TO: RSU #74 Board of Directors

FROM: Jean Butler

DATE: May 28, 2024

PreK-5 ELEMENTARY REPORT

The last three weeks of school are jam-packed with special activities that are intended to end the school year on a positive and fun note for our students. We have busy days ahead before we get to the last student day of school on June 14th!

Our library media assistant Shirley Mellows is taking students to town libraries in hopes that they will continue to visit libraries with their families over the summer. The Solon K-5 students visited the Coolidge Public Library on May 22nd, and the Garret Schenck K-5 students will visit the Madison Public Library on May 31st.

Garret Schenck will hold a Bikes for Books assembly with the Masons on June 7th. Students have been reading books and submitting forms on which they write about each book they have read. At the assembly, we will draw from all the forms that have been submitted to find a winning boy and girl from each class. Those students will win a new bike, helmet, and T-shirt from the Masons. We appreciate this community group supporting our students in this way every spring.

Helping students to make smooth transitions from one school to the next is one of our goals every spring. Our fifth graders have been invited to attend Step-Up Day at Carrabec Community School on June 11th. They will go there for the afternoon with fifth graders from the other schools to meet their sixth grade teachers, learn a little about what sixth grade will be like, tour the school, and do some team-building activities. CCS social worker Alicia Bedard is bringing a few eighth graders to each school on May 30th to talk to the fifth graders and answer their questions about middle school. Moving to CCS is a big step for our fifth graders so we hope to make that move less scary by preparing them this spring. We know that when they get to CCS, they will love it there.

We also have Step-Up Days at the schools for students in preschool through fourth grade so they can spend a little time in the classroom where they will be next year and hear from the teacher about what that will be like. Preschool students at Solon and Garret Schenck who will go to kindergarten at CCS in the fall will also get a chance to go there for a visit to Mrs. Fournier’s classroom.

Garret Schenck will hold its traditional outdoor Flea Market on June 13th from 12:45-2:00. Families are invited to join the students and staff for this event. Each classroom will sponsor a booth such as a white elephant table, photo booth, plant sale, snacks such as fruit kabobs, popcorn, slushies, rock painting, bracelet making, games, and a book swap. Items are on sale for very low prices, and the students always have a great time.

At each school we are wrapping up the year with an outdoor Field Day and barbecue and awards assemblies. The Field Days (June 7th at Solon and June 10th at Garret Schenck) will involve students working in multiage teams to participate in a number of activity challenges set up around the fields. Our physical education teacher Paul Kaplan is collaborating with school staff to plan and run our Field Days. We will hold awards assemblies (June 13th at Garret Schenck and June 14th at Solon) at which teachers will recognize students for academic achievement, good behavior, improvement, good attendance, helpfulness, citizenship, and hard work.

At the end of the school year we are holding a series of data meetings at each school. Each classroom teacher will attend a meeting also attended by our interventionist, Title I ed techs, intervention coach Barbara Jordan, and me. At each meeting we will review the assessment data on each student in that teacher’s class to look at the progress they have made over the year and what if any services they will need for the next year. We also invite the teacher who will have those students the next year to the meeting so that she can learn about her incoming class to help with the planning process over the summer. These data meetings that are held three times a year have been so valuable to us, and I credit Barbara for establishing this process in our schools.

After the students’ last day on June 14th, all staff members will return to school on June 17th and work in the morning on a variety of projects that need to be done. For example, our grades K-2 will be developing new report cards that are better aligned with our curriculum, and grades 3-5 teachers will finish creating pre and post assessments for each unit in their math program. We plan to hold a barbecue lunch for all district staff at CHS, and then staff will be able to return to their schools to work in their classrooms to clean up and organize. They will also have Tuesday to finish up the work in their classrooms before they leave for the summer.

I want to recognize my Solon fourth grade teacher Michelle Stevens for her years of service to RSU #74 as she retires from teaching this spring. She has contributed in many ways to our school and district such as by advising the Civil Rights Team, serving on the Literacy Committee, and being a new teacher mentor. She has been an active proponent of literacy in her classroom and the district. Her sense of humor and dedication have been appreciated by staff and students. She will be greatly missed.

Grace Cram and I are busy planning the fourth year of our Camp Carrabec Summer School Program for grades PreK-5 students. For three weeks in July, students will come to CCS from 8:00-12:00 to engage in activities in reading and math along with arts and crafts related to the theme “The Great Outdoors” and social-emptional learning activities. We will provide transportation, breakfast, and lunch each day. Our goal is to continue addressing learning loss caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The cost of our Summer School Program is covered by our COVID-19 relief grants.

If you have any questions about anything at either of my schools, please contact me.

Have a wonderful summer!