| Newsletter, May 27, 2010 | | Print | |
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1. Thanks to those parents, staff and community members who were able to make it to town meeting. Thank you for your support.
It is very important to vote in the Budget Validation Referendum THURSDAY at the Town Meeting House FROM 10-3. The budget must pass a second vote! You may also vote to eliminate or retain this step in the future.
2. As you are aware, the economic, academic and social pressures our school is facing are greater than they have ever been. How will we deal with a depressed economy? How can we do more with less? How can we improve the education for all children? How can we make sure that our school is the best place in town for ALL children? The school committee is beginning a strategic planning process to help the school determine the direction the school should take as we look ahead for the next five years.
We need parents and community members to take part in the process. Right now, we want parents and community members willing to serve on a strategic planning committee to meet over the next three or four months to collect and interpret data and make recommendations to the school committee about what we can and should be doing differently.
Please contact me if you are interested in helping with this very important process.
Don
february_4_newsletter summer_letter_3_8_09_-_neooffice_writer summer_parlet_7_28_09_-_neooffice_writer Pandemic Flu PlanningChecklist for Individuals & Families You can prepare for an influenza pandemic now. You should know both the magnitude of what can happen during a pandemic outbreak and what actions you can take to help lessen the impact of an influenza pandemic on you and your family. This checklist will help you gather the information and resources you may need in case of a flu pandemic. 1. To plan for a pandemic: Store a two week supply of water and food. During a pandemic, if you cannot get to a store, or if stores are out of supplies, it will be important for you to have extra supplies on hand. This can be useful in other types of emergencies, such as power outages and disasters. Periodically check your regular prescription drugs to ensure a continuous supply in your home. Have nonprescription drugs and other health supplies on hand, including pain relievers, stomach remedies, cough and cold medicines, fluids with electrolytes, and vitamins. Talk with family members and loved ones about how they would be cared for if they got sick, or what will be needed to care for them in your home. Volunteer with local groups to prepare and assist with emergency response. Get involved in your community as it works to prepare for an influenza pandemic. 2. To limit the spread of germs and prevent infection: Teach your children to wash hands frequently with soap and water, and model the current behavior. Teach your children to cover coughs and sneezes with tissues, and be sure to model that behavior. Teach your children to stay away from others as much as possible if they are sick. Stay home from work and school if sick. 3. Items to have on hand for an extended stay at home: Examples of food and non-perishables: Ready-to-eat canned meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, beans, and soups; Protein or fruit bars; Dry cereal or granola; Peanut butter or nuts; Dried Fruit; Crackers; Canned juices; Bottled water; Canned or jarred baby food and formula; Pet food; Other nonperishable foods Prescribed medical supplies such as glucose and blood-pressure monitoring equipment; Soap and water, or alcohol-based (60-95%) hand wash; Medicines for fever, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen; Thermometer; Anti-diarrheal medication; Vitamins; Fluids with electrolytes; Cleansing agent/soap; Flashlight; Batteries; Portable radio; Manual can opener; Garbage bags; Tissues, toilet paper, disposable diapers ***********************************************************April 30, 2009 Dear Parents, As promised yesterday, I have some additional information regarding the potential issues around the swine flu outbreak. As of this writing (1 PM April 30) there have been no additional cases identified in Maine. That's likely to change as the flu spreads. However, Kennebunk Elementary School and a day care in the Kennebunk area have been closed for seven days due to suspected cases. At present, regular school activities, including BEAR Night, will go on. Parents should exercise liberal caution and keep children home from BEAR Night and/or other school activities if they seem sick or out of sorts. Although there is no reason to cancel BEAR Night from my perspective, parents know their kids best and need to decide whether it is appropriate for their children to attend this year. We continue to be concerned and watchful about the situation and have taken the following actions *the staff held a lengthy meeting yesterday to discuss the situation and get information about symptoms and prevention * classroom teachers