On Monday January 24 the Superintendent presented the State of the Schools to the Board of Directors and the community.

The workshop video can be found here:
https://tinyurl.com/2p97jbwp

The presentation can be found here:

https://tinyurl.com/ssspsd2022

South Portland Schools added another strategy to our COVID-19 prevention measures: "pooled testing" in grades PreK-6 (The district may consider expanding pooled testing to other grades after this initial phase is launched).
Pooled testing means that students in a classroom will have a COVID-19 test once a week. Pooled testing is a voluntary program. Parents must sign a consent form (please see below) in order for their child to participate. All of the testing is free.

On November 30th South Portland Schools hosted a Community Forum on Equity and Educational Justice. Over sixty people representing parents, teachers, elected officials and community members participated in the event. Presentations from Assistant Superintendent Megan Welter and Superintendent Tim Matheney are available here as slide decks and as a recorded video. Please continue to monitor this page and school communications for future events.

South Portland Schools will be hosting free flu clinics in partnership with Northern Light Health this October.

Although the vaccine is provided at no charge, there is an associated cost to administer the vaccine which will NOT be charged to your family. We appreciate it if you include accurate insurance information to keep costs low. Children presenting with an incomplete form will not receive their vaccine. There is no cost to families and those without insurance will be vaccinated if the appropriate form is completed.

If you would like your child to receive the flu vaccine at school please click on the link below from Northern Light and complete the consent form. You must complete all highlighted fields, so please use N/A if it doesn't apply.

Registration Link

For more information please visit: https://tinyurl.com/spsdflu2021

South Portland band teacher Jen Fletcher and Jake Walker, 5th grade band director in Huntley, Illinois came up with the innovative idea to engage students by learning an instrument in a less traditional setting. Dubbed "The PenPal Project," the program enabled students to learn from each other in a safe and teacher-monitored environment using FlipGrid and video conferencing.

"This idea stemmed from the desire to give students some excitement during virtual learning, but also to show them that everyone was going through the challenges and triumphs of learning a band instrument." said Ms. Fletcher.

Since his hiring in March, Superintendent Tim Matheney has been working on his 2021 Entry Plan. In order to accelerate his learning about South Portland's critical issues, organizational strengths and valued traditions, the Superintendent has been actively meeting with members of the leadership team, staff, the Board of Education and the broader community. With the lens of equity, Matheney's plan focuses on all areas of our education system.

Par­ents, students and staff who are interested in participating in Entry Plan activities are encouraged to contact the Superin­tendent's Office at 207-871-0555 or supt@spsdme.org

Please continue to visit our website for updates, and click "Read More"to view the Entry Plan.

On Saturday, June 19, 2021 the South Portland High School baseball team captured the 2021 Class A Baseball State Championship with a 3-2 victory over the Bangor High School Rams at Saint Joseph's College in Standish Maine.

The state title is the first for South Portland baseball since 1952 and ends a sixty-nine year state championship drought for the Red Riots. Since 1952 the Red Riots have finished as state runners up twice (1991, 2015) and as regional runners up six times (1980, 1987, 1990, 2001, 2016, 2019).

On Wednesday June 9th former Superintendent Kunin presented a Reopening Plan for the 2021-2022 school year to the Board of Education. The plan detailed a return to in-person learning, full time five days a week, and holds the health and safety of students, staff and community as the primary consideration; strives to ensure equitable access to opportunity for all of our students; and was built to be flexible and to address multiple possible scenarios.

"We anticipate a much more normal and joyous level of activity across our schools with music and athletics" said Kunin.

The slides of the presentation can be viewed here, and a recording of the workshop presentation and discussion is available here.

Viewers in the South Portland area who are cable TV subscribers may also access the program live on SPC-TV Channel 2. SPC-TV will also be streaming the event here.

The event is scheduled to begin at 1pm on Sunday June 6th.

For more information please visit the SPHS website.

To celebrate Children's Book Week, Brown Elementary hosted a One School, One Book project. All students in grades K-5, whether attending school in-person or remotely, read Outside, Inside by LeUyen Pham and participated in corresponding activities.

Brown Elementary's Partners for Children partnered with Dead River Company and the United Way for the purpose of meeting the Thrive 2027 goal of giving every child quality early learning experiences. The funds from Dead River were used to purchase books and other literacy instructional materials.

