To:       School Board

Re:       Superintendent’s Report

Fr:       Victoria Burns, Superintendent

Date:    June 2, 2010

 

 

1.         Congratulations to the 43 proud graduates of Adult Education who either received an Adult Education Diploma or a GED. The graduation ceremony was held on May 26^th at the High School. Thank you to Sandy MacDonald and Kathleen Potter for representing the School Board.

 

2.         I want to thank the School Board for granting permission for a team to go to the Partnership for Next Generation Learning Meeting May 19-May 22. The goal of this national partnership is to create a personalized system of education that engages and motivates each student-regardless of his or her circumstance-to be prepared for life, meaningful work, and citizenship. Six states, including Maine, were selected for this partnership, and Maine asked MSAD #15 to be the one school in the state to be part of this initiative.

 

            The State of Maine chose MSAD #15 due to our Vision and Strategic Plan and our drive to actively transform the educational experience through our exploration of a partnership with the Reinventing Schools Coalition with its focus on student-centered learning. The State also stated that the on-going pathway work at the High School including International Baccalaureate, the Alternative Program, and the Maine Syllabus Project made MSAD #15 stand out as a District focusing on excellence and personalization.

 

            The Council for Chief School Officers (CCSSO) and the Stupski Foundation are being joined by educational leaders and others who providing intellectual capital and financial resources to this opportunity for the schools involved in this project. The Partnership for Next Generation Learning will create replicable, scalable implementations of next generation learning, and MSAD #15 has the opportunity to be an innovation site. The support offered from both the CCSSO and the State of Maine is an opportunity that will help MSAD #15 reach our Vision-all students meeting high standards.

 

            A team will be formed this summer to explore this opportunity. It will include the State Department, the University of Maine, the School Board, stakeholders of MSAD #15, and others. The administrative team has a meeting scheduled with the Department of Education on June 18^th to clarify the summer work. A convening is tentatively scheduled for August 12 and August 13^th in Gray-New Gloucester to announce the Partnership and get input from the State and communities on the plans for educational transformation.

 

            On tonight’s agenda, under Discussion, I will ask the Board to endorse MSAD #15’s partnership with Reinventing Schools Coalition as we work to transform our District to meet the School Board’s Vision and Strategic Plan. A portion of my presentation will demonstrate how MSAD #15’s Vision, Strategic Plan, Reinventing Schools Coalition and the Partnership for Next Generation Learning all support one another. MSAD #15 is at a cross roads; go it alone and continue to tweak our current educational system for improved test scores and graduation rate or devote our energies and resources toward a new transformational system that will give us our “best shot” at graduating all students prepared for the next step (and receive fold-around services to support our work at little financial cost).

 

3.         Thanks to Our Patriot Parents! I received an email from Joe Bedard who informed me that the 1^st Annual 5 K was a huge success and they were able to raise over $9,000 for our schools.

 

4.         On May 27^th, I attended the 2010 Eco Fair at the High School. AP Biology, Oceanography, Physics, Environmental Studies, 10^th Biology and the 6^th Grade Pathfinders Team worked together to develop these exhibitions. I hope you had a chance to talk to the students about their work. It was on display prior to the Budget Meeting. I was impressed with the depth of research and teamwork. I enjoyed observing the interaction of the 6^th graders with the high school students. What great role models for our 6^th graders.

 

5.         Attached is list of the policies under consideration for June 2^nd for a first reading.

 

           

 

Important Dates

June 1              Summer Sports Registration and Ice Cream Social

June 11            Last Student Day

June 12            G-NG High School graduation at the Civic Center.