Weekly Update: Friday, September 3, 2021
Dear RSU 71 Students, Families, Staff, School Board and Community Members,
Our 2021 - 2022 school year is underway! This week's message will be emailed to staff and the school board, and Robo-sent to all families. The next update will be sent on Friday, September 10.
Pandemic Update
This Week's Numbers (as of this morning at 10:30 am) - Here are the numbers of individuals associated with our schools who have had positive coronavirus test results or are in quarantine. All parents of affected students have been contacted.
East Belfast and Kermit Nickerson Schools: At Nickerson, two individuals tested positive before school began, with three in quarantine as of the first day of school. East Belfast has one individual in quarantine and another tested positive today. The parents of the students affected are being called this morning.
Captain Albert Stevens School: Two individuals tested positive before school began, and three are in quarantine.
Ames and Weymouth Schools: Two individuals from Ames tested positive, and 13 are in quarantine. At Weymouth, one tested positive before school began and one since school started, with 13 people in quarantine.
Troy Howard Middle School: One individual tested positive and has been in quarantine since before school began, and two individuals were exposed before school started and are quarantining.
Belfast Area High School/BCOPE: One student tested positive before school began, and six are in quarantine.
Despite being close contacts, six students can come to school due to RSU 71's COVID-19 Prevention Plan and its exemptions. These individuals must quarantine outside of school but can continue in-person learning based on our universal masking practice.
Two staff members are exempt from quarantine due to our plan and can continue to teach their students.
Pooled Testing Update: We welcome Kim Ward, RN, as our new district Pooled Testing Champion. A written message and consent form will soon be Robo-sent to all families so that parents and guardians interested in having their children tested (for free once a week) may get on the list. An advantage of participation in pooled testing from the parent perspective -- beyond peace of mind -- is that students who are pool tested will not need to be quarantined from their classrooms if the children have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive. Students may continue to come to school, allowing parents to continue to go to work.
Pooled Testing Protocol: Our pooled testing coordinator will come to each school once per week. Classroom teachers in grades K-5 and student advisors in grades 6 - 12 will need to set aside just 10 minutes once per week to assist the nurse in handing swabs to students whose parents have requested they be tested. Participating students will sanitize their hands, swab their own noses, put the swab in the plastic bottle provided, and then sanitize their hands again.
Here are the names of the nurses on our Fabulous School Nurse Team:
BAHS - Gail Dudley (207-338-1790)
THMS -Robyn Mailloux (207-338-3320)
CASS - Chris Kiley - until all students return to CASS (207-338-3510) - we thank her for coming out of retirement!
United Farmers Market - Cady Johndro - until all CASS students return to CASS (207-322-0532) - new this year -- please welcome her!
Kermit Nickerson - Kim Pomroy (207-338-1858)
East Belfast - Brittany Oettinger (207- 338-4420) - new this year - please welcome her!
Ames - Shannon Robbins (207-342-5100)
Weymouth - Lora Laffan (207-342-5300) - new this year -please welcome her!
The RSU 71 Covid-19 Prevention Plan is attached to this message.
Good News and Information
Support our Lions! BAHS sports schedules for Cross Country, Golf, Field Hockey, Football, and Soccer can be found here: https://www.mpaschedules.org/public/genie/1142/school/1525/ We look forward to seeing parents, students, and fans return to the sidelines as the regular season kicks off this week. Please consider volunteering for the BAHS Booster Club and show your spirit with some new Lions gear. More details can be found here: https://bahs.rsu71.org/athleticsactivities/athletics
Kudos and Thanks to Two Tri-Town Students - Noah and Hannah Deejtin generously donated their lemonade stand fundraiser to help our school community. They made over $200 and purchased school supplies, backpacks, snacks, and essential clothing!
Open Houses - We have held Open Houses outside this year at the Kermit Nickerson, East Belfast, Ames, and Weymouth Schools. The Open Houses at Captain Albert Stevens School are this afternoon at both the United Farmers Market and at CASS, while Troy Howard Middle School's is scheduled for Tuesday, September 21, and Belfast Area High School's will be on Monday, September 20th.
