Blog

Cape Middle School Students Featured in
Public Television Broadcast

Please join us for an evening of celebration of Cape Middle School students, their teachers and school administrators and their connection to nature and learning.

What: Cape Middle School/Chewonki Public Television Premiere

When: December 11, 2012, 7-8 PM

Where: Cape Elizabeth High School Auditorium

Who’s invited: Cape Elizabeth students, their families, school administrators, members of the local community.

The Cape Elizabeth Middle School visit to Chewonki last May is the subject of a short documentary that will air in 2013 on National Public Television. The Cape community has the opportunity to join Chewonki for an evening of fun as we watch the premier screening of this captivating film. The premiere will take place on December 11 in the Cape Elizabeth High School Auditorium. This is a free, community-wide event and that is open to students, families, and supporters of Cape Middle School students and Chewonki.

Click here to watch a short trailer of the movie.

The film was produced this fall by Visionaries, Inc. a National Public Television series hosted by actor Sam Waterston (“Law and Order”). Visionaries is an acclaimed public television series that has produced more than 165 documentaries all over the world. They chose to profile Chewonki in a documentary that will be part of their nationally broadcast television series. The filming of the documentary took place over 3 days last May when the Cape Elizabeth Middle School was on the Chewonki Campus.

The film features the entire 6th grade class from Cape Elizabeth Middle School, as well as Chewonki semester students, with wonderful interviews with Cape Elizabeth Principal Steve Connolly, Chewonki President Willard Morgan, and others. Highlights of the film include Cape students crossing the gulch, camping at their shoreside campsites, and working at the Chewonki farm. Actor Sam Waterston provides a compelling introduction to this film. The film will be followed by student and teacher testimonials, and a brief question and answer session.

Dr. Murphy's letter regarding late start notification may be accessed here.

For Immediate Release Contact: Mary Townsend, Chair

February 11, 2011 Cape Elizabeth School Committee

maryeliz@maine.rr.com

School Board approves members to serve on superintendent search Credentials Review Committee

At its February 8 business meeting, the Cape Elizabeth School Board voted unanimously to approve the recommendations of members to serve on the ad hoc Credentials Review Committee (CRC). The CRC will work with School Board Search consultant Jackie Roy on March 5 to evaluate applicants and provide feedback based on criteria established by the Board and Roy.

The 11-member committee includes four citizens, two School Board members, one Town Councilor, two Cape Elizabeth school administrators, and two Cape Elizabeth school teachers.

School Board member David Hillman made the motion to accept the proposed slate of members chosen to serve on the CRC. Mr. Hillman nominated the following candidates: Sara Lennon (Town Councilor); Mary Townsend and Michael Moore (School Board); Dominic DePatsy and Jeff Shedd (School Administrators); Dwight Ely and Lynn Spadinger (teachers); and Gail Rice, Sandra Sinclair, Loralee Schaedel and Bill Marshall (community).

“The Board wishes to thank the community members who took the time to apply to serve on the CRC,” said Mary Townsend, School Board Chairperson. “We had outstanding applicants.”

“Because the schools are a point of pride for Cape Elizabeth, there is notable public interest in assuring that new leadership is a good fit for our district. The CRC will provide our community another opportunity to offer the Board their impressions on candidate attributes that will best serve the future of our schools and our students,” said Townsend.

Updates to the existing text of the CRC Charge were added to define roles and responsibilities of the members. The revised Charge included a confidentiality agreement, where CRC members must sign confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement prior to viewing any materials from applicants.

Once the CRC completes its work on March 5, the group will be disbanded and their findings will be presented to the Board by the Consultant early the following week. All findings will be non-binding in the Board’s decision. After the Board reviews application materials from all potential candidates, they will begin to invite top applicants to interview for the position, likely mid March.

A small change has been made to the letter that was to go home to K-8 families on or around Jan 20 regarding overdue student lunch accounts. Click here for the letter.

