Old Town Elementary School

School Closure Parent Update 3/15/20 OTES will be open Monday 3/16/20 for a regular school day. There will be no after school activities. If you choose not to send your student to school on 3/16/20, their absence will be automatically noted as excused. Each classroom will discuss the school closure with students in a similar, but age appropriate way to begin our school day. Students will pack up all personal belongings and take-home materials during the day. Students who are not in attendance will have their things packed in the same manner and the bags will be available for pick up at OTES on Tuesday 3/17/20 7am-3pm. If your student has medication here at school, please make every effort to pick it up on Monday 3/16/20 from 7am-3pm or on Tuesday 3/17/20 from 7am-10am. Pickups outside this time will be very limited and need to be arranged with CeCe Costello 827-1544 ext. 308. The RSU #34 Resource Center will be open during school hours tomorrow 3/16/20. Please stop in the office if your family is in need. The Resource Center will be closed when school is not in session. If your family is in need of food or hygiene items during the closure, please contact Jeanna Tuell or Maggie Mitchell directly, our emails are below. Two meals will be sent home on Monday 3/16/20 with any student who would like them. Please have a conversation with your student about this. As a district, we are working to get a meal pick up site at OTHS and a distribution plan in place. Information will be forthcoming. We will post updates on our app and Facebook page as soon any new information becomes available. Thank you for your continued understanding and cooperation! Jeanna Tuell jeanna.tuell@rsu34.org 827-1544 ext. 303 Maggie Mitchell maggie.mitchell@rsu34.org 827-1544 ext. 304

From Superintendent David Walker

There is no school for RSU #34 students on Friday, March 20th due to a staff in-service day.

There is no school today, Thursday, February 27, 2020 in RSU #34.

There is no school in RSU #34 today, Tuesday, December 3, 2019.

At about 10:00 this morning 11/19/19, we had a fire alarm at OTES. Officer King was already at our school and Old Town Fire Department arrived shortly thereafter. There was no fire. As always, the OTPD and OTFD remarked about how safe and orderly our staff and students were during our evacuation.

All after school activities today, Monday, November 18, 2019 are cancelled due to the potential of slippery road conditions.

It is the time to start thinking about Thanksgiving meals! First, if your RSU #34 family needs a meal, please reach out to Jenn Goodwin at 827-2508 or jennifer.goodwin@rsu34.org. Second, we are collecting sides and desserts. Suggestions include stuffing, gravy, canned vegetables, potatoes, cranberry sauce, pie crust shells, pudding and pie filling, or other instant desserts. We could also use disposable roasting pans. We are hosting a turkey and food drive with the OTPD on Saturday 11/16 from 9-12 at Hannaford. You can drop off food there or any time at OTES!

A reminder that there is no school on Monday, November 11th in observance of Veterans Day.

In conjunction with the OTPD, we conducted a lockdown drill at OTES today around 10:00am. At no point was there a security concern. Staff and students did an amazing job!

Diversity Night At OTES: October 24th from 6pm to 7pm.

RSU #34 is always looking for "guest educators" to join our team! We have a number of fantastic educators on our staff who began with us as substitutes, got hooked on kids, realized they could make a difference, and built their careers with us! We're offering two trainings next week, and you can apply on-site at each. Please see the dates, times, and locations in the image! With employment questions please contact Angela Porter (angela.porter@rsu34.org)

Here are the RSU #34 Resource Center dates for September and October. The Resource Center is located at OTES. Click on the image for a full view of the schedule and contact information for our school-community coordinator, Jenn Goodwin.

Thank you to all our kindergarten families who visited our Open House and Ice Cream Social last night! We are so excited to welcome this new kindergarten group to OTES!

Thank you to our Residents at the River House for donating back to school supplies to our students and families

Afternoon Schedule Clarification 2:15 Bus students are dismissed 2:20 Pickups are dismissed All students must depart at 2:15/2:20 unless they are signed up for a designated after school activity. There will not be an offering every day for every grade. We plan to begin 3rd-5th grade after school programming and the second bus run the week of September 30th. Various after school options will be offered during the school year. For example, band, 5th grade musical, homework help, and after school clubs will be offered, but again, there will not be an offering every day for every grade. 3:15-3:30 Late bus pickup This schedule is subject to slight changes due to bus schedule adjustments.

Morning Schedule Clarification 7:30 am Doors open for all students 7:40 am Official start of the instructional day (3rd-5th students move from their morning activity to their classroom) 7:45 am Arrivals after this time will be considered tardy, unless arriving by bus K-2nd grade students will go right to their classrooms when they arrive at school. There will no longer be a morning recess for K-2. Breakfast will be served in the classrooms. Note: K students will meet their teachers in the gym for the first week as they adjust. 3rd-5th grade students will go down the main hallway where they can choose to go outside or stay inside to participate in board games and/or have breakfast. Grab and go breakfast will also be offered for students to take to their classrooms. This schedule is subject to slight changes due to bus schedule adjustments.

New Opportunities for Students, New School Start and End Times, New Bus Routes! The back-to-school issue of Community Connections is off to the printers, and will arrive in mailboxes in about a week! Much thanks to staff and community members who contributed pictures and articles. As we shared in the May issue, this school year will see a big shift in schedule and bus routes to yield new opportunities for students at no extra cost to taxpayers. In total this will yield up to 1,700 extra hours of opportunity to each child over the course of their K-12 journey, and also brings school start/end times to the time recommended by expert groups such as the American Association of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association. The digital issue of Community Connections can be reached here: https://5il.co/9hnk School start and end times are on page 3, and September bus routes are on pages 20-23. Bus routes will be adjusted on October 1st as new enrollments are finalized and as Cyr Bus and RSU #34 identify any unanticipated changes in traffic patterns. Please carefully check your school start and end times, and September bus routes! Thank you in advance for your patience and support as many in the community adjust to the new times and routes. Please don’t hesitate to contact school and district staff with any questions as we roll out the changes and iron out the wrinkles. Contact info can be found at www.rsu34.org

Here are the school supply lists for fourth and fifth grade. As always, if purchasing school supplies is a hardship for your family, do not worry! All students will be provided the materials they need and will not be singled out! We do have a limited amount of donated supplies in the office as well. If you have questions, please contact your student’s teacher or call 827-1544.

Here are the school supply lists for third grade by teacher. As always, if purchasing school supplies is a hardship for your family, do not worry! All students will be provided the materials they need and will not be singled out! We do have a limited amount of donated supplies in the office as well. If you have questions, please contact your student’s teacher or call 827-1544.