Alton Elementary School

RSU #34- Alton, Bradley and Old Town Schools The State of Maine and Department of Education have completed the statewide pool testing program. The Pool Testing program has ended, but that is not an indicator that COVID has ended. We have seen increased cases of COVID as of late and wanted to give our families some extra resources to help navigate this time. If your student is not feeling well or there are house members who are ill with COVID or awaiting testing, you should continue to keep your child at home notify the school and perform a rapid COVID test/seek testing at a facility. It may be helpful to have some at-home COVID rapid tests on hand in case of an exposure, or if you/your student develop symptoms that may be consistent with COVID such as: *Fever or chills *Cough *Fatigue *Muscle or body aches *Headache *New loss of taste or smell *Sore throat *Nausea or vomiting *Congestion or runny nose *Diarrhea *Shortness of breath/difficulty breathing How can I get an at-home test? • At-home tests can be purchased over the counter without a prescription at pharmacies, retail stores, or online retailers. • There are local facilities offering rapid testing services including PCHC Walk-In Care, Northern Light Walk-in Care, Curative (curative.com , located at the Bangor International Airport), The Northern Light Drive Thru, Walgreens, and ConvienentMD. • Order free tests through the State Program: There are free at-home tests (five per household) available for Maine residents through the successful Project Access COVID-19 Tests (ACT) pilot at www.accessCOVIDTests.org. These tests can be ordered once per month per household. • Order free tests through the Federal Program: Maine people in need of home tests may also order them through the federal program. The White House recently announced that U.S. residents can order two sets of four free at-home tests through www.COVIDtests.gov. Residents can also call 1-800-232-0233 for help placing the order. If you have any questions or concerns, need to discuss an exposure, or report an illness please contact the school nurse Hannah Cloutier, RN (hannah.cloutier@rsu34.org ) at Alton Elementary School (394-2331) or Viola Rand School (827-2508).

Dear RSU #34 Community, You have likely seen in the news that COVID-19 rates are high in our region. We also continue to see the spread of a number of other respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses. Please help us keep kids and staff in school by doing these things: *Please remember to do at-home screening for symptoms each and every day. (link to screener- https://5il.co/1a64g) *Please order and use your no-cost at-home COVID tests from https://www.covid.gov/tests or https://www.accesscovidtests.org/ *Please keep kids home when they’re sick! *Please consider using masks to reduce transmission of lots of illnesses at school. This week, the week of May 9th, is the last week that the state is conducting the pooled testing program, which makes closely monitoring for symptoms at home all the more important! Thank you, and we’re glad to see the sun shining! https://www.maine.gov/doe/sites/maine.gov.doe/files/inline-files/Maine%20DOE%20Pre-Screening%20Tool%20for%20School%20Attendance%2010

School and Student Safety Late yesterday afternoon, we were informed of a possible threat to the safety of our schools. We immediately initiated an investigation. In cooperation with the Old Town Police Department, we determined that a comment overheard by a student was perceived as a safety threat. The student did what we ask students to do, “If you see or hear something, say something.” Fortunately, there was no criminal or credible threat to the safety of our students. Nonetheless, the comment was perceived as a threat and as such, will be dealt with administratively. RSU#34 maintains our high-level commitment to the safety and wellbeing of all students and staff.

This week, the RSU34 School Board approved the dismissal of elementary students at 11:30 next Wednesday, December 22. Middle and high school students will be dismissed at 12:30. Have wonderful holidays and we look forward to students returning to school on Monday, January 3rd!

If you would like to learn more about the Covid 19 vaccine for children, here is information about a zoom webinar with a panel of pediatricians from across the state.

If you'd like to sign your child up for pooled testing in RSU #34, the info is below! Pooled testing is a great way to keep more of our students out of quarantine and learning in-person. Participating in pooled testing is optional, and parents must give consent. Pooled testing is a once a week, gentle nasal swab that kids do themselves. Participants qualify for one of the four quarantine exceptions in Maine's Standard Operating Procedure for schools. Each school has a different access code and if you have multiple children, you'll need to repeat the quick process for each child. To give consent for a student to participate in optional pooled testing, start here: http://testcenter.concentricbyginkgo.com//minor-consent PLEASE BE SURE TO ENTER THE CODE FOR THE CORRECT SCHOOL. Alton Elementary School: PJDN15 Viola Rand Elementary School (Bradley): H52L8P Old Town Elementary School: Z1A0SE (note: the fourth character is a zero, not a capital o) Leonard Middle School: O9T2Y0 (the letter o at the beginning, zero at the end) Old Town High School: X67ZUZ You’ll answer a few questions and can give your consent online. No paper needed! If you need a paper copy of the consent, or if the student has reached age 18, please contact your child’s school.