The events that occurred on Tuesday, December 14, provide us an opportunity to review our emergency preparedness and family notification systems. While the overwhelming majority of families received multiple notifications concerning the closure of the middle school, it is unacceptable to have even one family caught unaware. To that end, the following information is provided to assist you in updating emergency plans and contacts. This entry will cover several different options you may want to consider.

This blog, as noted a couple of weeks ago, can be subsrcibed to via a Really Simple Syndication (RSS). Gwyneth Maguire, our school technology integrator, has put together the following information and links about RSS feeds for you. Here is a good link that explains RSS and tells you how to set up RSS reader if you don't have one set up already. Please take a few minutes to watch the helpful video and follow the steps highlighted on that link. It is actually quite easy to do. Should you have any questions, though, please contact Gwyneth at gmaguire@capeelizabethschools.org.

The following links are specific to three of the most common browsers.

If you use firefox, please try these links:
Firefox Live Bookmarks (RSS feeds)
Using RSS feeds in Firefox
Firefox Add-ons for RSS

If you use safari, please try these links:
Safari
Feeds instead of Reader in Safari

If you use internet explorer, please try these links:
Explorer 7
Add RSS Feed Outlook
Live Bookmarks in Explorer 7/8

If you did not receive phone calls, text messages, or email from the parent hotline, or if you wish to add more contact numbers at this time, the following information will help you do that.

To set up your preferences on the Parent Notification System

Start by calling the PreK-12 Notification Parent Hotline at 1-800-846-4976 to setup a pin code. For security reasons, you must call from your Primary phone number (from the phone number you submitted after the November 19th letter) to manage your personal emergency contact list. Once your PIN is set, you can manage your information by going to www.prek12notification.com.

Families who wish to include up to three additional phone numbers and four additional email and/or text message addresses for emergency announcements. FAQ's.

Here is a link - for your reference - to the original letter notifying families about the emergency system.
CESD Letter about Pre-K-12 Notification System

Our goal is ensure the safety of each child entrusted to our care. We will not be satisfied in any situation unless that goal is met.
Thank you,
Steve Connolly

Here is a picture of our lost 'n found. I parked my truck somewhere near the lost 'n found back in September and have not seen it since. Seriously, it is amazing to see so much clothing and so many miscellaneous items build up after just 54 school days. Many thanks to our school nurse, Jill Andrews, who has been trying to keep this area corralled. The recent explosion of winter items has made that an impossible task, though. Please ask your child to check the area on Monday or Tuesday of next week because it will be donated to area schools and Goodwill after Tuesday. I find kids are very reluctant to collect their things from the lost 'n found, even if their names are on the items. Strangely, it seems as if kids perceive a stigma attached to retrieving their items. I encourage parents to stop by as well. Thank you.

Jeff Shedd sent this out to CEHS families, and I think this is an event you might wish to attend as well.

Dear CEHS Parents:

Excuse the length of this e-mail. The bottom line? I am urging you to join me and many others next Tuesday, November 9, from 7:00-8:30 p.m. to hear a presentation by John Underwood, a world-class athlete and national presenter. His topic? “The Life of an Athlete” and the effects of alcohol and other drug use on athletic performance. This presentation, sponsored by the HOPE Action Team, the Cape Elizabeth police department, and the Cape Elizabeth public schools will be held at St. Bartholomew’s Catholic Church in Cape Elizabeth.

John Underwood is a former NCAA All-American, International level distance runner and World Masters Champion. He has been a crusader for drug-free sport at all levels. The founder of the American Athletic Institute, John is the creator of an online educational program for athletes that is required in the states of New York and New Mexico. John has presented at the Department of Justices’ OJJDP National Leadership Conference for the past six years and to the U.S Department of Education. He recently spoke at a national convention in San Diego attended by our high school nurse, several CEHS students, and a Cape Elizabeth police officer. John has worked with nearly all sport federations, including the NCAA, ECAC, NHL, NBA, the U.S. Olympic Committee, Sport Canada, the International Olympic Committee and the United States Air Force and Navy SEALS. He has made presentations to many professional sports teams, high schools and colleges, including Georgia Tech, Princeton University, Dartmouth College, Iona College, Hobart William Smith College, and many others. Michael Crotty, Director of Player Development for the Boston Celtics called John’s presentation to Celtics players “the best program we have had all season, our guys loved it!”

