Hawk Talk

Dear Duran School Families Families,

April is here and that means third quarter of the 2022-2023 school year is coming to an end. Teachers are currently finalizing report cards and you can expect to see them coming home Wednesday of next week.

As we look ahead to the months of May and June, there are a number of exciting events planned to end the year. These events are posted at the end of this newsletter. In addition, Teacher Appreciation Week is the first week of May. If you would like to write a message to your child's teacher, please click here. I am compiling the messages to be delivered during that week.

We are excited to see what this spring brings!

Sincerely,

Melissa Davis, Ed.D.

Patricia A. Duran School

Hermon, Maine

melissa.davis@schools.hermon.net

We are so excited for the upcoming concert and the opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of our kindergarten students. We had significant feedback from families that, while it was wonderful to see the students perform, that the audience behavior was distracting.

We have reviewed how to be a respectful audience member with all grades this year for assemblies and performances--and our students have received so many compliments from visitors on their behavior. I want to make sure that we show them the same respect. When attending concerts or performances at the Duran School, we ask that all audience members:

1. Remain seated for the duration of the performance. Getting up and moving around, going up front to talk to students on stage, or running up to take a picture can be very distracting to our young performers. If you must leave, please do so between musical numbers.

2. Keep young audience members with you. We had a number of students running around behind the seating or scaling the bleachers during the performance. Please ensure that children are seated and respectful to the performers. We ask that parents and children are seated, and that the area behind the seating remains open for an exit route.

3. No side conversations please. Please put your phones on silent and conversations to a minimum. Our gymnasium does not have the best acoustics for a performance. The more quiet the audience is, the better everyone can hear.

4. Show your appreciation for the performance by clapping. We love to celebrate a job well done!

At the beginning of this school year, we started a new phonics program called "Letterland." The program spans grades prek through 3rd grade and covers early literacy skills necessary for reading. We have been so impressed with the program and its ability to engage our students during the learning process. Students are excited about phonics and they are making amazing progress. This is in part due to the program, but also the thoughtful implementation by our staff.

We wanted to share the family resources with you so that you can continue the learning and fun at home. Click on the words in bold (hyperlinks) to take you to the site.

Letterland Story Corner: This link has a video story for each letter.

Letterland Collections: This link will take you to a number of products that can be purchased for home. Some favorites include: bedtime stories, ABC stories, Alphabet Tales, etc.

Registration for fall preK and Kindergarten have opened. Applications are available in the main office during school hours or on our school website. In addition to the application, parents should provide updated immunization records, an official copy of the child's birth certificate, and two proofs of residency documentation. We look forward to meeting all of our new families!

When your child is absent, please verify their absence by calling the main office at (207) 848-4000, option 3 for the Duran School. Please do not send information regarding absences to your child's teacher via SeeSaw. They are often not checking SeeSaw during the day. We are required by law to track student absences to ensure that students are attending school on a regular basis.

Excused absences include: illness, health related appointments, observance of recognized religious holidays when observance is required during school hours, family emergency situations, educational absences approved by the principal in advance, absences caused by school activities held during the school day. As a school, we are required to maintain and report truancy data to the state. Students who accumulate five consecutive unexcused absences or seven unexcused absences are considered by the state to be truant.

As you all know, dismissal and arrival times can be very chaotic. With close to 500 students to dismiss, it is critical that we have student plans. Please do not send dismissal information to your child's teacher through SeeSaw. Please call the main office or send your child with a note if their dismissal plans change. We begin preparing for dismissal at 2:00 and request that if plans need to change, they are done before 2:00

April 12: Quarter 3 Grade Reports Sent Home

April 17-21: Vacation (No School)

May 1-19: Spring NWEA Testing

May 3: ACES Day

May 10: Grade 3-4 Concert @ 5:30

May 25: Grade 4 Field Trip to Moose Point State Park

May 29: Memorial Day (No School)

June 2: 4th Grade Step-Up Day

June 7: 4th Grade Promotion Ceremony @ 6:00

June 9: Field Day