The New School News

Kylie and Ally planting tulips in the front garden during Greenhouse last week.

All School Meeting tomorrow night, Monday, May 2 at 6:00 via Zoom. Click here for your Zoom link. Please make sure your Zoom software is up to date before the meeting. There have been a few system updates recently.

The meeting will be facilitated by Christine Knowles and Scott Hamann. A few reminders: The meeting begins at 6:00. We do try to start promptly, so aim to arrive a few minutes early if you can. Meetings will follow a basic format every month, but the agenda topics will vary based on input from the school community and the needs of the school. Anyone in the community can submit items for our agenda prior to the All School Meeting meetings. When submitting an agenda item, please include a brief description of the topic and an estimate of the amount of time you would like to devote to it. Agenda items should be submitted on Fridays before an ASM. The New School News preceding an All School Meeting will always have the agenda and a brief description of each item.

Students are strongly encouraged to participate in the meetings—this is their school, after all, and decisions made at the ASM directly impact them.

This is our last meeting before pretty much ALL of the end of year events.

• Ice Breaker: A brief community-building activity. (15)
• Announcements: Open space for anyone in the community to share information with the group. (5)
• Breakfast: A few days left to fill for breakfast deliveries. Breakfast changed from Wednesday to Monday. (2)
• Education Report: Teachers will share highlights from our classes. Math 5 has a presentation. Slide show of student art. (10)
• 2022-2023 Budget: Scott will talk through highlights of next year’s proposed budget. We invite and welcome questions and feedback. The budget will be finalized and voted on at the June ASM/Annual Meeting of the Corporation on June 13. Click here to view the pdf. (10)
• Review of Volunteer Commitments for the 2021-2022 Year: Scott will answer questions about the Family Commitment Contracts. Please take a look at your tab, and fill in what you've done. (5)
• Team Reports: This section of the meeting allows our various teams and ad hoc committees to share updates and information with the community.
• Events Team: Spring Festival: Plenty of time allotted to go over details of this event. (15)
• Facilities: Spring Work Day information aplenty. (8)
• Admissions: updates about recruitment and upcoming events (5)
• Ad Hoc Teams: Prom! Information about our June 4, student Prom
• End of Year Events: Christine will give an overview of LEAP, Graduation, Gateways, & Planning for Next Year (15)
• Q&A: Time will always be allotted for the community to ask and answer questions. (5)
• We will end the large group meeting with Gratitudes (5).

Thank you to those who have helped us get a jumpstart on cleanup day, and also to those who have already signed up on here. Feel free to add your name, or if you just want to show up we'll find something for you to do.

I added a list of supplies that we need, like rakes, lawn mowers, leaf blower. Feel free to add to the list. If you put your name next to the item, we'll be able to balance out supplies; we won't wind up with 20 people bringing rakes.

Great news: We've booked the Kennebunk River Band!

Come enjoy ice cream and donuts, play some games, get your face painted. The event is open to the public. Should be a blast!

Get your tickets here. You can use this link to invite your Facebook friends to the event.

Pricing: $10 for adults, $5 for anyone 17 years old or younger, and kids (<17) who come with an adult will get in for free.

Please, invite friends and family to attend. We kept the pricing low to encourage a bigger turnout. Ice cream and donut samples are included. Pizza and popcorn will be for sale. There is no charge for face painting, but donations will be encouraged. There is also the option to give an additional donation on the checkout page.

Parents and students will be offering tours hourly on the half hour.

You can sign up to volunteer here, and of course there is no charge to get in if you are volunteering.

We hope you'll be there!

Important. Please establish your login to our new system. (Your email address will be your Blackbaud ID) All current families have received an email invitation and directions on how to set up their new account. The login site is:

https://thenewschoolmaine.myschoolapp.com

Your parent page contains a Resource Board where you will find links and information to Tuition Management, Financial Aid, and Enrollment. As we develop the system further, you will be able to see your student’s progress, conduct and attendance data, as well as School Announcements and other important information.

May 15 - Re-Enrollment Contracts due.

Once you are logged in, you will find your re-enrollment contracts and a profile update form to complete. When reviewing and signing your contract, you will be directed to set up your Tuition Management account. Please note that the school is no longer accepting tuition payments by credit card. Based on our enrollment numbers, the cost of absorbing credit card processing fees is prohibitive.

May 31 - Financial Aid application deadline. The window is now open to apply for financial aid for the 22-23 school year. Instructions are in your parent portal.

LEAP Night. Susan is recruiting volunteers for LEAP Night participation. LEAP Night will be In-Person on Tuesday, June 7. Feedback Teams need to be at TNS at 5:00 for orientation. Interviews begin at 5:15 PM.

Let us know if you will talk to a student about their learning no later than May 31.

We will need two volunteers per student. If you have participated before, we will try to keep you on the same student’s team. If you are new to participating, we will be posting LEAP Night Information to the parent portal in the new system. Please sign up here: https://forms.gle/64LjimEefsui32n38

Click here for your End of the Year Cheat Sheet. Christine has written an explanation for all of the events on the horizon as our year rockets to an end. Find answers to questions you have about the end of the year. You may even find answers to questions you didn’t know you had.

Upcoming Dates for Your Calendar

• May 2: All School Meeting 6:00 via Zoom
• May 11-13: Maine Model United Nations Conference USM Gorham
• May 14: Spring Cleanup Day Sign Up Here
• May 21: Spring Festival (Volunteer Signup)
• May 25: Teacher Day--students work from home
• May 30: No School Memorial Day
• May 31: Mandi Donegan Final Senior Round Table
• June 1: Ian Kruger Final Senior Round Table
• June 4: Prom: New School Style 6:00-10:00
• June 7: Leap Night
• June 11: Graduation
• June 13: ASM and Annual Meeting of the Corporation 6:00
• June 16: Last Day of School

Our Spring Newsletter will be in your mailbox this week. It includes a letter from Christine and Scott, as well as data to show how fundraising fits into our overall budget.

Can you help us develop our donor network? If you have friends or family members who would like to support The New School, you can share this link with them https://thenewschoolmaine.org/donate to make a secure donation.

• Family Commitment Tracking
• School Calendar (Whole Year)
• The New School News archive
• End of Year Calendar