What is special about John’s presentation? It draws on years of research with athletes and speaks directly to the impact of alcohol on drug use on performance, both athletically and cognitively (which certainly impacts athletic performance, too!). In addition to his evening presentation open to all parents and community members, John will be speaking to coaches that morning and to all CEHS students during the school day. John invites Middle School parents to bring their children to the evening presentation, since the daytime student presentation is only to high school students.

I would invite and urge all parents to attend this meeting. I especially would invite all fathers to attend this meeting because, so often, mothers seem to have the more active public voice and presence on issues related to alcohol and drug use. Andrea Cayer, veteran CEHS Health teacher, has reminded me and the HOPE Action Team for years that “We need to get the dads involved!”

Why is this such an important message? Because so many of our students are using—and such a large number of those are athletes. Attached are a series of three charts based on the 2009 MIYHS survey comparing the results for Cape Elizabeth High School students and four, nearby comparison schools. One chart depicts the higher rate of use by CEHS students, including, of special concern, the rate of binge drinking. One depicts the large percentage of students who believe they will not be caught by parents if they drink. The final chart depicts student perceptions that we as parents talk to them far, far, far more about their grades than about any concerns we may have about the dangers of substance use. A Powerpoint presentation highlighting other MIYHS results, which were shared recently at a HOPE Action Team meeting, will be posted on the CEHS website shortly. Interestingly, there is encouraging news in those slides:

• A majority of our students do NOT use regularly

• The rates of drinking and drug use vary considerably for each class and grade level. In other words, each class has its own personality around these issues. The most important peer influence on use decisions is the influence of one’s own classmates. Of course, the most powerful influence is the modeling and influence of parents!

I urge you to join me and many others at John Underwood’s presentation on Tuesday, November 9 (one week from today!) at St. Bartholomew’s Church to hear this important presentation.

Yes, this presentation is “yet another event” to attend. On the other hand, we Cape Elizabeth parents are in the period between seasons, time may a bit more available, and, in comparison to all the other events we attend for our kids (sports events, concerts, plays, Guidance presentations, parent-teacher conferences, and on and on), doesn’t this important topic rate one evening?

Thanks. I hope to see you there.

Jeffrey Shedd

Thanks for the information, Jeff.

COMMUNITY SURVEY ON ATTRIBUTES OF NEW SUPERINTENDENT

The School Board has begun a community-wide survey to prioritize the attributes of superintendent candidates.

The questionnaire is a list of 13 qualifications, which are generally viewed as essential for an effective superintendent of schools. Participants are asked to select the four they consider to be of the highest priority. Comments may be included at the end of the survey. Community priorities will assist both applicant screening and development of interview questions.

Residents and stakeholders are invited to participate in the on-line survey beginning today. It can be found at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VDM5GSP

and will be available through November 30, 2010. For those unable to access the survey on line, copies will be available at the School and Town offices, all three schools, the library and Community Services.

Ken Murphy selected as Cape Elizabeth Schools’ Interim Superintendent

Cape Elizabeth, Maine – October 12, 2010 -- The Cape Elizabeth School Board voted last night to hire Dr. Ken Murphy as interim superintendent of Cape Elizabeth Schools. Dr. Murphy, who will begin January 1, 2011, served as superintendent of the Yarmouth, Maine school district for from 1991 to 2009.

“Dr. Murphy brings invaluable experience as Yarmouth’s former district leader—he brings with him an acute understanding of state and local issues that affect the teachers and students here in Southern Maine,” said Chairwoman Rebecca Millett.”His breadth of knowledge in these areas will allow the district to continue to move forward, even as we take the time to search for a permanent Superintendent for Cape Elizabeth.”

