RSU #34 is in the process of revising federal grant applications (ESSER II, and ESSER III / ARP) to include new needs identified by community stakeholders. If you would like to provide additional input or be involved in this process please email our Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Jon Doty (Jon.Doty@rsu34.org).
The RSU #34 School Board will hold their monthly meeting on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 in the LMS Cafeteria beginning at 6:30p.m.
https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/88675390718
In 2018 through early 2019, a stakeholder group in RSU #34 led a community discussion about aspirations and opportunities for our community’s middle school students. This process included a community forum, community survey, and reporting to the School Board.
This fall, RSU #34 is conducting a more compact process to confirm that these are still the priorities of our community. We will use this information to inform our planning/budgeting for future years, as well as to inform our applications for grant funds such as ESSER/ARP. We invite you to complete this brief survey, and/or to join us at an open discussion at Leonard Middle School on Monday, Oct. 24th, 5:30 - 6:30 PM.
If you wish, please complete this survey by October 31st, 2022. https://forms.gle/kFYSYkuWgqCNjsuR8
If you would like to be more involved, please contact Dr. Gert Nesin, LMS Principal, at Gert.Nesin@rsu34.org !
Re-Affirming Elementary Stakeholder Priorities
In 2019 through early 2020, an “elementary stakeholder group” in RSU #34 led a community discussion about opportunities and needs for our community’s elementary students. This process included a number of open meetings, community survey, and reporting to the School Board. The committee discussed what our community was proud of, what remained on our wish list for students, enrollment projections, facilities, and a variety of possibilities.
This fall, RSU #34 is conducting a more compact process to confirm that these are still the priorities of our community. We will use this information to inform our planning/budgeting for future years, as well as to inform our applications for grant funds such as ESEA and ESSER/ARP. We invite you to complete this brief survey, and/or to join us at an open discussion at one of these times:
*with Alton Elementary PTC, @ November meeting (date TBD)
*with Viola Rand School PRIDE, Monday 10/3, 6 PM (email Heidi.Gifford@rsu34.org for Zoom link)
*with Old Town Elementary School PTC, Nov. 2nd, 2022
If you wish, please complete this survey by November 3rd, 2022: https://forms.gle/FuvZHH8NEzbhCrVL9
We also invite you to complete this survey about our use of federal Family Engagement Funds: https://forms.gle/PXY7wo2xipzEaMCfA
If you would like to be more involved, please contact your school’s administration or RSU #34’s Assistant Superintendent (jon.doty@rsu34.org)! Similar outreach will be coming out in the coming month for Leonard Middle School and Old Town High School.
It’s been a great day for RSU #34! This morning our grant application was approved for $70,000 in supplies to support Computer Science learning at all of our schools; this will support and expand our current coding and robotics efforts, and give us new capacities in virtual and augmented reality. Many thanks to our STEM specialists Mrs. Daniel and Mrs. Zabierek for their hard work in preparing the grant application. Our schools have been leading the way in robotics and coding since a 2012-era community fundraising effort! In addition to our in-school programming for all students, over the course of the past decade competitive robotics teams from LMS and OTHS have each earned their way to international competitions.
Then at lunchtime, the Department of Education announced that RSU #34 is one of just four grantees statewide under the Community Schools program. This $50,000 grant will enable us to continue our existing community outreach efforts led by Mrs. Goodwin. Many thanks to her and Mrs. Wilcox for their hard work preparing that grant application. $120,000 total in grant awards is a great way to end a busy week!
RSU#34 School Board meeting tonight (9/21/22) in the LMS cafeteria beginning at 6:30pm.
https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/83267025282
September 17th (this coming Saturday) is Constitution Day and Citizenship Day in the United States. The 7th grade Puffin Team at LMS starts their year off with a unit on Civics and Government - which aligns with the Maine Learning Results. Our first effort is to establish a classroom constitution - where students have brainstormed ideas (much like our founding fathers!) on how to be a citizen in our school. From there, students explore citizenship and democracy as it connects to the Constitution. Students next explore how our branches of government were set up from the Constitution as well as case law that has been settled by SCOTUS. Constitution Day is celebrated every day during this unit, not just one day of the year. Our final lessons will be on the rights and responsibilities of citizens, which includes researching topics that are important to them as we head to the polls in November, in order to be an informed voter.
More information about Constitution Day and Citizenship Day can be found at the National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/news/topics/constitution-day
RSU #34 School Board meeting tonight (8/24/22) in the LMS Cafeteria beginning at 6:30p.m. https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/83918358505
RSU #34 School Board meeting tonight (7/20/22) in the LMS Cafeteria beginning at 6:30p.m.
https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/88120858634
The Science Lab at the University of Maine has some openings for PK - 3rd grade students from RSU #34 schools. This is an after-school opportunity once a month in the fall. To learn more please check out this link (https://5il.co/1ecxo ), and if you're interested in registering please contact Joanne Alex (her email is on the linked document). We're fortunate to have so many opportunities for kids in our community!
