MSAD #51 District Newsletter - January 26, 2023

From the Superintendent

 

WE NEED YOUR HELP: SAFETY AT DROP-OFF & PICK-UP TIMES

As the district continues to grow in the number of students and shrink in space due to modular classrooms and more traffic, safety must become even more important to observe for everyone who visit

s the school campus. Here's some ways you can help keep our students, staff, and visitors safe when picking up or dropping off your children at school. 

-Please avoid using parking spots on campus when dropping off or picking up your children. We have a limited number of available spaces for staff and high school students on campus, especially with the recent addition of snow. Please schedule your pick-up and drop-off times to coincide with school start and dismissal times so that you are not needing to use parking spots to wait.

-We have had complaints about cars parked on, or close to, crosswalks. This is a huge safety concern as we instruct our students to use crosswalks on campus in order to safely cross the roadways.

 

-Multiple vehicles without the required permits have been parking in handicapped-designated spaces. Even when this happens for a few minutes, it removes this spot from use for someone who may need it.   

 

-Multiple vehicles have been double parking when picking students up at MIW and GMS, causing traffic bottlenecks on narrow campus roads and blocking areas that need to remain open to thru traffic and emergency vehicles.

-On several occasions recently, cars have parked at the entrances to parking lots, blocking the ability of others to enter or exit the lots. This has been especially an issue at the Superintendent's office parking lot, where we have received the most complaints. 

-We have had complaints about vehicles driving in the opposite direction when accessing parking lots. Please observe "Do Not Enter" signage to parking lots where designated. 

 

-We have had a couple of near-accidents on campus this school year due to speed. Please help our students, staff, and visitors by observing speed limits and slowing down. 

 

Thank you for your help on this important matter. With 200 more students now attending our schools in recent years, with more projected next year, the school campus is increasingly becoming a place of daily congestion. I realize this can be frustrating for parents and visitors to the schools for routine events like dropping off or picking up your children, but it takes all of us to ensure that our school grounds are safe and accident-free.

 

Our School Resource Officer is often present at key places during the most congested times of the day and we are working to put up some additional signage in pick-up/drop-off zones where most needed. But we need everyone's vigilance in helping us with safety. Thank you!

 

 

CALENDAR UPDATE & REMOTE LEARNING DAYS 

The 2022-23 calendar has three traditional storm (snow) days built in, which will be made up in June. We have currently used 2 out of these 3 days already, so the last day of school right now is Thursday, June 15 if there are no other storm days. If there is a third storm day, the last day will be Friday, June 16. Once we have maxed out the 3 traditional storm days, each additional storm cancellation day will revert to remote learning, which keeps June 16 as the last day of school no matter how many additional storm days we may have. 

 

New Remote Day Schedule this year: For students, remote learning days will follow the Early Release schedule we use on parent-teacher conference days instead of a full school day schedule. This change in schedule is aligned with the district Strategic Plan’s Priority Area #1 Wellness: Foundation of Teaching and Learning, as a way to balance the need for academic learning while reducing screen time. 

Grades 6-12:   8:00 AM-11:30 AM

Grades PK-5:   8:45 AM-12:30 PM

 

On remote learning days due to storm cancellations, here's the general plan (principals will relay more details):

• All school buildings are closed for the day and all on-site school-related events and activities are canceled for the day/afternoon/evening of the closure. 

• All students will have access to Concurrent Learning activities. Concurrent Learning is when there are live instruction/direction/class meetings for students provided by the teacher for at least part of the school day. Each school will provide more details as needed.

• Students are considered to be ‘in attendance’ when they have attended the required concurrent learning activities (instruction, check-ins) offered by the teacher.

• For those who are interested, we can provide shelf-stable meals to be sent home with your student. We recommend requesting two days worth of meals in case of a big storm. To request a meal the day before a storm or with any questions, please email [email protected] or call 829-4824.

NOTE: In the event of questionable conditions when a remote learning day cannot occur for whatever reason (power outages, etc), the district reserves the ability to revert to a traditional weather cancellation day, if needed, after the first three traditional weather days have been used already.

THANK YOU TO OUR FACILITIES TEAM

MSAD 51 is truly fortunate to have dedicated and skillful faculty, staff, and administrators throughout. One group that often goes unnoticed is our Facilities Team, comprised of our custodial and maintenance staff members who work all three shifts to keep our buildings clean and ready for students and staff each day. Many, many thanks to this dedicated team over the last week as they worked long hours in cold, dark, and wet conditions, often throughout the nights, with little rest. Please take a moment to thank a member of our Facilities Team if you have the opportunity.

Regards,
Jeff Porter

Dawn rising over the MSAD 51 campus this week. Photo courtesy of Facilities Supervisor Don Foster.

Notices from the Office of the Superintendent

MSAD #51 Pre-K Lottery - DEADLINE Friday, January 27

MSAD #51 (Cumberland-North Yarmouth) is pleased to announce that we will continue our small public Pre-K Program for 32 students (16 each session) starting in September 2023.

The program will run half days (morning and afternoon session) four days per week (M, T, Th, F) for approximately 145 days during the school year.  The program is located at Mabel I. Wilson school and is in partnership with Child Development Services.

In order to be considered, your child must be 4, but not 5, years old before October 15, 2023 and you must be a resident of Cumberland or North Yarmouth.  

Screenings will take place via Zoom for eligible children during the week of February 13-17, 2023.

If interested, please fill out the interest application (https://forms.gle/HMZNTwuWttPXB5meA) no later than Friday, January 27, 2023.

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MSAD #51 Board of Directors Information

Effective August 22, unless otherwise noted, all meetings will take place at 6:00 pm in the Gyger Room at Greely High School.  For those of you unfamiliar with that room, the Gyger Room is where the Board met pre-COVID and can be accessed from the GHS parking lot (the side without the electronic sign).

February 6 - Regular Meeting

Remember you can watch our meetings on YouTube LIVE (http://bit.ly/msad51livevideo).

Links
Meeting Dates, Agendas & Minutes
Board of Directors Meeting Videos

Useful Links

Employment Opportunities

MSAD #51 Website

2018-2021 Strategic Plan

District Calendar

GHS Athletics Schedule

Greely Center for the Arts Events

If you would like something included in our weekly newsletter, please send a brief write up with title along with a JPEG or PNG image of your flyer (if applicable) to Melissa Porter for approval. The deadline each week is Sunday. Any requests received after Sunday will be reviewed for possible submission in the following week's newsletter. All approved submissions will be posted on the district's website.

Not all items in this email are MSAD #51 sponsored programs. If you need more information, please contact the group or organization that is sponsoring the event.