Friday, May 28, 2021
Dear RSU 71 Students, Families, Staff, School Board and Community Partners,
All our schools are gearing up for exciting end-of-year activities. A summary of these may be found by clicking this link.
This week has been an especially hectic week, and thus this weekly update is super-short. It will be emailed to staff members and the school board at noon and Robo-messaged to families this afternoon.
Pandemic Update
One More Case - One positive case of the coronavirus was found in an individual associated with the Captain Albert Stevens School. Staff members and the parents of students who were close contacts have been notified and are in quarantine.
COVID-19 Vaccines - Here is information about the COVID 19 vaccine:
COVID-19 Vaccination Fact Sheet
THMS - A parent night was held at Troy Howard Middle School on Wednesday. NAMI’s Clinical Director Greg Marley gave an excellent talk about traumatic loss and how to help students with the death of a fellow student. Slides are available from the school for anyone who would like to see them. Administrators and counselors continue to check in with and support students and staff members impacted by this loss, especially in the eighth grade.
Creativity Endures - Check out this video made by THMS art teacher Mrs. Maheu, featuring district educators making our world an ever-more beautiful place by painting a crosswalk in Belfast! Check out how one little 3-inch chickadee came to be a few 4ft chickadees on Washington Street!
https://youtu.be/W2_02mM8sm8
As always, please feel free to be in touch with me with questions, concerns, and feedback.
With warm wishes for fun and rest this Memorial Day weekend,
Mary Alice
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Mary Alice McLean
Superintendent of Schools, RSU 71
(207) 338 - 1960
Friday, May 28, 2021
Re: Weekly Update Friday 5/28/21
Friday, May 21, 2021
Friday Update 5/21/21
Friday Update May 21, 2021
Dear RSU 71 Students, Families, Staff, School Board and Community Partners,
I hope that this week has been a positive one for you and yours. I will share this weekly update with staff members and the school board at noon. This afternoon it will be Robo-messaged by Dr. Dave Fournier to families and posted on the district website and my blog.
Pandemic Update - We held vaccination clinics at Troy Howard Middle School and Belfast Area High School this week. Medical staff members from PCHC were on hand to do the inoculations and monitor student reactions. At THMS, 81 vaccinations were administered, while at BAHS, 101 students were vaccinated. The process was extremely well-organized, and students experienced no adverse impacts. Many thanks to the Penobscot Community Health Center, who provided and administered the vaccine, along with providing medical personnel to monitor student well-being during and after the shot. The second dose of the coronavirus vaccine will be administered to the same students on June 7 and June 8.
Waldo County is Still GREEN - In today's color-coded risk level of community transmission from the Maine CDC, community transmission continues to be designated low-risk. Our schools are considered suitable for in-person instruction. Since the pandemic began, there has been no disease transmission in any of our schools and locations.
- At the Kermit Nickerson School, there have been no positive coronavirus cases in any students or staff members associated with the school.
- At East Belfast, there have been 2 students and zero adults who have tested positive.
- At Ames - 1 positive student
- Weymouth - 1 positive student
- CASS - 3 students, 1 staff member
- THMS - 11 students, 1 staff
- BAHS/BCOPE - 11 students, 3 adults
- Central Office - no cases
- Adult Ed - no cases
- Bus Garage - no cases
Required Safety Protocols - The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has changed its guidance regarding wearing masks and social distancing. Maine CDC follows suit, though school safety protocols in public schools have not yet been lifted or changed.
Pool Testing - In the new school year 2021 - 2022, we will be able to lift the safety requirement that all students must maintain three feet of social distance apart from one another if thirty percent of our school population participates in "pool testing." I will soon share more information about what pool testing would entail. We know that we want to welcome back all our remote and homeschool students in the fall and have BAHS be open for in-person instruction for all students every day of the week. Pool testing could enable us to do that. On Monday, we will be applying for American Recovery Act funds to hire a Pool Testing Nurse Coordinator for the 2021 - 2022 school year. We will be surveying families in early June to gather information about this past year, including parent-guardian thoughts about in-person learning in the coming school year. The RSU 71 Task Force to Safely Reopen Schools has reconvened to share thoughts, and the RSU 71 School Board will discuss plans for next year at the first meeting in June. Stay tuned!
Troy Howard Middle School - Staff and students have received guidance and support to help manage the blow to our community caused by the death of an eighth-grade student last week. She was new to our district this year, so we focus much of this support on eighth-grade students and staff. Other Maine school districts where the student had been to school are also absorbing the impact of this loss. The medical examiner has not yet officially identified the cause of death. We have had daily Crisis Team meetings, staff meetings, and check-in and support for eighth-grade students and staff in particular. A Parent Night (optional) has been scheduled for an evening next week on Wednesday, May 26 at 6:00 pm on ZOOM; Greg Marley from NAMI Maine (National Association for Medical Illness) will be on hand to share information about helping students experiencing a tragic loss. Visiting hours were yesterday at the Riposta Funeral Home, and teachers did a great job covering for one another. Administrators and counselors from other RSU 71 schools pitched in, for which we are grateful. Parents of students who wished to attend accompanied their children to the event, and we are also grateful for that assistance.
In the News -
BAHS Students' Work in the World - https://www.penbaypilot.com/article/bahs-science-students-present-challenges-and-solutions-belfast-bay-watershed/146700?amgee-source=dh
Track and Field - https://rsu71news.blogspot.com/2021/05/lions-mustangs-track-tremendous-all.html
Student Journalism at CASS - https://rsu71news.blogspot.com/2021/05/covid-classroom-art-on-wheels-with-mrs.html
That's it for this week. As always, please feel free to reach out to our staff and me with questions, ideas, and feedback.
