RSU 34 Elementary World Culture and Language Teacher, Kristen LePard, as well as volunteer garden coordinator and school board member, Christina Lannan, presented at the annual Educators for a Multilingual Maine conference on March 8. Their session, entitled Cultivating a Sense of Community Through Language, Food, and Art was well received. Check it out here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1PwC7aB8AouprrEqfbrwy_QNm6rw5xracILFoDZMJzww/edit?usp=sharing
Mark your calendars and get your fun socks ready for our upcoming RSU 34 Spirit Day on Friday, March 29th. Donations will be collected for Courageous Steps.
Check out what has been going on in the OTES Art Studio this Trimester!
Weekly Schedule for March 11-15
A Visit to the Planetarium for our First Graders!!!
3rd Grade Sugar Shack!!!!
We would love some help with our upcoming Book Fair. This is a fun event to volunteer for and support will be provided! Check out the options here:
https://signup.com/client/invitation2/secure/1016803780101/false#/invitation
Time Sensitive Author Visit Information: OTES if very fortunate to have two awesome and well-known authors visiting our school this month! If you'd like to purchase books by these authors to be signed when they are here, just follow the link. You'll need to order to March 8th in order for the books to get here by author visit day. Ryan T. Higgins will spend most of his time with K-2 and Matt Tavares with grades 3-5, but both will present at an all school assembly, so order what books your student likes best! https://briarpatchbooks.square.site/old-town-elementary-school-author-visit
PK to 2nd grade families, plan to join us this Thursday, March 7th from 6-7pm!
It may be cold, but our benches are beautifully decorated with icicles!
We are kicking off March Madness literacy month with a Read-a-thon this Friday, March 1st. All pledges and donations will stay right here to benefit OTES kids!
You can still join Mrs. Wilcox and Mrs. Lunn live in the OTES Library or remotely this Thursday, February 29th for a book talk around the text Good Inside. Check out an audio preview here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3hUOc8IbONAets6Pxc3A8D?si=F1g2IgvrTwG1I-Y-eM53LQ OnThursday, February 29th from 6-7 pm they will cover Part 2 Connection and Addressing Behaviors Chapter 11-18, and Thursday, March 29th from 6-7 pm they will cover Part 3 continued Behaviors Chapters 19-end. Please email Mrs. Lunn (trysha.lunn@rsu34.org) or Mrs. Wilcox (vicki.wilcox@rsu34.org) to let them know you want to be included and get a copy of the book. It is OK to join part way through and copies are still available!
Mrs. Palmer is excited to announce that OTES will be welcoming Maine artist Kim Bernard to our school in April. Kim is a sculpture artist and champion of the environment. During her week-long visit, students will work with Kim to create a collaborative art sculpture for our school made out of recycled plastics. WE NEED YOUR HELP! To prepare for Kim Bernard's visit, we need to collect clean and clear #2 plastics (e.g. milk or water containers). Please send these plastics in with your student or drop them off during school hours. Thank you in advance for your support of the arts! If you would like to learn more about Kim Bernard's work, visit her webpage at https://www.kimbernard.com . A huge thank you to our PTC for sponsoring this week-long artist visit!
Dear Families of RSU 34 Students,
We are excited to announce the anticipated opening of our School Based Health Clinic in RSU 34, located at Old Town Elementary School. PCHC staff are set to start seeing patients on March 21 and want to make sure you are aware of the support and services you and your child can take advantage of even if you are not affiliated with PCHC.
We are currently offering School Based Counseling in RSU 34. Starting in March, Medical services will be added. For example, students can be seen for
Drop-in care for sick visits and injuries
Primary Care (if requested, check the box on the form provided)
Immunizations
Students in our district can only access the School-Based Health Center if enrolled using these forms. We are hoping this clinic can be a great resource to our families and remove some of the stress involved in scheduling appointments, missing school due to illnesses, and/or avoiding loss of work time for parents. The School-Based Health Center will NOT take the place of our current Nursing Staff and Services.
A copy of the attached form was sent home before the February Break. PCHC would like to start processing these forms as soon as possible if families wish to return them this week. Please fill out the forms and return to your child's school to participate.
If you have questions or concerns, please call the office and we will be happy to support you in this process or help from PCHC is available by contacting Valerie Scanlon at 207-404-8004.
Enrollment forms are available in the Documents section of our website:
https://www.rsu34.org/o/otes/documents
We clean out our Lost and Found each vacation, so claim these items while you can! Let your student's teacher know if something belongs to them or check-in at the office to look through yourself.
Some of the services RSU 34 provides are funded federally, such as those provided under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and those funded via ESSER / ARP (covid-relief funds, which conclude Sept. 2024). Planning for the use of federal funds is underway in parallel with the RSU 34 planning and budgeting process for 2024-2025. For more information about how to provide input or be involved in the process, please contact Dr. Jon Doty (https://www.rsu34.org/page/superintendents-office)
Mrs. Keane's second graders treated kindergarten and first grade lunch to a Chinese New Year parade to celebrate the year of the dragon.
Pictured: the wild Saturday nightlife of a school district Facilities Director. Thanks, Mr. Fournier, for fixing the leaking roof drain discovered at Saturday's OTES event!
Our kindergarten teams have set a goal to collect 100 food items, especially baking goods, in each community by the 100th day of school, which is Wednesday, February 14th. If you would like to contribute, send items with your student or drop them off at the office. Thank you!
Families with children birth to five, check out this free book offering from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Maine! https://imaginationlibrary.com/check-availability/