The Open House will be Tuesday, August 31st from 4-6 PM. School starts on Tuesday, September 7th!

There will be a Parent Group Meeting via Zoom on Thursday, February 25 @ 6:00PM. Please join us! cheryl leonard is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: AES February Parent Group Meeting Time: Feb 25, 2021 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/86486401448

The December Parent Group Meeting will be tomorrow evening at 6PM. The agenda and minutes from the last meeting went home in student folders before Thanksgiving. It will be a Zoom meeting this month. The link is: Join Zoom Meeting https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/88184968924 Meeting ID: 881 8496 8924

Parent meeting tonight at 6:00! Zoom invitation link is: https://networkmaine.zoom.us/j/81214679266

The first Alton Elementary School Parent Group Meeting for this year will be held at 6:00 PM via Zoom on September 28. Please email cheryl.leonard@rsu34.org for an invitation to the zoom meeting! It would be great to welcome new faces to our group!

COVID Advisory Council Application: https://forms.gle/wX1tH3haStRsZnSZ8 We are excited to launch the 2020-2021 school year, and very much look forward to welcoming our students in person and remotely! Our schools and community will break new ground this year, navigating the pandemic together, as will schools and communities around the world. Each school is forming a continued input/feedback team of parents and staff, called the “COVID Advisory Council.” (AES and VRS will have one combined council). The principal will chair the team for each school, which will have these responsibilities: Receive and share input about what is working as intended, and what can be improved on, Review emerging research, Review public input, Report to the Board with issues discussed, and whether consensus exists on any recommendations. The membership of each school’s team will be as follows: (Ex Officio: Superintendent of Schools, Director of Curric/Instruction/Assessment, Special Education Director, School Nurse) Chair: Building administrator(s) Teacher representative 4 Parent Representatives. If you are interested in being a parent representative, please complete the form below by September 11th. On the form, please indicate if you’re comfortable with the current RSU #34 plan, if you think the plan is too cautious, or if you think the plan is too risky. We will seek to have a representative balance of parent perspectives on the team. The team will be formed, with participants notified, by Friday, September 11, and the first meeting will take place on late afternoon/evening of Monday, September 14. If you have any questions, please call or email your principal.

Parents of Alton Elementary School, please use this link to receive information about the first day of school. We have some new drop off and pick up procedures along with screening information. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bq4H6YMhbYWCXSCMM0Z-8T82aF7e91k5CVmKuIFxC18/edit?usp=sharing

We are planning a "Meet the Teacher" day on Wednesday, September 2nd. Please use this link for more information and to sign up for a time slot for your child(ren). If you already received this information, please disregard! :-) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P2b8QP1eDYzVuJmJm9T60gp33-6T3cvFNg92-jMKt1g/edit?usp=sharing

Update! The school board voted last night to move the start date of school to September 8th. If you are having trouble signing up through the google doc for a meet the teacher time, please call the school. 394-2331

“Meet Your Teacher” at Alton Elementary School! We will be arranging times for your child to meet his/her new teacher on Wednesday, September 2nd. Please click on the link to your child’s grade to choose a time to visit at the school! Pre-kindergarten: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UFhArsSF96c0Pl-LWLC76C50x-otmgYHFgXtroQXna0/edit?usp=sharing Kindergarten: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ds70ABeDTZu9ZfGxSOAhQlXN320kobjdJ1VYc4fDOcU/edit?usp=sharing First grade: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18Hkzruz9Eunsj06q8O1DCtHPSa7TQGtmPD_M2jCd3Sg/edit?usp=sharing Second grade: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1snKWwR9lhPpu7d1KS0Le8gVHd14a3a5u5wC7EG0rQXs/edit?usp=sharing Third Grade: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xVWHpIUnDR1_4gO-Or5uRznrdtLoGTRPFCp-Dq-fbys/edit?usp=sharing Fourth Grade: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14AsbkTrjMn5Xx6FekE7lu7Ue6mLQNDkjTv1JU3V0Umo/edit?usp=sharing Fifth Grade: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18X-JUk8faXcIsW0p4Hd4XT1P6zmmaEXLAKNtMot7n98/edit?usp=sharing School address: 22 Argyle Rd., Alton Phone: 394-2331 Principal: cheryl.leonard@rsu34.org

