🦅 Message from the Principal:

Dear Families,

As we head into the final stretch of May, it is truly hard to believe we have only two weeks left of the month—the end of the school year always seems to fly by! We are wrapping up our spring testing this week, and you can help your children do their absolute best by ensuring they get plenty of rest each night and a great breakfast each morning. Beyond the classroom, we are all excited for the warmer weather and will be debuting some brand-new recess equipment outside later this week for students to enjoy!

Please be sure to mark your calendars for our upcoming June events as we count down to summer:

Upcoming June Dates

June 1: Spring Concert (During the Day)

9:00 AM: PreK, Kindergarten & Eagle Group

9:30 AM: 1st & 2nd Grade

10:00 AM: Grades 3–5 & Chorus

June 3: PreK Screening

June 3 (12:30 PM): Senior Walkthrough in caps and gowns

June 5: 8th Grade Field Trip

June 8: Field Day (Rain date: June 9)

June 11 (5:00 PM): 8th Grade Celebration

June 12: Last Day of School! (Dismissal at 11:30 AM)

Thank you for your continued support as we head toward a fantastic finish to the school year!

💻 Message from the Office:

June 3 is PreK Screening if you have a student coming in the fall they need to be registered before they can be screened. We are also accepting kindergarten applications at this time. Please call the office or look on the school website for an enrollment form. 

🍎 Message from the Nurse:

As we head into the warmer weather, please remember to send your child to school with a water bottle each day. Staying hydrated helps students feel their best and stay focused throughout the school day. We also encourage students to dress appropriately for outdoor activities and changing temperatures. Wishing everyone a healthy and enjoyable end to the school year!

📱Digital Safety Tip:

☀️ The May Digital Safety Tip: The "Summer Tech Contract" Reset

Right now, kids are transitioning from structured school device use to unstructured summer free time. Instead of waiting for July burnout—where everyone is arguing about tablet limits—use the remaining weeks of May to co-create a Summer Tech Contract.

Why This Matters Right Now

During the school year, routine naturally limits screen time. In the summer, those boundaries vanish. Establishing expectations before the last bell rings prevents the "digital entitlement" friction that happens when kids suddenly expect 8 hours of gaming a day.

How to Build Your Contract (By Age Group)

Pre-K to Grade 2 (The Routine Keepers): * The Tip: Focus on "When," not just "How long."

The Rule: No screens until morning routines (dressed, teeth brushed, breakfast eaten) are done, and all screens go to "sleep" 2 hours before bedtime to protect summer sleep schedules.

Grades 3 to 5 (The Independence Seekers): * The Tip: Use the "Earned Tech" model.

The Rule: Brainstorm a checklist of daily "non-negotiables" that must happen before recreational screen time unlocks (e.g., 30 minutes of reading, playing outside, completing one household chore).

Grades 6 to 8 (The Social Networkers): * The Tip: Co-create boundaries regarding where devices live.

The Rule: Middle schoolers face increased FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and group chat drama during summer isolation. Contract that all devices charge in a central family location overnight—not in bedrooms—to prevent late-night cyberbullying or doomscrolling.

💡 Pro-Tip for Parents

Make it a two-way street! If you expect your kids to put down their phones during summer dinners or family outings, add a clause for the parents too. Leading by example makes them much more likely to buy into the contract.

⭐ Message From Mrs. Campbell

Our k-2 social skills curriculum is wrapping up and we’ve been playing games to apply what we’ve learned. We’ve done Bingo in 2nd grade and Kahoot in 1st grade. Kindergarten has their last lessons this month before they dabble into a game to show off their skills. The students have done amazing discussing, analyzing, and applying their knowledge across content and it’s been fun to see their growth! The focus for June will be to wrap up on what we’ve been learning about and making sure everyone is making good choices before summer. 😎

⚽  Sports Information:

PTA News:

PreK - Mrs. Kalacinski and Ms. Otis: 

In Pre-k we are wrapping up our things that grow unit and talking a lot about kindergarten and how like plants and animals, people grow too. In the dramatic play we have a mock kindergarten class where they get to be the teacher as an introduction to next year! In sensory we have construction, writing areas, we are practicing making letters using playdough, we have also been testing out some engineering ramps and using our problem solving skills. Just a reminder Pre-K is closed on June 3rd for screenings. 

Kindergarten - Mrs. Winters and Mrs. Brown:

We are looking forward to a week of some warmer weather! In kindergarten, we have completed our NWEA assessments, plugging through our EL assessments and getting through the end of our math unit. Consistency is key for successful days in kindergarten so even though we are completing assessments, the learners are still rotating through stations daily, practicing their daily writing as well as their EL and math lessons. Please help your child remember to dress for recess outside, mornings on the playground are still chilly. 

Grade 1 - Ms. Grant and Ms. Hoague:

In first grade, we have begun our end of year testing. We are enjoying some outside regulation time most mornings and have seen the benefits in class! In phonics, we are reviewing vowel teams with games and crafts. In math, we are continuing to practice numbers to 99. 

