Old Town Elementary School

The buses that are coming around today to distribute lunches will have print copies of next week's work for students. If you would like to receive a hard copy, please come out to the bus for the packet your child needs. A hard copy can be picked up at OTES in the lobby.

School Closure Family/Public Update 4/1/20 Reminder: Weekly Work Packet Distribution Options Starting TOMORROW, Thursday 4/2/20 Each family can choose the option that works best for them to access the student work packet on Thursday, Friday or Monday for the upcoming week’s assignments. Electronic: Packets will be available weekly on our website https://www.rsu34.org/covid19--2 and emailed parents and guardians at each grade level. OR Pick Up Locations: Totes will be located at all three elementary schools and at the OTHS meal distribution site each Thursday, Friday and Monday. The totes will be labeled for families to pick up the grade level packet(s) they need. OR Bus Distribution: Packets will be available for pick up on the meal distribution bus routes on Thursdays, Fridays and Mondays. An adult or student must be at the bus stop to request their grade level packet. Thank You! Thank you to all who greeted us on the parade route today! We miss you and we’re happy to see the smiling faces of students, families, and others. Thank you to the staff who planned and participated in this event as well!

School Closure Family/Public Update 3/31/20 Weekly Work Packet Distribution Options Starting Thursday 4/2/20 Each family can choose the option that works best for them to access the student work packet on Thursday, Friday or Monday for the upcoming week’s assignments. Electronic: Packets will be available weekly on our website https://www.rsu34.org/covid19--2 and emailed parents and guardians at each grade level. OR Pick Up Locations: Totes will be located at all three elementary schools and at the OTHS meal distribution site each Thursday, Friday and Monday. The totes will be labeled for families to pick up the grade level packet(s) they need. OR Bus Distribution: Packets will be available for pick up on the meal distribution bus routes on Thursdays, Fridays and Mondays. An adult or student must be at the bus stop to request their grade level packet. Planning Ahead for April Vacation 4/20-4/24 No meals will be offered during April Vacation week Monday 4/20 through Friday 4/24. There will also be no required student work for that week. Alton Elementary School WiFi The installation of the Alton Elementary School public wifi is delayed, but will happen as soon as possible. Be Kind Pictures If you would like to send a picture of your student doing something kind or spelling a letter of kind in sign language, please email it to maggie.mitchell@rsu34.org for us to use later in a public post.

School Closure Family/Public Update 3/30/20 IMPORTANT: Digital Learning Packet or Paper Materials Distribution via Bus or Pick Up Each Thursday, Friday and Monday until further notice the learning packet for the week will be available at all three elementary schools, the OTHS meal pick up area, and on all bus routes. You must be out at your stop on one of these days to ask for the specific grade level packets you need! Each Thursday, the next week’s assignments will be available. All of these will be available electronically on our district website https://www.rsu34.org/covid19--2 if you do not require a paper copy. Please Check Your Spam/Junk Folder We are getting reports that some emails from our district are going to the junk/spam folder of the recipient. Please check this spot on your account to make sure you are not missing important information from your student's teacher. Thank you! Need for Food/Resource Center We have staff who have been working in our Resource Center bagging up food for families who need it. Please reach out to jennifer.goodwin@rsu34.org or call her at 207-370-8564 if your family is in need of food beyond our district’s meal distribution. Updated Online Resources We have updated our RSU #34 website with a COVID 19 section. It can currently be found by visiting rsu34.org, clicking on Menu, and then COVID 19. Soon, there will be an easy link on the homepage as well. Our OTES Facebook cover photo has updated contact information for our Resource Center and this image has been posted on our app as well. Don’t have our app? Go to your phone’s app store and search for RSU #34 ME and download our free app.

School Closure Public/Family Update 3/27/20 Materials Distribution Almost all student materials have gone out to families. Dr. Tuell and Mrs. Mitchell will be organizing remaining materials early next week and contacting families about receiving them. Meal Distribution Meal availability will start again on Monday, March 30th. Pick up will be available at OTHS from 10am-12pm and bus routes will run. Best wishes for a great weekend!