The Yarmouth School District is similar in size to Cape Elizabeth, and like Cape Elizabeth is consistently cited on Newsweek and Business Week’s published list of top performing school districts.

In his 18 years as superintendent of the Yarmouth schools, Murphy helped move the district forward by enacting innovative change for his district, including:

· Supporting a new K-12 curriculum design process and assessment system

· Advancing a new teacher evaluation process that included input from administrators, parents, students and colleagues

· Working to expand the student and teacher school day/school year

In addition, Dr. Murphy brings a strong understanding of school budget process, an unwavering focus on improving teaching and learning, and a commitment to collaborative leadership.

The school board will hold a gathering in January to officially welcome Dr. Murphy to the district and introduce him to the community.

“We are very fortunate to have someone with Ken’s dedication, experience, and skill set to ‘steer the ship’ for our district during this period of transition,” said Chairwoman Rebecca Millett.

Contact: Rebecca Millett, Chairwoman, Cape Elizabeth Schools rmillett@maine.rr.com, (207)799-3224

Ken Murphy, Interim Superintendent, Cape Elizabeth Schools, kjmurphy18@gmail.com, (207)846-3403

The school district is looking to gather feedback from parents about the Everyday Math program. While this pertains to grades Kindergarten through five, parents of older students may wish to share their thoughts about previous experiences. The link for the survey is: http://sites.google.com/a/capeelizabethschools.org/cia/ (look at the link at the right of the page). Thank you in advance for taking the time to inform our curriculum decisions.

Re: New School-to-Parent Notification Service

Dear Parents,

This year, the Cape Elizabeth Schools will be using a new school-to-family communications service called PreK-12 Notification. We will use this service to deliver both emergency and non-emergency messages to you via telephone and the Internet during the 2010-11 school year. Using PreK-12 Notification, we can quickly contact all families - in a matter of minutes - with urgent news such as school closings, early dismissals, delayed buses or rescheduled activities. We will also use the service to provide timely non-emergency information when necessary. In the case of school closings, this service is meant to be a compliment to the existing means of communications, TV stations, radio stations, etc. We will continue to utilize ALL of these mediums in the event of a school closure and/or delay so you don’t have to wait to get your call for the closing to be official.

When we send a message, the caller ID will always identify that the call is coming from your school or the district office. The message will be in a voice you will recognize and will be left on your answering machine or in your voice mail if you are not available when we call. You can play the message again if you did not hear it the first time. If the message gets cut off on your answering machine, this means that the welcome message on your answering machine has a long pause in it. Just re-record your welcome message to solve the problem. Also, some cell phone features may cause messages to be cut off on your cell phone voice mail.

Possibilities: Each family can have up to four telephone numbers and four email/text message addresses. In an emergency the message will be delivered to all of your numbers and email addresses. For non-urgent messages, only your primary number will be called. Families that wish to include up to three additional phone numbers and four additional email and/or text message addresses for emergency announcements, may do so on the web by first calling the PreK-12 Notification Parent Hotline at 1-800-846-4976 to setup a pin code. For security reasons, you must call from your Primary phone number to manage your personal emergency contact list. Once your PIN is set, you can manage your information by going to www.prek12notification.com. Use your primary phone number as the Login ID as well as the PIN you created on the phone.

We are confident that this new system will enhance our ability to effectively communicate with all Cape Elizabeth families. When the system comes on line, I will make a welcome call to let you experience how it works.

Sincerely yours,

Alan Hawkins

Superintendent

Social studies classes for grades five and six during the first trimester this year will focus on teaching students how to comprehend nonfiction informational text. The social studies content will be the vehicle for teachers to utilize the Comprehension Toolkit, which is an intensive course of study designed to help intermediate-grade students understand, respond to, and learn from nonfiction text. With the teaching and learning focus on comprehension strategies, the Toolkit provides a foundation for developing independent readers and learners across the curriculum and throughout the school year. If you would like to know more about the Toolkit, please log on at http://www.comprehensiontoolkit.com/grade3_6/default.asp.