Grade 2 - Ms. Acosta and Mrs. Mullen:

In Mrs. Mullen’s class we are finishing up unit 7 on adding and subtracting 3 digit numbers with base ten blocks. In reading, we are starting Module 4 and continuing our discussion on pollinators with fables and folktales. In whole group skills, we are on cycle 65 which are the ch, tch, and ture sounds. In science, we will continue plants with a few more experiments on seeds, pollination, and seed dispersal. In writing we are continuing our ocean research project we started last week and will continue for the month of May. 

In Ms. Acosta’s class, we are finishing math Unit 7 adding and subtracting to 1,000. In reading, we are learning all about plants and their needs. This was a follow-up with our learning about bees and pollination. In writing, students have chosen their ocean creature to write an informational research paper. In reading, we finished our chapter books-Horrible Harry and the Ant Invasion. In El skills we are currently learning about the different sounds that ed makes at the end of words.

Grade 3 - Mrs. Del Gallo and Mrs. Wight:

 Third grade went on their very first field trip! This week we went to Mr Drews and his Animals center! The kids had an absolutely amazing time! They enjoyed holding different animals like snakes, geckos, and tarantulas! Students also were able to dig in the mine and keep three of their favorite findings! We would like to thank all of the wonderful chaperones that joined us! We couldn’t have done it without you!!!! In math we are working really hard on fractions! Fractions is a huge piece of the NWEA test which we will be starting next week. In literacy we are continuing to work on comprehension skills. 

In German, third graders review the animals listening to the animal song, read a conversation between Anna and Simon about a drink and choose their answers: “Ja, das schmeckt gut” (Yes, that tastes good), “Nein, das schmeckt nicht gut” (No, that doesn’t taste good) or “Ich weiß nicht” (I don’t know). We will learn the names of German drinks and foods and watch videos about ordering food in the bakery.

Grade 4 - Mrs. Cargill and Mrs. Rush

Thank you to those families who were able to make it to our “Celebration of Learning." It was nice to see the students excited to share their learning with you and their friends. We have finished the reading portion of our testing and will complete the math portion this Thursday. They have been working very hard to do their best. 

In French, Gr.4 students read about the kids’ summer plans, practice their own choices using the expressions “Je vais aller à …” (I am going to …), faire du vélo (to bike), camper (to camp) and write down their partner’s choices. 

Grade 5 - Mrs. Reith and Mrs. Williams

Our 5th graders have been absolute superstars over the last two weeks! They have shown incredible perseverance and put forth their best effort during the Math and Reading state tests. We are entering our final stretch next week with the Science test. We are so proud of their hard work so far and can’t wait to see them finish strong!

In French, Gr.5 students practice the question about food: “Quelle sorte de cuisine?” (What kind of food?), listen to the answers and guess what adjectives: chinoise, italienne, mexicaine, grecque, espagnole, américaine and japonaise mean. We will continue with our projects and reply to the content questions.  

🗺 Social Studies - Ms. Shields

6th Grade- Students will be continuing their world map travels with Europe where we will look at their culture, government, then life in the 1500’s as we begin to wrap up the school year in preparation for the beginning of 7th grade where we look at the 13 colonies. We will also use the end of the year to do a Maine Studies unit.

7th Grade- the 7th graders have been working hard on their “Cabinets Project”. I am really proud of the work and research they conducted for these presentations! It is really awesome getting to teach young minds about our government and what goes into all three branches every day. We are now starting to shift gears for the end of the year unit where we will learn about finances, and how to be smart with our money as we get older. We will have an end of unit test on the branches of government on June 2nd. Study guides will go out May 18th.

8th Grade-We are wrapping up the Civil War Unit with our last test!! This test will be on June 2nd. Review packets will go out starting next week so that they can start to study. After the civil war we are going to check out the Great Depression for a week or two, then before we know it, summer will be here!

📊 Math - Miss McCaslin:

Both grade levels worked incredibly hard on their NWEA assessments recently, and students showed great focus and perseverance throughout testing. We are proud of the effort they put in and the growth they continue to make this year!

6th Grade: Students are currently working on understanding variables and how mathematical expressions are written and interpreted. We are focusing on how variables represent unknown numbers and how expressions can model real-life situations. Next, students will begin an introduction to integers, where we will explore positive and negative numbers and how they are used in everyday life.

7th Grade: We are working on proportionality and learning how to identify and represent proportional relationships in tables, graphs, and equations. Students will soon move on to scale and scale factor, where they’ll apply these skills to drawings, maps, and models to better understand how proportional reasoning is used in the real world.

🔬Science - Mr. Bailey:

We are finishing up our unit on Terraforming Mars by studying the greenhouse effect on Earth, Venus and Mars.

