Notes from the Superintendent
November 21, 2023
The Year is Well Underway...
Greetings All,
Here is the first edition of Notes from the Superintendent for this year. The big reveal in this newsletter is the Strategic Plan for the next three years. This plan is designed to be focused on our four Strategic Pillars, which have been floating around for a few years now, and it outlines metrics for improvement during the three year time period. Below this block of text is a link to a recording designed to provide an overview of the Strategic Plan. I encourage you to read the plan, not only so that you can see the priorities, but you can see data related to student performance, the facilities, and staff retention. It's interesting to see how the pandemic has impacted many aspects of the work we do in school; it is quite noticeable in the graphic representations of the data. I am pleased to report that we are already seeing an improvement in our chronic absenteeism rate!
I do want to acknowledge the impact that the bus driver shortage has on our students and families. Currently, we have several open positions for bus drivers, and we are in need of bus driver substitutes. If you are interested in becoming a bus driver, the current salary for new bus drivers is $20.04 per hour. You can go to our district website if you are interested in applying.
I hope that you and your families have a happy Thanksgiving holiday break.
All the best,
Heather Manchester
Superintendent of Schools, MSAD#17
Strategic Pillar #1: Healthy and Resilient Students
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) Updates
Oxford Hills staff also presented at the PBIS conference! Kristen Bolduc, from Otisfield Community School, shared "Getting Ready, Getting Started, Getting Better: Tier 1 Training with Maine PBIS." Melanie Ellsworth, Director of Federal Programs, and Jan Neureuther, Director of Student Services, gave a presentation called "District Leadership Teaming: Supporting and Sustaining Implementation of PBIS." We are so proud to have our staff leading other schools in this effort!
One of our next steps of our District PBIS Team is to include more stakeholders from our community in our PBIS work. Our first meeting with representatives from Count Me In, Community Concepts, the Tech School, Healthy Oxford Hills, and Oxford SACC. We've also included an administrator and a School Resource Officer in the group. Not only will these additional members of our team provide feedback on our PBIS work thus far, we hope to identify common language and practices across all of our partnerships.
Congratulations, Jason Wallace, OTS! Winner of Attendance Matters Poster Competition
Congratulations, Xian Tripp, OTS! 2nd Place Winner of Attendance Matters Poster Competition
Support for Parents of Children with Special Needs
- a Statewide Family Network
- Parent Training and Information
- the Family to Family Program
- Family Support Navigation
- Transition Support for Youth
They have monthly Zoom sessions for family support (and a Zoom for older students with special needs, too!). All of the employees have children with special needs, so they understand the needs that families have. Please reach out to them if you need support.
Kindergarteners Learning at Paris Elementary School
Playground Expectations at Agnes Gray
Monday Night Lights at the Gouin Complex
Strategic Pillar #2: Maximize Facilities to Support Learning
School Safety Updates
Student and staff safety is our most important priority in MSAD#17. Here are a few of the things that are in the works:
- Our newly formed our District Safety Committee is meeting to establish system wide safety priorities.
- Emergency Operations Plans for each school are up to date and the Safety Committee is auditing our District plan.
- We are assessing building safety needs to develop a comprehensive school safety and security grant proposal.
- Approved Revolving Renovations Funds projects will add significant safety features to both Waterford and Otisfield Schools.
- The Comprehensive Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG) are embedded in all of our schools.
- Staff have completed mandatory trainings, including ALICE violent critical incident response, in all buildings.
Learning Expectations at Oxford Elementary School
Fire Drill at Otisfield Community School
Art at Waterford Memorial School
Strategic Pillar #3 Recruit, Retain, and Grow Talent
Crystal Cochrane, Special Education Teacher, September Staff Member of the Month
- Crystal continually goes and above and beyond to support her students, the ed. techs. she works with, and the district.
- She always has a positive, can do attitude. She is ALWAYS willing to help others.
- She not only see what an individual student needs, but how systems and programs work and what works best looking at the big picture.
- Crystal supports two Functional Life Skills(FLS) programs: at Rowe and Oxford
- She case manages students at Oxford and supports the Ed Techs there with scheduling, planning, and all of the elements of running a FLS program
- She continues to be an advocate for her students, whether they are at Guy E. Rowe or Oxford Elementary, and continues to be positive and have the 'can-do' attitude.
- She does the best thing, even when it is hard.
Thanks for all of your work with kids and families, Crystal!!
Postsecondary Fair at OHCHS
OHMS Talent Show Performers
Looking for Decomposers at Roberts Farm
Pillar #4: Rigorous, Responsive, and Relevant Learning
Curriculum Update
Hello from the Curriculum Office! Here are some important updates:
We recently had a very successful fall testing window for the state assessment; we had our highest participation rate in recent years! Our goal will be to reach a 95% district test participation rate this spring.
Gifted and Talented: With the retirement of long-time GT teacher, Deb Johnson, and the hiring of a new teacher, Jenn Doyle, we are working to reimagine our GT program.
Subject Area Committees
Curriculum Coordinating Council: After a pandemic pause, the CCC is revisiting and reviewing grading practices in the Oxford Hills. There will be opportunities for input on this in the future.
ELA: K-12 we are in a review cycle focused on the revised state standards. Elementary schools have also updated scoring guides and will be moving into a review of phonics programming.
Math: Pat a math teacher on the back! The committee continues to support the new program implementation and also review the standards revision.
Science: We’ll be applying for a state grant to add climate change education into our science instruction, especially in grades 6-12.
Social Studies: Despite the state revising the standards again, there is coordinated work between districts at the elementary level to write new units. MS/HS work also focuses on revising units and adding lessons to respond to the new standards.
There is also work happening in health, music, PE, and outdoor learning! Thank you to our community partners who share role in this work!
Building a Strong Culture at an MSAD#17 Board Workshop
Local Veterans Honored at Rowe Assembly
School Construction: A Board Workshop
Heather is the Superintendent of schools for MSAD#17, serving the eight towns of the Oxford Hills.