Dear RSU #34 community,
Our staff continues working hard on planning a safe, effective, and engaging 2020-2021 school year. We appreciate your patience, ideas, and offers of support.
Please be sure to have communicated preferences / enrolled with RSU #34. Enrollments are managed at the Superintendent’s Office (at Leonard Middle School, 156 Oak Street in Old Town, 827-7171). Important family preference information needs to be provided through this form that we released in mid-July: https://forms.gle/bptLLmQTu5ddUmCE8
If you have any questions, please contact the RSU #34 Superintendent’s Office at 207-827-7171, or your school office.
RSU #34 Confirms 5-day In-Person Learning for PK, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade Students Whose Families Requested It
RSU #34 staff are working hard to maximize safe in-person instruction that meets the requirements of the state Department of Education and Centers for Disease Control. Under current conditions, most students will either be learning in a two days in-person / 3 days remote “hybrid” model, or in remote-only learning if that was what the family preferred. As shared at our July 15th School Board meeting, in-person learning for additional days in the week will be prioritized for special needs learners and our youngest learners.
One of the most important factors for in-person learning is the community spread of COVID-19. At the beginning of August, our region is in a situation that many in the United States would envy. Please, keep vigilant about keeping the spread of COVID-19 slow. Wash your hands, wear your mask, keep social distancing. https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/infectious-disease/epi/airborne/coronavirus/index.shtml
85% of our families requested in-person learning five days per week. Under current conditions, RSU #34 can now confirm this for enrolled students whose families requested the five-day model in Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade. Students in those grades will be contacted in the next two weeks about which school they will attend; as shared in July rearranging our geographic boundaries was necessary to enable this. We are still attempting to achieve a five-day model in additional elementary grades; as of this writing students in grades 2-12 only have the options of full-remote learning or the “hybrid” two days in-person, and three days remote.
It is important to note that if community spread of COVID-19 worsens, we may need to shift distancing and safety practices, which may necessitate reverting to a model with less in-person learning and more remote learning. Please help us keep the spread slow!