have discussed the need for clean hands and hygiene with the students and answered questions about the pandemic appropriate to the level of the children * I have directed the custodians to do an even better than normal job in the cleaning of the building, particularly in the restrooms, sinks, tables, and drinking fountains * we are calling parents if children exhibit symptoms consistent with the illness and asking parents to pick them up At the request of the Commissioner of Education, I am sending home a checklist for pandemic preparation. Some of the suggestions on this checklist may not be appropriate to these circumstances, so please exercise your own good judgement in following the guidelines. Keep the checklist available for the future.Please do not hesitate to call me if you need information about how this situation is impacting your children. I will keep you informed when there are major developments. Pay close attention to news reports and the websites mentioned in yesterday's letter on this subject. Sincerely, Don Buckingham ********************************************************************************************************* April 29, 2009 Dear Parents,As of this writing there have been 3 confirmed cases of the swine flu in Maine. By the time you receive this there will no doubt be more. Please be aware that the Superintendent of School, the school nurse, and I are closely monitoring the situation to determine what, if any, action needs to be taken locally. As the situation changes, we will keep you informed. Right now, please read the information below from the Commissioner of Education in an e-mail from earlier today. Listen to the news and check out recent developments on local news broadcasts. Maine CDC's website has updated Maine-specific information, including daily updates, as well as links to federal information. It can be located at: http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/boh/swine-flu-2009.shtml or found on the Maine CDC's homepage: www.mainepublichealth.gov. The best of all defenses continues to be respiratory hygiene and increased education efforts in the school community (and all communities): - Cover your coughs and sneezes. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. - Wash hands frequently, especially after coughing or sneezing. - Stay home if you are sick, especially with a fever. - Industrial hygiene should also be stepped up to include cleaning of surfaces, particularly public water fountains and bathrooms. Any student or staff member with acute febrile respiratory illness (fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills, fatigue--diarrhea and vomiting are sometimes associated with swine flu.) regardless of travel history, should be sent home according to the local school board policy with instructions to stay home until 24-48 hours after the symptoms resolve (no fever for 1-2 days). Instructions should be given to seek medical care with worsening symptoms. AT THIS TIME EXCLUSION IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR SCHOOL PERSONNEL OR STUDENTS WHO HAVE RECENTLY TRAVELED TO AN AFFECTED AREA AND DO NOT HAVE SYMPTOMS. Below is a summary of the guidance from US CDC to schools: – Dismissal of students should be strongly considered in schools with a confirmed or a suspected case epidemiologically linked to a confirmed case. - Decisions regarding broader school dismissal within these communities should be left to local authorities, taking into account the extent of Influenza Like Illness (ILI) in the community. - If the school dismisses students or a childcare facility closes, it should also cancel all school or childcare related gatherings and encourage parents and students to avoid congregating outside of the school. – Schools and childcare facilities should dismiss students for a time period to be evaluated on an ongoing basis depending upon epidemiological findings. Schools and childcare facilities should consult with their local or state health departments for guidance on reopening. If no additional confirmed or suspected cases are identified among students (or school-based personnel) for a period of 7 days, schools may consider reopening. - Schools and childcare facilities in unaffected areas should begin to prepare for the possibility of school dismissal or childcare facility closure. This includes asking teachers, parents and officials in charge of critical school-associated programs (such as meal services) to make contingency plans. We will continue to send updates as information warrants, and Nancy Dube, the Department's school nurse consultant, is in regular contact with school nurses via their listserve. If you have further questions about swine flu or require further guidance, please: 1) contact your school nurse, who is well informed and may have had training in pandemic flu;Note: The Administrative and Informational Letters are available on our website at the following address: http://www.maine.gov/education/edletrs/index.shtml