Families and community members joined in on the fun by enjoying the Outside, Inside StoryWalk™ displayed on the fence at Brown Elementary School and around the playground of Brickhill Heights. They painted kindness rocks to help spread joy throughout the community. Those who enjoyed the StoryWalks™ were invited to take a rock, or leave a rock.

"The Brown School community has been experiencing these "unprecedented times" together and our perseverance over this past year deserves to be recognized and celebrated. Every class read the book and engaged in discussions around connecting to the text, caring for others, resilience, hope, diversity, and appreciation" said Principal Alexis Jones.

Please visit this website for a community reading of Outside, Inside.

The Maine Association of School Libraries has honored a South Portland elementary school librarian with its 2021 Librarian of the Year award.

Jennifer Stanbro, 50, has been with Skillin Elementary School since 2004, and now serves as teacher librarian and the district's K-12 libraries coordinator.

Stanbro's work goes well beyond helping kids check out books. She teaches classes in research and technology, focusing on skills such as how to do research online, how to use critical thinking to identify facts, proper usage of social media and even how to identify copyrighted works online.

The Walter J. Taranko School Librarian Award is given annually to a school librarian "in recognition of excellence in school library work within the State of Maine." In a statement, the MASL wrote: "The support and advocacy efforts made by Jen demonstrate the exemplary qualities of a School Librarian that MASL seeks to honor each year."

In early April district administrators met with Stanbro at the Skillin library, while students, staff and Stanbro's family joined via Google Meets to congratulate her.

Skillin School received a donation of $5000 towards school supplies from Burlington Stores via the national non-profit organization, AdoptAClassroom.org

Skillin Elementary Principal Bethany Connolly, Assistant Principal Myra Caron and Gretchen McCloy, Director of Community Partnerships for the South Portland Schools were on hand for the ribbon cutting at the new store on Running Hill Road to receive the donation. The donation will provide new school supplies for each teacher's classroom. Teachers will use the funds on a number of new classroom items such as instructional materials, incentives, art and music supplies, multicultural books, and hands-on learning materials.

At the April 14th Board of Education Meeting, Dr. Daryl Williams, Senior Education Equity Specialist at MAEC, shared a summary of themes from focus groups which took place at South Portland High School in March of 2020. MAEC was engaged by the school department and the Board of Education in 2019 to support South Portland's ongoing work to ensure that schools provide equity of access to opportunity for all students.

"This was a proactive step to guide us in looking at issues around equity as part of our strategic vision for our district. Hearing the voices, particularly the voices of students, is an important part of creating a vision upon which to act," said now former Superintendent Ken Kunin and Dr. Williams in a joint statement. "South Portland Schools will learn from the MAEC recommendations and will work closely with our community and with MAEC to move forward."

Following a national search the South Portland Board of Education appointed Timothy Matheney as Superintendent of Schools effective July 1, 2021. Mr. Matheney is a lifelong educator and the founder and president of the Spire Leadership Group, an educational consulting organization.

Matheney stated, "I am eager to build on the great work of Superintendent Kunin and the amazing educators in South Portland as we continue to pursue the Board's vision for equity and excellence. I look forward to leading the implementation of the equity plan currently under development and ensuring collaboration among all stakeholders – students, parents, community members and staff – during this important effort."

As the sun rose on another day, it left us wondering if January 6 really happened. Did we actually witness an assault on our nation's capital while the Congress was meeting to certify the peaceful transfer of administrations, a bedrock of our democracy since John Adams in 1801? With a very heavy heart, we had to acknowledge that we did.

While we are already striving to continue our students' learning through a year of pandemic, we now have the job of supporting our learning communities through an additional challenge. As we engage with our students we are ever mindful that the sacred purpose of public school, since its very founding, is and has always been to educate our youth to be active participants in our democracy. In uncertain times, our shared task is more important than ever.

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) are used for improving behavior and practices that affect student outcomes everyday. These practices, although not new to the SPSD, have come to the forefront of education this year as students work through new ways of learning and navigating their educational experience. At the Small School, teachers, staff, and administrators have a system in place that helps inspire and then celebrate students for their work.

With all of the restrictions on student movement this year between classrooms and interpersonally due to COVID, it has been a top priority for teachers and staff in South Portland to create opportunities for the children of the district to be more active. One creative way this has come to fruition is thanks to Laurie Milton and the Connections Program. Milton knew that the students needed something light-hearted and fun that could double as a mentally challenging, physical activity break during the course of the day and was inspired early in the year while shopping.