TO: RSU #74 Board of Directors

FROM: Jean Butler

DATE: January 29, 2025

PreK-5 ELEMENTARY REPORT

After a very cold January, we are looking forward to the prospect of temperatures warming so that

students can get outside to play every day. Students wish there was more snow in which to play, but

they are finding plenty of games to engage in at recess, snow or no snow.


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 January 30th at Solon and February 6th at Garret Schenck. At those meetings we will

discuss each student’s progress and determine if the 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.


On January 24th, actors from the Portland Stage Company spent the morning at Garret Schenck to

introduce our students to some aspects of theater. They did dramatic readings of four children’s books,

all centering on the theme of showing compassion for others, for the whole student body. Then they

went to each classroom to do a theater workshop with each class of students from preschool through

fifth grade. Funding for this activity came from the Garret Schenck PTFO and donations to our school

in memory of Jill Everett for arts programs.

A Winter Band and Chorus Concert will take place on February 13th at 6:00 PM at Carrabec

Community School, featuring all of the district’s band and chorus students under the direction of music

director Lindsay Burke-Cinsov. Please join us for an evening of seasonal songs performed by our

talented students!


In February for the twelfth 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 a

winner from each grade. The winner from each grade will receive a certificate and 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 11th unless 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.


At both Garret Schenck and Solon, we will celebrate Valentine’s Day on February 14th, 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 on Valentine’s Day. That afternoon we will play

Hearts (a version of Yahtzee) in multiage groups and enjoy a Valentine’s Day snack.


We will soon begin 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 one of the elementary schools to get on our list for 2025-26. We have room for thirty

students between our two classrooms. 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!