The Russell Review

Dear Parents & Guardians,

As we bid farewell to September, we are delighted to report that the first month of school has gone exceptionally well. It's been so great to see our students' enthusiasm and dedication as they get back into the swing of the school year.

As I had hoped, the hallways have echoed with laughter, curiosity, and the unmistakable sound of learning. Our dedicated staff have been working diligently to create a positive school and classroom environment for our students, and it's evident that their efforts have been paying off.

With the crisp autumn breeze beginning to embrace our community, we eagerly look forward to all the wonderful things that October and the fall season will bring. As the leaves change color and the days grow shorter, we anticipate even more exciting learning opportunities, memorable moments, and community events.

Stay tuned for updates on upcoming events and the many reasons we have to celebrate the joys of learning together. Thank you for being an essential part of our Russell School community, and here's to a fantastic month ahead!

Warm regards,

Mr. Blake

October 11th

No School - Staff In-Service Day

October 14th

No School - Indigenous Peoples' Holiday

October 16th

Early Dismissal

Students Dismissed 2 Hours Earlier Than Normal

October 17th

Russell School Flu Clinic

(More Information To Come)

October 18th

Second Chance Picture Day

November 11th

No School

Veteran's Day Holiday

November 12th & November 14th

Russell School Dental Clinic

November 20th

Early Dismissal

Students Dismissed 2 Hours Earlier Than Normal

November 27nd

No School

Teacher Comp Day For Fall Conferences

November 28th & November 29th

No School

Thanksgiving Break

December 5th

Russell School Winter Concert

(Held At GNG Middle School)

5:30 Kindergarten

6:00 First Grade

6:30 Second Grade

December 18th

Early Dismissal

Students Dismissed 2 Hours Earlier Than Normal

December 21st - January 1st

No School

Winter Break

Changes to your child’s afternoon dismissal plan must be communicated to the main office before 12:00 on the day of the change. This communication is essential for us to plan accordingly and get your child where they need to be at the end of each day. Additionally, this communication should be prioritized early in the day as we intend to dismiss buses before parent pick-up this year. Families who do not inform us of changes will likely have to return to pick-up their children from home or daycare.

It is important to note that this communication should be made to the main office and not only to classroom teachers. Our classroom teachers are not constantly or consistently monitoring email while students are in class. You can reach us in the main office at 657-4929 or by email at jfernez@sad15.org.

Happy Autumn! I’m happy to say that the 2024-2025 school year has gotten off to a wonderful start! It’s been exciting for me to get to know all of our new kindergarteners as well as greeting and conversing with our returning students. I just love hearing stories about all of their summer adventures! As with everything in school, the learning got underway quickly. In SEL (Social Emotional Learning) specifically, we started the year off by learning (or reviewing) our school expectations (Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible) and defining what that actually looks like in a school setting. We have learned the meaning of whole body listening and strive to practice those skills on a daily basis, not only during SEL time but throughout the school day as a whole. In September we also began working on the Zones of Regulation. For those of you not yet familiar with the Zones, it is an SEL framework used to support the development of self-regulation and emotion recognition in children by categorizing their feelings and various physical and mental states, or sensations, into four colored zones: Blue, Green, Yellow, and Red. Once children are able to recognize which zone they are in, they are better able to identify and practice different strategies to bring them back to a calm, focused, and “ready to learn” state of being.

Following the Zones, October will focus on assessing the “size of a problem.” This SEL theme strives to help students understand the difference between big and small-sized problems and gauge their reactions appropriately. For example, small-sized problems are manageable, meaning students can find ways to solve the problem on their own, without engaging adults to “referee” or solve the problem for them. Big problems, however, usually require adult intervention (a student is hurt or in danger, a student misses the bus and needs a ride to school, an object of value is broken or stolen, etc.) In class, we will read books, discuss, and do activities on how to identify the size of various problems and then base our reactions and responses to each problem accordingly.

It is always such a pleasure working with and learning from your children! Thank you for making their education a priority. Additionally, attendance is a huge factor in students’ abilities to learn, play, and socialize with peers so, as always, we ask that you try to get your students here everyday. If they are showing some reluctance to or having big feelings about coming to school, please let us. I’d be happy to work with you and your child on establishing a healthy transition to school so as to get their day off on the right foot.

As always, if you have any questions about what they are learning in SEL or need to get in touch with me regarding a separate matter, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I can be reached at kwigmore@sad15.org or by calling 207-657-9622. Enjoy this beautiful fall weather and I hope to see you all soon. Thanks again for sharing your amazing kiddos with us here at Russell School!