There will be a lot of changes at Alton Elementary this school year! We are excited to welcome new students to our school!! To spread students out, enabling more in person instruction, we have added classes so that there is a class at every grade. All of the Alton Elementary School students will be coming to school all 5 days! There is a lot of moving under way to be ready for students on September 2nd. Here are the teachers at each grade level: Pre-k - To be determined K - Mrs. Wilcox Grade 1 - Mrs. Gasaway Grade 2 - Ms. Burris Grade 3 - Ms. Graves Grade 4 - Mrs. Ouellette Grade 5 - Ms. LaFrance Title 1 - Mrs. Vafiades Resource Room - Mrs. Paradis There will be a LOT of new faces, both students and staff which be a lot of fun!! We are making plans for an open house at each grade level to ease any anxiety our families may be experiencing. This will be a different year, with masks and distancing between kids and adults, but we are determined to make the best of it and look for ways to have fun in this crazy new situation!

Required parent form for RSU #34 students - Fall 2020 Dear Parents/Guardians of RSU #34 Children, Our district has put together a form through which parents/guardians will inform the schools of their family’s plans and needs for the upcoming start to the school year. Please submit one form per RSU #34 student in order for us to coordinate family plans PreK-12. We estimate this form will take no more than 5 minutes per student to complete. Please submit this form as soon as possible and no later than Friday, July 31st. You can watch the presentation of our planning to the School Board here: https://www.rsu34.org/article/272060?org=rsu-34 RSU #34 anticipates needing to move flexibly between three “lanes” in 2020-2021, depending on things such as community transmission rates of the novel coronavirus and the rates of student and staff illnesses with symptoms similar to COVID-19. These lanes are: fully remote learning, a combination of in-person and remote learning, and in-person learning five days per week. Families that wish to participate remotely all year long may do so. More details and background about the district’s plan can be found here (tinyurl.com/y9o23gmk). Here is the link to the form: https://forms.gle/qzbHRsjgZQuNAkuNA Any questions should be directed to the building principal of your student. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. We thank you for your hard work, patience, and community spirit supporting our children throughout the pandemic. Sincerely, RSU #34 Planning Team

The school board meeting on Wednesday, July 15, 2020 included a presentation by the RSU34 administrative team on a reopening plan for this fall. The video of the board meeting and chat file can be found here: https://www.rsu34.org/article/272060?org=rsu-34

Maine Department of Education continues to work with educators and health experts from across the State to develop health markers and corresponding plans to ensure the safe return to classroom instruction. As this work develops, the Department is seeking input from additional stakeholders from across the State, and is releasing a survey on July 6. On June 11, 2020 the Department of Education released the first draft of a framework to assist school administrative units (SAUs) in developing their plans and determining their capacity to meet the national CDC guidelines for safely returning to classroom instruction. This draft framework will continue to evolve and will be developed based on science and community health markers. The framework was created with input from a diverse group of stakeholders, and included education and health experts, students, parents, education advocates and leaders. We have worked with a research organization to develop a survey through which educators and support professionals, education leaders, and families of students can provide comment and share their opinions on the 2020-2021 school year and possible models and needs for a safe return to classroom instruction. Four different surveys have been created, specific to the role of the person completing the survey, including: 1. Teachers and educational technicians; 2: School or SAU leadership; 3: Specialists and student support staff or 4. Family member. The surveys will be available at https://www.maine.gov/doe/fall2020survey beginning July 6 through July 12. The Family Survey is available in 11 languages. The data and feedback will be compiled by the research group and considered by the team who will continue to revise the framework over the next month. While these surveys will provide a snapshot at the state and county level, many superintendents have asked for and are reviewing their own community-specific information, which will inform the work of their Collaborative Planning Team in developing instructional plans that will be responsive to risk levels. Your participation in these surveys is greatly appreciated in preparation for the next school year. Our fervent hope is that our continued trends in the battle against COVID-19 here in Maine will allow our schools to resume classroom instruction for the start of the 2020-2021 school year, as our schools serve as a stabilizing force for our communities, students, families and the economy. Yet, it is prudent at this time to both hope for the best, and prepare for many possible scenarios.