I will have additional information for you tomorrow. Although there is no call for alarm, we should all be concerned and watchful. Potentially, this is a very serious problem. It is a good time to be aware of any flu-like illness that your children may have, keep them home from school and call your doctor. Please let the school know why your child is home sick and what symptoms he/she has. Again, look for a letter and more information from me tomorrow. Sincerely, Don Buckingham march_12_09_newsletter_.cwk_wp town_mtg_notice_5-08.cwk_wp tuesday_budget_mtg._.cwk_wp January_10_newsletter.cwk_1_wp october_24_newsletter.cwk_1_wp october_11_newsletter.cwk_1_wp Sedgwick School Community Newsletter September 27, 2007 Pre-school Opens!! The Head Start and Child Care program, known as the Peninsula Early Childhood Education Center at Sedgwick Elementary School, opened Monday with five students. They are all four year olds from Sedgwick who happen to have older siblings in our school. It looks as though there may be as many as a dozen beginning by the start of next week. This is a great opportunity for our kids and is funded, almost completely, by Head Start, Child and Family Opportunities and the Community Fund at St. Francis Episcopal Church in Blue Hill. The program runs five days a week from7:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Free & Reduced Meal Forms Tomorrow is the deadline! If your family qualified for free or reduced meals last year and you wish to continue in the program for the 2007-08 school year, you must complete a new application no later than tomorrow, September 28. Innisbrook Wrapping Paper Sale Begins PTF’s very popular Innisbrook wrapping paper sale begins tomorrow, September 28, and extends for the next two weeks. Catalogues and a sales sheet have been sent home with your child today. Also, all money must be collected when you take the orders. This is a great opportunity to contribute to the PTF, the organization that sponsors many school activities, including after school programming. Anne Dentino is in charge and she can be reached at 359-8900. Calling all Parents! We still have the following areas of need: Volunteer for Cartridge Recycling Program Volunteer for K-6 Fluoride Program Substitutes for Teachers & Support Staff Volunteers for Fitness Trail/ Campus Cleanup - October 4 Carpenter to submit bid for school trim board work If you, or someone you know, would be interested, contact the school at 359-5002. Fitness Trail/Campus Cleanup Thursday, October 4 There will be a coastal clean up/ campus cleanup and fitness trail work day on October 4. The rain date will be October 11. Projects will include work on the Peace Garden, the Fitness Trail, the playgrounds and other areas. We may send students to the shore for a coastal cleanup. There is an area along South Cross Road that could be cleaned also, if we have parental help. We can always use volunteer help, so let us know if you can. It would be a great help if parents could send in rakes, shovels, and other garden’ type tools for this day. Please label them, so we can get them back in the right hands. Thank You to Parents Thank you to parents for changing your schedules on September 21 so teachers could meet to work on our English Language Arts curriculum. The workday was profitable for us as teachers took the time to discuss what they were doing in their classrooms and compared that to what the state now requires in the newly revised learning results and grade level expectations. Just before the meeting, teachers looked at data gathered from the wealth of information generated by the Maine Educational Assessments. October 5 Workshop/No School Friday, October 5 will be a Union 76 workshop day for teachers in Brooklin, Sedgwick, and Deer Isle/Stonington and a no school day for students. Teachers will be working at Deer Isle Stonington Elementary School. K-2 teachers will be learning about a new reading instruction technique called Fundations which stresses phonemic awareness. Teachers in grades 3-5 and 6-8 will be working with reading expert Candice Bray on expanding methods for the instruction of reading in older kids. Teachers will also be working on scoring the writing prompts students took this past week. The principal, Dr. Buckingham, attended a workshop on interpretation of the Maine Educational Assessments on Wednesday. For the information of parents, and others, Sedgwick Elementary has made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) again this year. AYP is the benchmark designated by the state for all schools. Again, thank you for your forbearance October 8. Also, the following Monday is the Columbus Day Observance and another no school day. PTF’S INNISBROOK WRAPPING PAPER SALE BEGINS FRIDAY! WEEK AT A GLANCE Fri. Home game vs. PES at 3:45 Tues. K-2 to RPAC for Musical 10 AM Home game vs.Brooklin 3:45 Wed. Home game vs. Brooksvil 3:45 Thurs. Campus Cleanup Day Fri. Teacher Workshop-No School
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