Angela Schipani, CE grades six through twelve literacy lead teacher, found the following research about the Toolkit.

WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS: Each of the strategies in The Comprehension Toolkit is supported by mul- tiple research studies that were summarized by Pearson, Dole, Duffy, and Roehler (1992) as they deter- mined those strategies that active, thoughtful readers use when constructing meaning from text. They found that proficient readers

• search for connections between what they know and the new information in the text. • ask questions of themselves, the author, and the text. • draw inferences during and after reading. • distinguish important and less important ideas in a text.

• synthesize information within and across texts. • monitor understanding and repair faulty comprehension.

Pressley (1976) and Keene and Zimmerman (1997) added sensory imaging to this list. • visualize and create mental images of ideas in the text

WHAT THE COMPREHENSION TOOLKIT DOES: As their titles suggest, each of the strategy cluster books in The Comprehension Toolkit focuses on a research-based active reading strategy: Monitor Comprehension, Activate & Connect, Ask Questions, Infer & Visualize, Determine Importance, and Summarize & Synthesize. The lessons in each cluster book build on one another to give kids multifaceted ways to construct meaning. As kids approach each new text, they practice another dimension of the strate- gy, gaining confidence as the unit progresses.

Teaching multiple strategies in an authentic context improves comprehension.

WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS: Recent research studies have described the effectiveness of transactional strategy instruction (Pressley 2002; Guthrie 2003). Rather than a single strategy focus, transactional strate- gy instruction teaches students a repertoire of strategies that they apply flexibly according to the demands of the reading tasks and texts they encounter. Pressley (2002) found that students who were taught a group of strategies performed better than those receiving more traditional instruction when asked to think aloud about and interpret texts. These findings seem to hold true for younger children (Pearson and Duke 2001) and for students learning information in content topics such as science (Reutzel, Smith, and Fawson 2005).

WHAT THE COMPREHENSION TOOLKIT DOES: Each of the strategy cluster books in The Comprehension Toolkit focuses on developing multiple aspects of a single strategy—but not to the exclu- sion of other strategies. The emphasis is on guiding and responding to the kids’ own efforts to get mean- ing from a real nonfiction text—from tradebooks, childrens’ magazines, and other contexts kids are likely to encounter or consult in the course of learning about their world.Explicit instruction within the gradual release of responsibility model is effective in teaching comprehension strategies.

WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS: In a research review, Pearson and Gallagher (1983) found not only that strategy use and monitoring were characteristic of more mature and better readers but also that one model of instruction—a gradual release of responsibility model that emphasized guided practice, inde- pendent practice, and feedback—was effective in training students to summarize an expository passage, ask questions about it, detect difficult portions, and make prediction about following passages, eventually assuming responsibility for monitoring these tasks themselves.

WHAT THE COMPREHENSION TOOLKIT DOES: The Comprehension Toolkit lessons follow a consis- tent but flexible teaching approach that begins with intensive teacher guidance and gradually turns the lesson over to the kids. CONNECT & ENGAGE opens the lesson by tapping into the kids’ background knowledge and natural curiosity before moving to MODEL where the teacher provides an explicit model of the strategy using the opening parts of the texts the group is working with. During GUIDE, the teacher leads students into trying out the strategy and sharing their ideas about the text before beginning to COLLABORATE with peers or work independently (INDEPENDENT PRACTICE) to deepen their understanding. Finally, they come back together and SHARE THE LEARNING as a whole group. Over time, students learn to apply strategies to foster understanding on their own, throughout the day and across the curriculum.

An active learning environment in which curious kids collaboratively read, write, talk, and create promotes comprehension.

WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS: For two decades, Fred Newmann and his colleagues have been studying “authentic instruction”—instruction that is highly engaging and interactive, and which connects to stu- dents’ real lives—and the impact of such instruction on customary measures of schooling, including the high stakes standardized test scores. In two recent studies of Chicago public school students, the researchers found that when teachers offered less didactic and more interactive experiences, scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills rose significantly among a large cross section of students. (Newmann 2001; Smith, Lee, and Newmann 2001). Further, in an article reporting results of an NICHD Early Child Care and Youth Development Research study, Pianta , Belsky, Houts, and Morrison (2007) discuss the impact of the emotional and instructional classroom climate on student performance and growth. They conclude that “opportunities to learn in small groups, to improve analytical skills, [and] to interact extensively with teachers...add depth to students’ understanding.” These studies confirm what reading researchers have observed for decades: engaged kids learn more. Allington and Johnston’s (2002) purposeful talk; Perkins’s (1992) culture of thinking; Palincsar and Brown’s (1984) reciprocal teaching; and Davey’s (1983) think- alouds all suggest that kids with something to do with text actually process it better.

WHAT THE COMPREHENSION TOOLKIT DOES: In every lesson in The Comprehension Toolkit, either Stephanie Harvey or Anne Goudvis has meticulously chronicled the ways they engage students’ minds and hearts with texts and ideas. Immersed in talk—with each other and with Steph or Anne—kids record notes, respond, build on each other’s thoughts, and become genuinely engaged with texts and ideas. The lessons in Toolkit are a window into the active learning environment that is every teacher’s goal.

Research Base for The Comprehension Toolkit: Language and Lessons for Active Literacy by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis

If you would like to read more about this comprehension program, please go to the following link: www.comprehensiontoolkit.com. Also, your child's teacher will share information about this during the October student-led conferences.

Middle School Grade Five Picnic Cancellation

The picnic scheduled for this afternoon, September 2, has been cancelled due to the heat and air quality index. This event will unfortunately not be rescheduled as there is not an open date on the district calendar that would not compete with other Cape Elizabeth school events.

The picnic has traditionally been a good way to meet teachers and MSPA board members. It is usually the first chance to join the association, as well as hear about upcoming fundraisers and sign up to help out. Since the opportunity to meet the MSPA representatives will not happen today, we would extend an invitation to anyone to join us for the first MSPA meeting on Tuesday, September 7 beginning at 8:30 AM at the middle school (location tba).

We hope to get a chance to meet and greet all of the fifth grade families at the Open House on Wednesday, September 15. The event starts at 6 PM in the Pond Cove gym. Allied Arts teachers will have information tables set up at which you can to stop by to gather information and say hello.

Thank you.

Welcome back to all our families to the start of the 2011 school year. Hopefully, the summer and return to school finds your family well.

There are three district focus areas under which our school has selected goals for this school year. The district focus areas (numbered below) and related middle school goals are as follows:

1. Academics

Middle school students will demonstrate academic progress as assessed from May 2010 through, May 2011 in the following areas:

* percentage of students who meet proficiency on the standards in NECAP reading,

writing, and math, as well as MEA science.

* percentage of students who meet standards in NWEA math and reading.

* percentage of students who make steady progress on middle school common assessments (i.e., writing,

math, World Language, science).

2. Climate

Middle school students will provide baseline data through the Center for Aspirations survey - in conjunction with CEHS - with regard to school climate. The school will then provide direct programming (i.e., health and wellness, aspirations, resiliency factors, character education) that will positively impact 2012 post survey results. Cohesive fifth through eighth advisory programming will focus on health and wellness this year and will be guided primarily by the school wellness team.

3. Evaluation of Supporting Resources

All support resources will be analyzed for potential positive impact on student learning and development of adolescent self. Middle school staff will review all support services and present findings to the School Board in January 2011.

How will these goals receive the focus they deserve?

