caring for the children entrusted to us each day. Please know that we take that responsibility incredibly seriously, and the safety of our students and staff will always be paramount in the decisions we make.
LINK TO PUBLIC PLAN
UPCOMING BOND REQUEST ON NOV. 3 LOCAL BALLOT
As you know, the Gorham Schools will have a local bond request on the Nov.3 ballot for THREE projects. The question on the ballot will look like
THIS. The ballot language INCLUDES an estimate of principal and interest payments over a 15-year bond. Final numbers will not be known until after the bond is approved and we work with the Town Council to finalize the bond terms.
A summary of the three projects, estimated costs, and total estimated costs is below:
If you are interested in better understanding what the specific projects will accomplish and why the work is needed, please click on the links below:
You can also take a look at the "one-pager" recently shared with the community below. It is technically 2 pages (front and back), and both are linked below. Feel free to share in your circles as well.
I've also heard public concern about the number of local bonds we have already requested, the number we'll request over the next ten years, and what that may mean for our local budget. Please know we have looked into this, and overall, local bond payments will remain in the $3M to $4M range annually, even as we make this request and plan for future requests.
You can view our Ten Year Facilities Plan and review total local bond payments for the school by clicking the links below. That is A LOT of numbers for some people, so feel free to reach out with questions...but most importantly ...please know we are looking at these important numbers as well and are planning accordingly to try and balance our overall programmatic needs with our overall facilities needs with our overall community's ability to pay! No easy balance indeed! ☺
Bottom line, the information is here...please ask questions (heather.perry@gorhamschools.org) and be sure to GET OUT AND VOTE NOVEMBER 3! Thank you!
A.I. HANDBOOKS FOR STUDENTS AND FAMILIES
Just a quick reminder to students and families that Gorham Schools has taken the past two years to develop a strong informational handbook for you to use when you have questions about the use of AI in our district!
The Gorham Schools Student/Family AI Handbook walks through our core beliefs about using AI in schools and basic expectations for use across grade levels. One of the first charts you will see provides insights for families on whether AI is used at your child's grade level and, if so, generally how.
You can get a glimpse of other information in the handbook by checking out the table of contents, screen-shotted below.
The handbook is 22 pages long, so it contains much more useful information to help families understand how we use AI in our schools. If you haven't already reviewed it, I would encourage you to do so. As technology changes in our schools, we are working to change with it to best "Prepare and Inspire" our students for future success while keeping our humanness and strong relationships with students at the center of all that we do!
Please reach out with any questions!
P.S. - If you were wondering whether we have a similar handbook for our staff, WE DO! You can
CLICK HERE to view the draft handbook, which will be finalized later this month.
GORHAM MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS HOSTING TRAVELING EXHIBIT: ANNE FRANK, A HISTORY FOR TODAY!
Students from Mrs. Whitaker's Katahdin Program at GMS are excited to announce that they have been selected to host the internationally traveling exhibition Anne Frank: A History for Today, developed by the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, in partnership with the Anne Frank Center, from September 24 through October 8 in the GMS Auditorium. This exhibit is intended for audiences in grades 6 and up. This is a rare and powerful opportunity for our students and community. Every visit is docent-led by our own eighth graders, and the exhibit offers meaningful connections across nearly every subject area. Please also share this with colleagues, families, or community members who may be interested in visiting.
As you can see on the sign-up form (click on it for more details), the community-focused dates are:
A heartfelt thank you to our generous sponsors, whose support made this exhibit possible: Aaron Chadbourne of Demetria Real Estate, who generously lined up his trusted real estate partners, Maine Community Bank and Treworgy & Baldacci Title Services, to support this effort. We are grateful for their partnership in bringing Anne Frank: A History for Today to our school and community.
Here are a few things happening in our community over the next few weeks...
Gorham Heritage Day, October 18 - see flyer for details!
Trunk or Treat with Galilee Church - Saturday, Oct. 31st - see flyer for details!
Baxter Library Youth Services always has something cool going on! Check out their website for more!
https://baxterlibrary.org/youth-services/
As I close this week’s blog, I want our families to know something that can sometimes get lost among all the updates, policies, plans, programs, and events we share: we care deeply about your children. Every day, you entrust us with the people who matter most to you, and we never take that responsibility lightly. Whether we are talking about safety, academics, technology, facilities, or simply making sure a child feels known and valued when they walk through our doors, our decisions are grounded in one central question:
What is best for our students?
Our schools are strongest when families, educators, students, and our community work together. Thank you for trusting us, partnering with us, asking questions, and supporting the work happening in our schools each day. We won't always get everything exactly right, but you can always count on the fact that we will continue to care fiercely, listen carefully, learn continuously, and work tirelessly to Prepare and Inspire every Gorham student for the future that awaits them.
What a privilege it is to do this work together! "Til next time!