With warm wishes for strength, spirit, health, and support in meeting life challenges during this pandemic.
- Mary Alice
Friday, May 14, 2021
Superintendent weekly update for 5/14/21
Weekly Update
Friday, May 14, 2021
Dear RSU 71 Students, Staff, School Board, and Community Members,
Tragedy - We are saddened to our core by Wednesday's untimely death of a Troy Howard Middle School student. The medical examiner has not yet determined the cause of death. Some rumors speculate about the cause. We are investigating these and ask for your help in being careful about speculation. Additional support has been put in place for both students and staff members, and many helpful sources of comfort and fortification have arrived at THMS in this time of deep distress. The entire school community has been grieving, yet all staff members have responded with grace, compassion, and emotional intelligence both with students and with one another while keeping students engaged in wholesome and healthy learning, gardening, and activities. An optional Parent Night for THMS families is being planned. Expert staff from NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Maine has been on hand to help us plan our response and outreach to students, staff, and families.
Pandemic Update - We have had three positive cases of the coronavirus in the past week. The first was an individual associated with Belfast Area High School, a second an individual with the Captain Albert Stevens School, and a third in an individual associated with Troy Howard Middle School. Parents of students who are close contacts have been notified, and staff and students impacted are in quarantine and getting tested.
Broadband Benefit Program: FCC is launching the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, which provides a discount of $50/month to eligible households for broadband access ($75/month if the household lives on Tribal lands. Click on the blue link below for more information.
https://www.fcc.gov/emergency-broadband-benefit-outreach-toolkit.
Good News - There were many pieces of good news in RSU 71 in the past week, which I'll share in next week's Friday Update.
Please feel free to reach out to our RSU 71 staff family members and me with questions, ideas, and concerns.
Sincerely yours,
Mary Alice
Friday, May 7, 2021
RSU 71 Weekly Update
Weekly Update
Friday, May 7, 2021
Dear RSU 71 Students, Families, Staff, School Board and Community Members,
It has been another lively and rewarding week in RSU 71!
Pandemic Update - This week, we have had two positive cases of COVID-19 in individuals associated with the Captain Albert Stevens School. All close contacts have been contacted and are in quarantine. Waldo County is still classified as being GREEN and safe for in-person instruction, according to today's noon announcement of Maine's county risk levels. There is an increasing amount of good news about upcoming vaccine availability for our young people ages 12 - 15; my hope and prayer is that as many students, families, and staff members get vaccinated as are needed to speed the arrival of herd immunity and the return to more normal ways of educating our students. The new case rate in Maine schools in the last 30 days is 46 per 10,000, which is about 40% lower than the statewide total of 78 cases per 10,000.
Teacher Appreciation Week - This year, we appreciate our RSU teachers and all staff as never before! As Commissioner Makin says in the video linked below, it has been the hardest year in the history of public education. Yet, the RSU family of staff members has risen to the challenge, keeping students and families engaged from the end of August of 2020 and throughout the 2020-2021 school year. Our teachers have been Rock Stars and Super Heroes during this pandemic. They have been amazingly dedicated, showing a veritable constellation of gifts and strengths. These include:
Creativity
Collaboration with students, colleagues, administrators, support staff, families, and one another
Engagement of students in high-quality instruction
Adaptability, especially in learning new instructional technology
Special abilities in helping students: acts of caring, kindness, encouragement, advice, consolation, coaching, inspiration, and building spirit and camaraderie within and between students
Helping students individually and collectively on many levels (academic, social, emotional, and in their habits of scholarship)
Motivating students to achieve their academic goals, emphasizing a growth mindset, and showing how hard work can help them get even smarter, stronger, and more accomplished over time
Commitment to helping students identify their strengths and grow even stronger in areas of challenge
Respect for students' ideas and perspectives
Energy!
Flexibility!
Good Humor!
I hope that each of you has been able to reach out and express thanks this week -- remember that it is never too late to express appreciation! There is really nothing that means more to teachers than recognition and gratitude from their students.
On June 10th (Records Day), there will be a Special Celebration of Educators school-by-school for all our teachers as well as all the other front-line educators in RSU 71, including administrative assistants, secretaries, educational technicians, bus drivers, bus aides, food servers, cooks, nurses, counselors, administrators, technology integrators, library-media specialists, custodians, maintenance workers, social workers, psychologists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, and physical therapists. Stay tuned for more information.
Maine Commissioner of Education Pender Makin's Teacher Appreciation Message: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3BvWupx4kQ
Testing Season - Next week, testing season is upon us: the NWEA, Science MEA, Alternative Assessment, and Advanced Placement exams. Please encourage all the young people in your lives to get enough rest, remember to eat, and do their very best.
Tick Season - The ticks are fierce and out in full force this spring!! All our sites are being treated next week by Modern Pest.
Elementary Reorganization - We are at the beginning of a process to study elementary reorganization. There will be ample opportunities to present ideas, discuss, answer questions, and have tours of the location being considered. In the meantime, here is the Powerpoint presented to our district's LRPC (Long-Range Planning Committee) and School Board:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ku17IjQSFce13JJkOWxmMSfllw0NO5v9t1OA0AnZNpk/edit#slide=id.p
Good News -
THMS: https://rsu71news.blogspot.com/2021/05/thms-in-doe-news.html
Track: https://rsu71news.blogspot.com/2021/05/high-school-track-and-field-lions.html
That's it for this week. This message will be emailed to all staff and the school board after 12 noon today and, a couple of hours later, all families will be Robo-messaged the same.
Stay safe, stay hopeful, stay strong, and feel free to touch with members of the staff and me with any questions, ideas, or concerns.
Sincerely, - Mary Alice