School Closure Public/Family Update 3/26/2020 Viola Rand School and OTHS WiFi Available from Parking Lots If your family has a device that is able to connect to the internet, but you lack internet access, the public wifi is now open and accessible without a password from both the Viola Rand School Old Town High School parking lots. This wifi is only for the use of students or families who need to access the wifi for educational purposes! We are hoping the wifi will be opened at Alton Elementary tomorrow or early next week. Information for Families Who Are US Cellular Customers US Cellular is lifting data caps, overage charges, and tethering/hotspot capabilities on almost all of their consumer plans through the end of May. If you have a question about this including your plan, call 611 and they will be able to tell you if you’re on that type of plan. Spectrum Offer Reminder Spectrum is offering 60 day free access to their internet services, if possible at your address. To inquire, call 1-844-488-8395. Food Delivery and Pick Up Tomorrow, Friday 3/27/20 If you choose to pick up food at OTHS tomorrow from 10am-12pm or from your bus stop, six meals will be given to each student to last the weekend. Thank you to these thoughtful families for their window signs. We love you too!

School Closure Family/Public Update 3/25/20 Materials Distribution for April After this week, the delivery of personalized learning materials will be limited to only those students in specific circumstances. All materials will now be available digitally from classroom teachers and from a common Google link (to be shared later). Classroom teachers will be reaching out in the coming days to ask if you are having trouble accessing digital materials and if you need a printed copy. RSU #34 Resource Center Our school-community coordinator, Jennifer Goodwin, can be reached at 207-370-8564. If your family is in need of food or hygiene items (we do not have toilet paper) from the Resource Center, please reach out to her and we will do our best to get these items to your family. Each delivery bus currently has toothbrushes and toothpaste kits. If this is something your family could use, please let a staff member on the bus know. Food Distribution and Pick Up Continues We continue to feed approximately 550 students daily with our pick up at OTHS from 10am-12pm daily and via our bus routes. Questions should be directed to our food service office at 827-3908.

School Closure Family/Public Update 3/24/20 OTES Resources Cover Photo on Facebook and on Our App We have created an OTES Resources image with phone numbers and email addresses for specific needs. Please reach out to your student’s teacher or one of these contacts to assist you. Our job at this time is to help you and your students! IMPORTANT Materials Distribution Information We are working hard to get materials prepared to share with you again. Some teachers will be doing this by delivery to their own students. If this is the case, we will leave materials on the doorstep and not interact with students---just a quick hi through the window. We will be connecting siblings’ work with these deliveries sometimes as well. When we are ready to distribute materials via bus routes, we will notify you. If you leave materials unopened for 72 hours this will allow for the reduction of germs. Please communicate with your student’s classroom teacher if you are at another location other than your primary address. We cannot guarantee in-person delivery outside of our district. Meal Delivery and Pick Up Continues Meal pick up is still available Monday-Friday at OTHS from 10am-12pm. Busses will continue to depart OTES at 10:30am Monday-Friday and drive their typical routes. There must be a person out to receive meals. We cannot leave food unattended for safety reasons.

School Closure Family/Public Update 3/23/20 Feel the Love and Reach Out for Support Please read the image attached to this message. We hope that your whole family, including your students, are beginning to find a home learning routine that works for you. Even though they are away from their teacher, we hope your students also feel the love and care their teacher is still giving them through calls, messages, videos, or other online posts. If you have a need or concern, please reach out to the teacher first. If you are still in need of support, reach out to Dr. Tuell or Mrs. Mitchell. We are available 8 am-2 pm via phone at school 827-1544 and via email at jeanna.tuell@rsu34.org and maggie.mitchell@rsu34.org should you need anything! Meal Distribution Please be outside, in the window, or in sight of the delivery person in order for meals to be dropped at your house. If you have been missed by mistake, be sure to call the school at 827-1544 (OTES) or 827-3908 (Food Service for RSU 34). We are trying to limit the contact, so please stay 6 feet from the person delivering the meal. Weekend Pause We have asked our staff to not post on the weekends to give our families a chance to take a break or catch up. Going forward, only urgent district, food service, or school messages will be posted on the weekend.

School Closure Public/Family Update 3/20/20 Meal Distribution Monday 3/23/20 Meals for children 0-18 will be available for pick up DAILY Monday through Friday (meal distribution for the weekend will be on Friday) by the tent at OTHS from 10am-12pm Daily bus routes will also begin Monday, March 23. Nine buses will depart OTES at 10:30am and navigate their typical routes. Here are a few things to keep in mind: Please be patient. We do not have a timeline for how long these routes will take, yet. The typical routes will be posted, however the times listed will be the school day times, not food delivery times. Please be safe. Wait at the stop with younger children and review with older children how to wait by themselves if you feel this is appropriate. Please keep your distance. Do not approach or enter the bus. Staff members will exit the bus and leave items on the ground to be picked up. Share this information with your children as well. Please call the school with any questions 827-1544. Staff distributing materials will be using gloves and hand sanitizer regularly. See bus routes here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_nxNESG_Y9ExsViikYDfjnel-CvOSKIm/view?usp=sharing Technology Survey We have developed a quick survey to gather some information about family needs in terms of technology. This survey will help us to understand what those specific needs are in each of the homes in RSU 34 and how we can possibly assist going forward in this school closure period. This is not a guarantee of a device or specific services. Remember, WIFI access is available for our families from the parking lot at OTHS. If you would take the time to fill out this survey, we would appreciate it. https://forms.gle/t9EoEPX2HMKkVgky6 Book Fair FYI Our library media specialist, Lynn Mayer, recently spoke with our Scholastic representative. They are cancelling the delivery of books for our Book Fair and our online sales are also cancelled. Scholastic employees are all working from home now as well, so they won't be able to package and send books. We know families are struggling financially, but we also know some would have loved to order books online.

