TO: RSU #74 Board of Directors
FROM: Jean Butler
DATE: January 28, 2026
PreK-5 ELEMENTARY REPORT
Our students are happy to have lots of snow to play in during recess time, and we’re hoping for warmer temperatures that will allow us to go outside every day. It is hard to believe that the school year has already reached the halfway point, and there are only a couple more weeks before our February vacation! Time is flying by!
During the month of January, teachers administered the NWEA, and intervention team members administered other assessments to collect data on student progress at the mid-point of the school year. This data has been organized on spreadsheets, which will be shared with teachers at our mid-year data meetings held on February 5th at Garret Schenck and February 6th at Solon. At those meetings we will discuss each student’s progress and determine if that student needs more or fewer intervention services going forward. We will pick up students who haven’t had services but for whom testing now indicates that services would be beneficial. The goal is to make sure all students are on track to achieve their target growth goals by the spring, when the NWEA will be administered again. We applaud intervention coach Barbara Jordan for all the work she does to coordinate the intervention services across the three elementary schools and to chair the data meetings for us.
In February for the thirteenth consecutive year, Solon Elementary School students in grades PreK-5 will participate in a bookmark design contest in conjunction with the Coolidge Public Library in Solon. Each student will design a bookmark that promotes reading, and we will judge the entries and select winners. The winner from each grade will receive a certificate and a book from town librarian Megan Myers, and all of the winning bookmarks will be duplicated to be handed out to patrons at the library.
We always celebrate the 100th Day of School in grades K-1 as a way to provide students with the chance to work with numbers up to 100. The 100th day will occur on February 10th unless more snow days move it ahead. Students will create projects with one hundred items and engage in fun activities to celebrate the 100th day of school. For the first time at Garret Schenck, the upper grade teachers are involving their students in projects with the theme of the 100th day of school because this year is the 100th birthday of the Garret Schenck School.
All of our fifth graders in the district will take a ski trip to Sugarloaf Mountain on February 13th. This is an annual tradition to give the fifth graders a chance to spend a fun day outside in the fresh air while getting to know other fifth graders from across the district. Parents are welcome to accompany their children on this trip. We want to thank trip organizers Heidi Day and Candy LeBeau. We also appreciate the support of our three PTO’s, who will cover the cost of this trip for any students whose families can’t afford the fee.
At both Garret Schenck and Solon, we will celebrate Valentine’s Day in February by emphasizing friendship and kindness to others. A tradition in both schools is a “Secret Cupid” activity in which everyone draws a name and decorates a paper heart for that person, writing something nice about him or her on the heart. These hearts will be displayed on a bulletin board in each school lobby. Students get to exchange Valentine cards with their classmates. One afternoon we will play Hearts (a version of Yahtzee) in multiage groups and enjoy a Valentine’s Day snack.
Because of the snow day on January 26th, band and chorus students did not get the chance to rehearse for their Winter Concert that day. So the rehearsal day has been moved to Monday, February 2nd and the concert has been moved to Tuesday, February 3rd at 6:00 PM at Carrabec Community School.
We are beginning the process of recruitment for next year’s preschool classes at Garret Schenck and Solon. If you know parents with a child who will turn four years old by October 15th, please encourage them to contact Bonnie White at the Garret Schenck School to get on our list for 2026-27. We have room for thirty students between our two classrooms (16 at Garret Schenck and 14 at Solon). We plan to hold Preschool Screening for incoming students in late April or early May.
If you have questions about anything in my schools, please contact me.
Happy Valentine’s Day!