Also, today the 6th grade will be heading down to USM for the Southern Maine Children’s Water Festival!

Thank you for your continued support and encouragement at home!

📈 Math - Mrs. Hall:

7th grade is working on data and statistics. This requires them to use the process of finding percentages using a proportion, as well as pulling the correct information from a table.

8th grade is just about finished with Systems of Equations. This is a challenging unit. They will not have a final unit test, but there will be plenty to do to show what they know.

Algebra 1 students are finishing their work with Quadratic Equations. Next step: solving those equations. We are on track for those students going to Erskine to be ready for their placement test.

📖 English - Mr. Gammon:

Middle School Language Arts students are preparing to take the Spring NWEA Testing. NWEA's assessments are called Measures of Academic Progress (MAP). When taking these computerized adaptive tests, the difficulty of each question is based on how well a student answers all the previous questions. In an optimal test, a student answers approximately half the items correctly and half incorrectly. This information helps us identify students’ strengths and weaknesses in reading, as well as language. It provides and assists us in developing classroom instructional goals. 7th graders are reading The Outsiders while refining their understanding of the Elements of Literature and learning how to write persuasive paragraphs. 8th-grade students have been building background knowledge on William Shakespeare through Edpuzzle and Shako(a game similar to BINGO) as they prepare to read the play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

📓  English - Ms. Haskell:

Our 6th and 7th-grade students continue to immerse themselves in their literature studies, both in class and at home. It was a pleasure seeing them share their insights with friends and family during last week's Celebration of Learning evening. The students took great pride in their projects, and we are so grateful to everyone who joined us to celebrate their hard work!

💻 Learning Commons - Mrs. Couture:

Middle School: 7th and 8th grade students have been learning about properly citing sources with MLA format. They created pop-culture flyers to practice citing quotes and pictures. 6th graders have done STEM centers (with puzzles being a huge hit!) and started another mission with mission.io. We will finish up this mission on mapping the area of infected tissue next week! 

Elementary School: 5th graders have been finishing up their Steve Jenkins inspired art, 4th graders are working on designing and constructing structures based on the book, Animal Architects by Amy Cherrix. 3rd graders having been working on Lego Spike kits (our robotic legos) building amusement park rides and carnival games!  

Primary School: PreK has been using the Indi cars again, it’s cool to see how much their knowledge of these robots has grown this year! Kinders and 1st grade played The Floor Is Lava, a engineering challenge to create a structure that will hold the most people. 2nd Graders finished their woven flowers!

📚 Library - Ms. Helen:

We are fast approaching the end of the year so have stopped book checkout in order to get all books back to the library so we can check our inventory. I will send home notices of books

 still out, please help your child find those titles. 

  It has been a great year with many books read.

🎶 Music - Mr. Morgan:

I would like to invite you to our Spring Concert Series for grades PreK-5 and Chorus. The concert will take place during the school day on Monday, June 1st with three concerts: PreK, Kindergarten and Eagle Group at 9am, 1st & 2nd grade at 9:30am and grades 3-5 and Chorus at 10am. Parents should try to arrive about 10 minutes before the concert starts. If you have any questions feel free to contact me or the school. 

The 5-8 Band had a great combined concert with Whitefield school last week. PreK-5 grade students attended the band concert and learned about the various instruments we have in our school band.  Next year the band concert will take place at Whitefield.

🎨Art - Mrs. Dunn:

Second graders have been having fun learning about the artist Wayne Thiebaud.  He is an artist who became famous for painting cakes, pies, and other treats!  Students had fun learning about shading as part of their Wayne Thiebaud style cupcake drawings! 

Third graders are learning about Op art.  Op art was a style of art from the 1960s, Artists who worked in this style wanted to create optical illusions in their art. 

Fourth graders are doing a unit on African art.  They are currently working on creating a decorative Africa style mask. 

Seventh graders are finishing up their architecture unit, and eighth graders are working on portrait drawing as part of their unit on Renaissance art.  

🏃PE - Mr. LaRochelle:

K-2 students are prepping for and practicing some field day activities at this time. Field day this year will take place on June 8th, with a rain date of June 9th. We have a lot of fun games and activities planned for this year!

Students in grades 3-5 are currently doing our recess games unit. Some games that we will play during this unit include, gaga ball, four square, and kickball. We will be outside a lot during this unit so make sure the kids come to school with the proper clothing when needed. 

Students in middle school are just starting our backyard games unit. The games that we will be playing include cornhole, spikeball, and kan jam. We will also be outside a lot during this unit, so make sure all students come prepared for that.

News from Gifted and Talented:

Students have continued on with their projects for Unit 2, many writing pieces are being completed, and students are moving on to creating something to go with their writing pieces. I have some art pieces, a math game, and a catapult starting to take form. I also have a few stories that are starting to come to life! 

Gifted and Talented testing for new candidates is wrapping up, and lists are beginning to be made for needs for next year.

From OT