Regional School Unit #34 June 15, 2022 School Board Meeting
6:30pm Leonard Middle School Cafeteria
https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/81826144460
Our partners at Hirundo Wildlife Refuge are offering some interesting summer camps for kids aged 6-12 - if you're interested please visit their website at https://www.hirundomaine.org/summer-kids-programs
RSU #34 is revising several plans in coordination with needs expressed by the public, staff, and School Board throughout the winter and spring. We appreciate all who have provided feedback / input so far through Board meetings, PTC meetings, web surveys, and public sessions. To provide additional feedback, please email Dr. Doty: jon.doty@rsu34.org
Plans under revision to address expressed needs include:
*ESSER II (federal funds related to COVID recovery)
*ESSER III / American Rescue Plan (federal funds related to COVID recovery)
*RSU #34 Comprehensive Needs Assessment and Consolidated Plan (this document is related to our use of federal funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act)
*Comprehensive Needs Assessment and Consolidated Plans for Alton Elementary School, Viola Rand Elementary School, and Old Town Elementary School (these documents are related to our use of federal Title I funds under the Schoolwide Program at each of these schools)
Thank you for your input!
Regional School Unit #34 Annual Budget Meeting
May 25, 2022 7:00pm
Leonard Middle School Cafeteria
At-Home COVID Tests for RSU #34 Students and Staff
RSU #34 received today a shipment of at-home COVID tests for its students and staff. Over the course of the next week your child's school will share how to request these tests (each student is eligible for three boxes of two tests).
These at-home tests can be a powerful way to help slow the spread of our current surge, and keep our community/state safe. Please also remember to do daily symptom screening with your child each and every day, and keep kids home when they're sick!
We do not anticipate another shipment like this, even in the fall, so please be sure to also take advantage of the state and federal programs for free delivery of tests. https://special.usps.com/testkits and https://accesscovidtests.org
Please be patient with us, as many requests will come in to each school at once. Thank you!
We are proud to present our Spring 2022 issue of Community Connections. Along with the stories and photographs about our students, we are pleased that there are many pages with municipal information; the City of Old Town once again shared space and cost with the RSU for this issue. Finally, in this issue you will find the proposed budget for 2022-2023, along with information of how to be involved at the Public Budget Meeting and budget referendum. Many thanks to those who contributed to this issue - we had so many articles/photos that we needed to save some for the back-to-school issue in August! Here’s the link to the issue: https://5il.co/1ai4q
RSU #34 May 11, 2022 Board meeting.
6:30pm Leonard Middle School Cafeteria
Watch via Zoom: https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/88321417871
Dear RSU #34 Community,
You have likely seen in the news that COVID-19 rates are high in our region. We also continue to see the spread of a number of other respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses. Please help us keep kids and staff in school by doing these things:
*Please remember to do at-home screening for symptoms each and every day. (link below)
*Please order and use your no-cost at-home COVID tests from https://www.covid.gov/tests or https://www.accesscovidtests.org/
*Please keep kids home when they’re sick!
*Please consider using masks to reduce transmission of lots of illnesses at school.
This week, the week of May 9th, is the last week that the state is conducting the pooled testing program, which makes closely monitoring for symptoms at home all the more important!
Thank you, and we’re glad to see the sun shining!
https://www.maine.gov/doe/sites/maine.gov.doe/files/inline-files/Maine%20DOE%20Pre-Screening%20Tool%20for%20School%20Attendance%2010.19.2021_1.pdf
Dear RSU #34 Community,
You have likely seen in the news that COVID-19 rates are high in our region. We also continue to see the spread of a number of other respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses. Please help us keep kids and staff in school by doing these things:
*Please remember to do at-home screening for symptoms each and every day. (link below)
*Please order and use your no-cost at-home COVID tests from https://www.covid.gov/tests or https://www.accesscovidtests.org/
*Please keep kids home when they’re sick!
*Please consider using masks to reduce transmission of lots of illnesses at school.
This week, the week of May 9th, is the last week that the state is conducting the pooled testing program, which makes closely monitoring for symptoms at home all the more important!
Thank you, and we’re glad to see the sun shining!
https://www.maine.gov/doe/sites/maine.gov.doe/files/inline-files/Maine%20DOE%20Pre-Screening%20Tool%20for%20School%20Attendance%2010.19.2021_1.pdf
Dear RSU #34 Community,
You have likely seen in the news that COVID-19 rates are on the rise in our region. We are also seeing here the spread of a number of other respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses. Please help us keep kids and staff in school by doing these things:
*Please remember to do at-home screening for symptoms each and every day. (link below)
*Please order and use your no-cost at-home COVID tests from https://www.covid.gov/tests or https://www.accesscovidtests.org/
*Please keep kids home when they’re sick! Please consider using masks to reduce transmission of lots of illnesses at school.
Thank you, and we’re glad to see the sun shining! https://www.maine.gov/doe/sites/maine.gov.doe/files/inline-files/Maine%20DOE%20Pre-Screening%20Tool%20for%20School%20Attendance%2010.19.2021_1.pdf
https://bangordailynews.com/2022/04/11/news/bangor-wastewater-has-among-the-highest-levels-of-covid-19-in-the-country-xoasq1i29i/