Teams of teachers will create Professional Learning Communities, establish SMART goals, and monitor student progress to evaluate the effectiveness of their professional work this year. CEMS staff will be provided with the tools, training, and support to customize their teaching, thereby meeting the needs of individual students. For example: new texts in nearly all subject areas with online tools, technological resources (PLATO, Lexia, Discovery Education Streaming, LANschool, iclickers, Smart Response System, BrainPop, and explorelearning.com), common planning time for professional discourse, Executive Functioning Services support for grades seven and eight students, extended library time to 3 PM for student work and collaboration, and professional development funds to support Professional Learning Community teams of teachers.

Beyond the district focus areas and related school goals, writing will continue to receive major focus throughout the disciplines offered at CEMS. For the first time in five years a common state-level writing assessment, the NECAPs) will be offered. Though the results of this assessment will not be available until late January, this information, coupled with common fall and spring writing assessments and teacher feedback will be used to analyze our progress over time. Please be sure to ask about and view your child's writing portfolio during the school year. You should see increases in the number of substantial writing pieces (i.e., writing that moves through a process), the quality and rigor of those pieces should improve over time, and the depth and breadth of the kinds of writing students are asked to experience should be equally evident. There should also be evidence of writing across the content area, as, for instance, science and social studies pieces will also be archived in student writing portfolios.

More information will be shared about these goals at the general assemblies during Open Houses (grades five and six Weds, Sept 15 beginning at 6 PM in the Pond Cove gym, and grades seven and eight on Tues, Sept 7 beginning at 6 PM in the Pond Cove gym). See you soon.

Steve Connolly

There are several new people whose names you may hear from your middle school children. I would like to introduce the following names to you:

Mrs. Amanda Kozaka is our school librarian. Amanda has a wealth of experience, and she was most recently a librarian for three schools in South Portland. Amanda has also had the opportunity to build a school collection from scratch in a previous position. She was a regular fixture here this summer, as she worked to familiarize herself with our collection and prepare the library for today.

Mrs. Caitlin Ramsey is our new instrumental music teacher. Caitlin has been a music teacher for approximately eight years - most recently in Massabesic - and has already made a great name for herself as a guest conductor at middle school music festivals. Terry White was thrilled to see this young lady hired as his successor and feels Caitlin's talents will take the program to even greater levels.

Mrs. Jill Andrews is our new school nurse. Jill joins us after nine years on Mackworth Island where she was most recently the school nurse for three different programs there. Jill comes with high praises from numerous former colleagues. She has been meeting with CEMS families with high medical need children and is quickly making a forming a great reputation here as a quality person.

Ms Hannah Rohner is a new sixth grade teacher. Hannah worked here last spring as a long-term aid and did a marvelous job. She was extremely impressive in the interviews and comes from good stock (her mother is Marguerite Lawler Rohner, our art teacher, and her uncle is CEHS science teacher Doug Worthley). Hannah has already shown she is a clear thinker and well spoken young lady.

Mrs. Susan Kramer is our new Speech and Language teacher. Susan previously worked at Biddeford Middle School as sixth, seventh, and eighth speech pathologist for the past nine years. Susan was on a student exchange committee and Civil Rights team while at BMS. She comes with a wealth of experience to offer our students.

Mr. Michael Burke joins as as an eighth grade language arts and social studies teacher. Mike is a local guy, as he grew in Gorham. He comes from good stock as well (Terry White is his uncle.). Mike taught for the better part of the last decade in the Virgin Islands. I wonder if he remembers snow...

Mrs. Laura Ellis will be working as half-time Executive Functioning Services and Response to Intervention teacher in grades seven and eight. Laura comes to us from South Portland and is a certified Special Education teacher. She has a wealth of knowledge and skills to assist students who need help performing the functions of being successful students on a daily basis.

Mrs. Nicole Tammaro joins our Functional Life Skills program as an educational technician. If the last name sounds familiar, her mother-in-law is our school secretary. Nicole and her husband, Nick, are CE residents and have an actual working farm in town. Nicole comes well-recommended and is known for her kindness and compassion.

