Shapleigh Peek

Greetings Shapleigh Memorial Families!

I hope you are enjoying these summer days with your family and I can’t wait to hear all about the fun summer adventures. We are very excited to welcome you back to Shapleigh Memorial for the 2023-24 school year!

This update will provides some important updates and information for the start of the year. In addition, I send out regular family updates throughout the school year so please make sure we have your correct email information in Synergy which can be updated with our new verification process (see below).

New Staff

We said goodbye to a few staff members this past year due to retirements, as well as some taking on new positions closer to home. I am happy to share that we have had a busy summer of interviewing and would like to welcome the following staff to Shapleigh Memorial:

• Marissa Goodwin - Marissa will be joining our K-1 Team as the reading teacher. She is a recent graduate of UMF and completed her spring semester at Shapleigh as the grade 1 teacher.
• Robert Burdsall - Rob will be joining us as our 5th grade classroom teacher. Rob worked in the education field in Connecticut with a mix of general ed and special ed experience. After moving to Maine, he realized how much he missed education, he has returned to the classroom!
• Darla McCann - Darla will be joining us as our Literacy and Math Specialist. She is coming to use from Waterboro Elementary School where she gained classroom and Title 1 experience.
• Alan Riley - Alan will be joining us as the Computer Technician shared between Alfred, Lyman, and Shapleigh.
• Natalie Blackington - Natalie will be transitioning to the IEP Coordinator shared between LINE and Shapleigh. She has been working in the district for many years as a special education teacher and more recently as the district 504 coordinator.

We continue to work on filling the Special Education and PreK Ed Tech positions. Please share with anyone who may be interested in working at our amazing school!

School Updates

For those of you that are new to Shapleigh Memorial, we have transitioned to a multiage classroom structure for our Kindergarten through third grade learners starting this year!

This new structure will allow us to:

• have smaller and more balanced class sizes,
• provide learners with more opportunities to connect with different staff and students each year,
• provide more personalized learning in all academic areas to each child, and
• provide natural movement breaks into the daily schedule.

For more information, please see the Quick Guide to Multiage Learning Resource or reach out to the school.

Building Updates

The building is looking great! A special THANK YOU to Dani, Janette, and Dave for all their hard work this summer to get the building ready for the upcoming school year, especially with all the movements and projects this year. There has been and continues to be a lot of work going on in the building. It already looks so bright, clean and rejuvenated! Our new projects include installing siding on the back side of the 2-4 wing, tile in room 10, 9, speech, and 2-4 hallway and a renovated nurse’s office. Our wonderful PTC also sponsored basketball court updates and you will see some adjustable hoops being installed this summer!

I look forward to the start of the school year and welcoming everyone back into the building for another amazing year! Have a great rest of your summer and see soon!

Best,

Marisa

August 22, 2023

Pre-K and K Practice Bus Ride @ 10:00am

August 28, 2023

Fall Teacher Appointments for Kindergarteners (by appointment)

Open House @ 6:00pm

August 30, 2023

First Day for Grades 1-5

Fall Teacher Appointments for PreK (by appointment)

September 1-4, 2023

Holiday Recess - No School

September 5, 2023

First Day for PreK and K

September 20, 2023

Early Release Day

September 21, 2023

Fall School Picture Day

PTC Member:

Do you like to plan events, fundraisers, and special activities to support our learners?

We have a great new group of officers working to create fun family events for our community. Reach out to our PTC directly at shapleighptc@yahoo.com for more information.

School Volunteer:

Are you interested in volunteering in our school or classroom?

There are many opportunities to volunteer at our school including classroom helpers, field trip chaperones, book fairs, bulletin board creators, and more! All volunteers need to complete the volunteer paperwork and CHRC form to be added to our volunteer list.

Substitute Teacher:

Have you been interested in subbing and want to learn more about it?

The Massabesic Center for Adult Learning is offering a Substitute Training Course. You will learn best practices for classroom management, the importance of FERPA and the required mandatory reporting. The current rates are between $95-$105 a day and you have flexibility to create your own schedule.

Shapleigh Memorial School is pleased to offer our backpack program, a confidential program that is available to all our students. Many of our learners eat breakfast and lunch every day at school. Our program focuses on providing additional meals and snack to students during long holiday weekends and school breaks. We look to provide nutritious and easy-to- prepare food to ensure our learners can maintain a balanced diet and return to school after the break ready to focus on their learning. Due to the generous donations of our community members, we have been able to focus on providing fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy, and proteins! More information will be shared at the start of school regarding signing up or making donations for this program. If you would like to enroll in this program, please contact Betsy Coffin our school social worker.

Please refer to the district calendar for important dates including holidays, vacations, and early release day.