Kermit Nickerson New Raised Beds - Josiah Howard completed his Eagle Scout Project by planning, designing, and constructing four new raised beds for Kermit Nickerson School. FoodCorps Service Member Sara Hallam is already utilizing these beds. She has planted radishes and lettuce, which are already sprouting! Josiah also removed the old raised beds that were too far away from a water source. The Nickerson School community is so excited to connect gardening activities with the RSU 71 Curriculum. Thank you, Josiah and Sara!
Teaming at THMS - The team at Troy Howard Middle school kicked off staff planning and professional development with a great team-building exercise. Staff broke into small groups and collaborated to pull some strings to spell out relationships - a key focus for the beginning of the year. As a result, everyone learned something about teamwork to take into the year ahead. Similar activities are happening in classrooms and advisories all over the building this week. So we're off to a great start!
That's it for this week! As always, please feel free to be in touch with our principals, nurses, school counselors and me, with questions, feedback, and good ideas.
Warm Regards,
PS: Here's the summary of a helpful article about how to avoid polarization during periods of political and social unrest, which may be of interest to students, families, and staff, courtesy of this week's Marshall Memo. It is a good reminder that we need to respectfully listen to and seek to understand people who think differently than we ourselves do. It is a hallmark of our RSU 71 community that we care about all our students, families, staff members, school board members, and community partners, irrespective of our opinions, beliefs, and interpretations. We all belong to RSU 71, and every single one of us is worthy and highly valuable to the well-being of the whole.
Skillfully Handling Hot-Button Issues in the Months Ahead
In this Education Week article, author/journalist Amanda Ripley says many U.S. schools are experiencing a "superstorm" of fraught issues, including masks, vaccinations, and what parts of American history should and should not be taught. "Having studied high-conflict elections, divorces, gangs, and even civil wars," says Ripley, "I can say that the behavior is chillingly predictable. People become very certain of their own moral righteousness, and they make a lot of mistakes" – which can end up harming children.
But bad outcomes are not inevitable, she says, if we realize the ways in which high conflict is a trap and take these steps:
• Avoid polarization. Ripley quotes Nelson Mandela: "There is nobody more dangerous than one who has been humiliated, even when you humiliate him rightly." Leaders need to avoid binary characterizations of others, she says, lower the temperature, and think about stakeholders "as complicated human beings who can change."
• Articulate the hidden agenda. Under the surface in high-conflict situations, says Ripley, is often fear. "Sometimes it is justified, sometimes not. Either way, it will just metastasize until it gets surfaced." Leaders need to be curious, ask questions, engage in active listening, acknowledge their own uncertainty, and keep the focus on the kids. "At least half of what people need in conflict is to be heard," she says, "even if they don't get their way in the end."
• Don't be afraid of "good conflict." This kind of disagreement can be heated and stressful, says Ripley, but if it's built on a foundation of relationships, it's often productive: "Questions get asked. We experience flashes of anger and frustration – alongside flashes of humor and curiosity. That is the kind of conflict that pushes us to be better people." That will happen only if there's rapport and trust – over time, a five-to-one ratio of positive to negative interactions. Ripley has a few suggestions:
- School leaders standing outside in the morning warmly greeting every student and chatting with parents;
- Inviting the head of the teachers' union to lunch;
- Giving positive feedback to a reporter who wrote a thoughtful article about schools (with a copy to the editor);
- Buying masks with students' favorite sports team logo and giving them out free.
"These fleeting moments matter," concludes Ripley, "and we've had precious few of them for the past 17 months. Think of each connection, no matter how simple, as an investment in your own future sanity."
"Schools Are Facing a High-Conflict 'Superstorm'" by Amanda Ripley in Education Week, August 25, 2021 (Vol. 41, #2, p. 24)