Ms Kristin Waterman also joins us this year as an educational technician in the Functional Life Skills program. Kristen has worked as a substitute int eh Scarborough schools and has a teaching degree from the University of New England. Kristen was a mainstay for us this past summer, as she worked int he FLS program and did a great job with her kids. She is a calm and compassionate young lady.

Mrs. Nancy Carroll has been employed at CEMS as an educational technician in the Functional Life Skills for a number of years. Nancy is now the Functional Life Skills teacher. We are thrilled to have her step into this new role and continue her CEMS career.

When I see you at Open House, I will be sure to help match new faces to new names.

I heard recently from sixth grade teacher Elizabeth Johnston that one of her students was recognized as a semifinalist for a letter she wrote to the author of a book she read. Carter Harvey wrote about a connection she found to the book, The Penderwicks on Garden Street. Thanks for sharing this piece, Carter.

Dear Jeanne Birdsall,

When I read your book, The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, I was surprised that the Penderwicks’ sisters despised the first thought of a stepparent. Since I was only seven years old when I found out that my parents were getting divorced, I didn’t know what it meant. When the word “divorce” came up in our conversation, an image of a little African American girl crying came up in my mind. I don’t even know why but when I was seven that’s what the word divorce meant to me. At first it was tough, but my two sisters and I got through it. A few years later I found out about getting a step dad. To me it was a new adventure appearing in my life.

It felt as though the Penderwick sisters thought that a stepparent would replace a real parent and ruin their lives. For me that was the first lesson that I learned about my step dad; my step dad will not, and never will, replace my real dad. In fact, now I know that I have a stepparent and a real parent and both mean a lot to my family and me. If I could talk to the Penderwick sisters right now, right this second, there’s only one thing I’d talk about; stepparents.

The most important thing to realize is that the only reason that a stepparent would come in to your life is to make your mom or dad happy. He or she is not there to torture you with more chaos. Your book reminded me that divorce has some good parts to it and not all kids realize that. Your book helped me feel lucky, not unlucky.

Sincerely,

Carter Harvey

I would like to extend an extremely large thank you to Gretchen McCloy and the cast of parents, PROP representatives, Camp Ketcha folks and the school staff who worked so hard to make the one day events successful. The parent turn out was tremendous, and we hope kids got the connection "support each other" as they move forward through their school years. There is a group of parents who want to work to keep the message going. Here is a flier they have put together.

Please join us for a community sponsored

Substance Abuse Awareness Gathering

Monday, June 7th 6:00 – 8:00 pm

Cape Elizabeth United Methodist Church

280 Ocean House Road

Hear from…

parents, a substance abuse counselor,

former Cape students who are recovered addicts,

the Cape Elizabeth Police Department,

health providers, legal consultants,

and many more.

If you are the parent of a middle school or high

school age child, we strongly urge you to attend

this very important and informational evening.

All adults are welcome!

I hope to see you there.

Please check out the PowerSchool portal for an electronic copy of your child's second trimester grades. Once on the website, click the report card icon at the top of the page. If you have any trouble accessing PowerSchool, please contact Kate Thibeault in the guidance office.

Good day, all. This blog is my attempt to access available technology and experience some of the same benefits and drawbacks as school staff who are working with these as well. This blog is intended to replace the CEMS Times. It is a first shot, so please bear with me. This blog on our homepage displays the top five articles. To see the entire new blog, please click on the "Recent Blog Postings" link below the school picture.

Following is a note from Kate Thibeault, guidance secretary, about student and parent access of progress reports. When a student or parent logs on to the PowerSchool Portal the comments will NOT appear under the Teacher Comments icon. You will need to go in Grades and Attendance and then click on the Final Grade for T2 for a specific subject, any comment entered by a teacher will appear at the top of the page.
Thanks for the reminder, Kate.