Update: December 19, 2017
Niche Rankings
Niche.com once again ranks MSAD #51 the 5th best school district in Maine for 2018, the second year in a row. GMS 6-8 ranked 6th best middle school in Maine and GHS ranked 6th best high school in state.Anti-Defamation League Peer Trainers
This year Greely Middle School 6-8 trained 17 new students in the Anti-Defamation League World of Difference Peer Trainer Program. We are so proud of this group of students for taking time out of their busy lives to take up this important work. The students learned about the importance of diversity, cultural sensitivity, and anti-discrimination. They delved deeply into the subjects of bullying and harassment, and plan to share this learning with 6th graders in their health classes. Way to go!
Assistant Principal of the Year for the State of Maine
Congratulations to Greely High School's Assistant Principal, Jayme Jones for being named State of Maine's Assistant Principal of the Year.
This announcement was made during an all school assembly last week. Congratulations Jayme!
This announcement was made during an all school assembly last week. Congratulations Jayme!
GMS 4-5 Green Team
The GMS 4/5 Green Team made biodegradable bird feeders from pinecones, twine, shortening, and sunflower seeds. These will provide local birds with high energy food during these first snowfalls, and is a better alternative to stale bread which has little nutritional value. Great job students!
Greely Gazette
Thank you to the Portland Press Herald for hosting our Greely Gazette Newspaper Club for grades 4-5. Our young reporters, photographers, and editors learned so much and experienced red carpet treatment from the moment they walked through the door.Thank You Greely PTO
A big thank you to our Greely PTO for their contributions to the enrichment programs at our schools. This year they donated $22,448 to students in grades K-8.Additionally, they have hosted a number of successful events for our parents (Parent University & Kindergarten Coffee) and our greater Cumberland/North Yarmouth Communities (The Grand Event & Fill a Bus Fill a Belly Collection Drive).
We are thankful for their continued partnership to provide enrichment opportunities for our students. To learn more about our Greely PTO, please visit their website at www.greelypto.org.
Athletic Milestone
Congrats to Anna DeWolfe on scoring her 1000th career point during a Girls' Ranger Basketball game in December!
Proficiency Primer
Over the last several blog posts, I have started to dive deeper into the major tenets of a proficiency-based education. Each blog through February, I will talk more about the tenets of a proficiency-based education (PBE). Stay tuned to my "Proficiency Primer" for more details on PBE.
Fifth Tenet: Multiple opportunities to demonstrate learning
Do you remember when you were in school and you got that test or quiz back with a less-than-wonderful grade on it? Do you remember wondering how it was going to impact your grade and worrying about it? You probably weren't paying much attention for the rest of the class period, were you? But the teacher had already moved on and you still didn't know the content as well as you should have.
Proficiency-based education is not about moving on without having mastered the content or skills being learned. It is about ensuring that students have actually learned what is expected to learn--which means that before moving to the next topic, the student has an opportunity to demonstrate mastery again; and if necessary, again and again. The emphasis is on learning, and that means we are getting serious about making sure students have an opportunity to demonstrate that they have learned what our curriculum signals as important content and skills.
Next Blog I'll further articulate: Supporting students who need extra help or could use extended experiences when they already demonstrate attainment of the learning targets
#2: Having clear assessments that align to the stated learning targets
#3: Providing students with clear and specific feedback on
progress in meeting the learning standards (Part I)
#3 (continued): Feedback to students in meeting learning standards (Part II)
Do you remember when you were in school and you got that test or quiz back with a less-than-wonderful grade on it? Do you remember wondering how it was going to impact your grade and worrying about it? You probably weren't paying much attention for the rest of the class period, were you? But the teacher had already moved on and you still didn't know the content as well as you should have.
Proficiency-based education is not about moving on without having mastered the content or skills being learned. It is about ensuring that students have actually learned what is expected to learn--which means that before moving to the next topic, the student has an opportunity to demonstrate mastery again; and if necessary, again and again. The emphasis is on learning, and that means we are getting serious about making sure students have an opportunity to demonstrate that they have learned what our curriculum signals as important content and skills.
Next Blog I'll further articulate: Supporting students who need extra help or could use extended experiences when they already demonstrate attainment of the learning targets
Past Proficiency Primers
#1: Being explicit and up-front about the Learning Targets#2: Having clear assessments that align to the stated learning targets
#3: Providing students with clear and specific feedback on
progress in meeting the learning standards (Part I)
#3 (continued): Feedback to students in meeting learning standards (Part II)