School Closure Family/Public Update 3/19/20 Meal Distribution Tomorrow, Friday 3/20/20 Meal distribution will be open tomorrow, Friday 3/20/20, from 10am to 12pm by the tent at Old Town High School. Any child 0-18 brought to this location will be given two meals per day for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Internet Access in the Old Town High School Parking Lot If your family has a device that is able to connect to the internet, but you lack internet access, the public wifi is now open and accessible without a password from the Old Town High School parking lot. This wifi is only for the use of students or families who need to access the wifi for educational purposes! We are currently working to open wifi availability at Alton Elementary and Viola Rand as well. We will update you when those are open. A Home Schedule We understand that every family is in a different situation with numerous challenges. The schedules you see our staff or others share, are great if they work for you. However, we understand that you need a schedule that works for your situation! Some families only work in the morning, or evening, or make their off days during the week instead of Saturday and Sunday. You also do not need to provide 6+ hours of “school time” as we do here at OTES. If you have specific questions or need support with a schedule, please reach out to your student’s teacher first.

School Closure Family/Public Update 3/18/20 Calls from Teachers You can expect occasional calls, and certainly other forms of communication, from your student’s teacher during this closure. Some staff feel comfortable sharing their cell numbers and some do not; we respect both decisions. However, please be aware that a call from your teacher may come through as “Restricted”, “Private” or “Anonymous” depending on your carrier, and that it could be your student’s teacher checking in. Student Meals Our district served approximately 640 meals today. We are so thankful for our food service workers! The next distribution will be on Friday 3/20 from 10am-12pm. Look for the tent outside OTHS. Each child 18 or younger will get three days worth of two meals at that pickup. Starting Monday, March 23, meals will be distributed at OTHS every day 10am-12pm. Also beginning Monday March 23, we will run our 9 regular bus routes delivering meals. Our buses will leave OTHS at 10:30 and we anticipate routes lasting through about noon. We will republish routes as soon as we can. For the first few days, please be flexible as we figure out this new system. Each child 18 or under will be given two meals for that day if they are out at a bus stop. Student Belongings We do have some student packets, bags, and other belongings remaining. If you would like to pick up belongings on Thursday 3/19 7am-3pm or Friday 3/20 7am-11am, please come to the front entrance and they will be inside the vestibule. Each bag is clearly labelled. If you would still like to retrieve your student’s instrument, please email Jeanna Tuell jeanna.tuell@rsu34.org or Maggie Mitchell maggie.mitchell@rsu34.org. We will then put the student’s instrument in the vestibule, but only at an assigned time to prevent loss. Spectrum Offer Spectrum is offering 60 day free access to their internet services, if possible at your address. To enroll call 1-844-488-8395.

School Closure Family/Public Update 3/17/20 Remaining Student Belongings We do have some student packets, bags, and other belongings remaining. If you would like to pick up belongings tomorrow, Wednesday 3/18, please come to the front entrance and they will be inside the vestibule. Each bag is clearly labelled. If you would still like to retrieve your student’s instrument, please email Jeanna Tuell jeanna.tuell@rsu34.org or Maggie Mitchell maggie.mitchell@rsu34.org. We will then put the student’s instrument in the vestibule, but only at an assigned time to prevent loss. Student Meal Distribution Important Notice! Meals are Available in RSU #34 During School Closure On Wednesdays, beginning March 18th, families may stop by the OTHS cafeteria between 10:00 AM and noon. We will provide four meals for each child in the vehicle - two for Wednesday and two for Thursday. On Fridays, beginning March 20th, we will provide six meals; two for Friday, two for Saturday, and two for Sunday. On Mondays, beginning March 23rd, we will provide four meals; two for Monday and two for Tuesday. Meals are available to anyone up to the age of 18 and they should be present to receive the meals. Meals must be taken off site as the school will be closed for congregate gathering and we will not be providing a place for them to stay and eat. This will continue each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00 AM until noon as long as our schools remain closed. We are working on a plan to deliver meals to RSU 34 bus stops in our RSU 34 communities and will let you know the details as soon as they become available. Please call 207-827-3908 with questions. Virtual Read Alouds Staff member will be recording themselves reading books and posting those videos at various times. Please be on the lookout if you are interested in watching with your student.

School Closure Family/Public Update 3/16/20 Thank You! First, a huge thank you to our families and community for their continued support. Today was a great day in as many ways as it was a difficult one. Students in attendance were comforted and loved, had fun, were fed, and were given a sense of closure. Students whose families chose to keep them home surely also felt that sense of calm and security from those closest to them, and we also respect your decision. As we move forward, we will do so as a community. OTES Building Hours OTES will be open tomorrow, Tuesday 3/17/20 from 7am to 3pm for the pick up of belongings. As of 3pm tomorrow, OTES will be closed to the public. Any necessary pick ups after that point will have to be specifically arranged and outside our front entrance. Please make every effort to be here between 7am and 3pm to limit the need for these arrangements. RSU #34 Resource Center The RSU #34 Resource Center is now closed to visitors. However, if you find your family in need of food or hygiene items, please contact Jenn Goodwin at jennifer.goodwin@rsu34.org, Jeanna Tuell at jeanna.tuell@rsu34.org or Maggie Mitchell at maggie.mitchell@rsu34.org A Reminder from RSU #34 Food Service Important Notice! Meals are Available in RSU #34 During School Closure On Monday, March 16, all students in our schools will be offered two meals to take home for Tuesday. Please let your children know that this is happening. Check backpacks and store food appropriately as soon as they get home. Call with questions. 207-827-3908. On Wednesday families may stop by the OTHS cafeteria between 10:00 AM and noon. We will provide four meals for each child in the vehicle - two for Wednesday and two for Thursday. On Friday we will provide six meals; two for Friday, two for Saturday, and two for Sunday. On Monday we will provide four meals; two for Monday and two for Tuesday. Meals are available to anyone up to the age of 18 and they should be present to receive the meals. Meals must be taken off site as the school will be closed for congregate gathering and we will not be providing a place for them to stay and eat. This will continue each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00 AM until noon as long as our schools remain closed. We are working on a plan to deliver meals to RSU 34 bus stops in our RSU 34 communities and will let you know the details as soon as they become available.

School Closure Parent Update 3/15/20 OTES will be open Monday 3/16/20 for a regular school day. There will be no after school activities. If you choose not to send your student to school on 3/16/20, their absence will be automatically noted as excused. Each classroom will discuss the school closure with students in a similar, but age appropriate way to begin our school day. Students will pack up all personal belongings and take-home materials during the day. Students who are not in attendance will have their things packed in the same manner and the bags will be available for pick up at OTES on Tuesday 3/17/20 7am-3pm. If your student has medication here at school, please make every effort to pick it up on Monday 3/16/20 from 7am-3pm or on Tuesday 3/17/20 from 7am-10am. Pickups outside this time will be very limited and need to be arranged with CeCe Costello 827-1544 ext. 308. The RSU #34 Resource Center will be open during school hours tomorrow 3/16/20. Please stop in the office if your family is in need. The Resource Center will be closed when school is not in session. If your family is in need of food or hygiene items during the closure, please contact Jeanna Tuell or Maggie Mitchell directly, our emails are below. Two meals will be sent home on Monday 3/16/20 with any student who would like them. Please have a conversation with your student about this. As a district, we are working to get a meal pick up site at OTHS and a distribution plan in place. Information will be forthcoming. We will post updates on our app and Facebook page as soon any new information becomes available. Thank you for your continued understanding and cooperation! Jeanna Tuell jeanna.tuell@rsu34.org 827-1544 ext. 303 Maggie Mitchell maggie.mitchell@rsu34.org 827-1544 ext. 304

From Superintendent David Walker

There is no school for RSU #34 students on Friday, March 20th due to a staff in-service day.

There is no school today, Thursday, February 27, 2020 in RSU #34.

There is no school in RSU #34 today, Tuesday, December 3, 2019.

At about 10:00 this morning 11/19/19, we had a fire alarm at OTES. Officer King was already at our school and Old Town Fire Department arrived shortly thereafter. There was no fire. As always, the OTPD and OTFD remarked about how safe and orderly our staff and students were during our evacuation.