Please keep in mind that when a student misses school, they miss instruction and that learning experience cannot be replicated through make up work. This is especially true during extended trips and vacations that occur outside of our vacation weeks. For that reason we strongly suggest that trips and vacations be planned around our pre-established vacation weeks.

Additionally, it is not a reasonable expectation for teachers to provide all missed work before a student leaves on a family vacation. We certainly can provide some items that might be helpful to keep your student engaged while away, but much of our planning is done daily to meet the dynamic needs of the classroom. It is also important that parents and students understand that it is the student’s responsibility to make up for missed work.

The first meeting of our new Russell School Family Engagement Team will be held on Monday, October 21st from 5:00 - 6:00. This team will work to review Russell School data and develop action strategies that engage families in their children's learning with the ultimate goal of helping improve our overall student achievement data at Russell. The team will be composed of the Russell School principal, teacher leaders, and parents. We hope you will consider joining our team! Please email Mr. Blake at dblake@sad15.org or call the Russell School Office at 657-4929 if you are interested in joining us!

Team Meeting Dates:

October 21st

January 6th

March 31st

May 12th

Russell School will host our first Spirit Day of the year on Thursday, October 31st. On this day all students may choose to wear a school-appropriate costume of their choice. We highly recommend considering dressing as a book character from one of the many books your children love, but all costumes are welcome!

Student costumes will need to meet the following expectations:

• Costumes must be school-appropriate and not frightening.
• Students should not wear costume masks of any kind. We need to see their bright shining faces at all times.
• Students must wear sneakers or other ordinary footwear appropriate for school and outdoor recess.
• Weather permitting, we will have outdoor recess, so students are encouraged to wear clothing suitable for the weather.
• Please do not send in any hand-held props.
• Students should wear costumes that allow them to sit, walk, and hear well throughout the school day.
• Hats, wigs, and face paint are allowed as long as they are not a distraction to learning.
  
  

We hope that our students will enjoy the chance to dress in a costume and share some fall spirit!

We are pleased to announce that breakfast and lunch will be free to all students for this school year! This only applies if a student takes a "complete meal".

Students who choose to only get milk with their breakfast or lunch will be charged $0.65 for each milk they take.

Lunch menus are published monthly on the MSAD 15 website. In addition, monthly menus will be sent to families through our email service, School Messenger.

Please note that due to staffing shortages, the yogurt meal is temporarily unavailable. We hope to add it back to the menu soon. In the meantime, we will continue to serve the main entree and have a secondary option of sun butter and jelly.

Students who will be purchasing milk only are strongly encouraged to use the My School Bucks program. Information pertaining to the program can be found below.

The MSAD 15 dental program is changing a bit this year. We will not be offering the fluoride varnish to students who have and visit dentists regularly. The dental program we are offering is much more comprehensive and able to really help those students who may be struggling to find and get to the dentist for whatever reason. For those of you who do have dentists for your children please be sure to continue having check ups and cleanings every six months. For those of you who don't, please take advantage of this program. I am sure you know teeth are a huge part of overall health! Please reach out to your health office if they have any questions or concerns. Dental Clinic forms came home with students on Friday, September 27th.

We recognize that some of our students may need to have medications administered at school either for a short period or maybe longer term. Please do not send any medications (including over the counter ones, cough syrup/drops, etc.) with your child to school on the bus or in their backpacks.

Per Board policy, all medications must be given directly to the health office and the appropriate paperwork completed. Students at Russell cannot self carry or administer medications. Please contact Abby Smith (absmith@sad15.org) with any questions you may have!

The Russell School staff has a fun and unique way to acknowledge students for positive behaviors and following our school expectations! Students can earn Star Chips for their personal necklaces: Orange for Responsibility, Purple for Respect, and Green for Safety. All staff are always on the lookout for opportunities to give out star chips throughout the day, whether it be on the playground, in the hallway, in the cafeteria, or the classroom.

Once a student has earned 10 chips of one color, they trade those chips in for a special ‘10’ star-shaped charm. Students even have the opportunity to turn ten stars in for a 100 charm!!

Students keep the necklaces in their classroom during the school year. At the end of the year they will receive a certificate indicating the total number of Star Chips they earned throughout the year.

Asking your student if they have been earning star chips is a great way to start a conversation about all the hard work they have been putting into be a positive role model here at Russell School!

Lauren and Wendi are looking for volunteers to help gather items for raffle baskets. We are looking for donations from local businesses. If you would like to help please contact them at russellpatriotparents@outlook.com

GNG Caring Community provides assistance for residents in Gray or New Gloucester that are in need of an extra hand during the holidays. We are accepting applications for those needing a Thanksgiving meal. Please click on the link below and fill out the application. This is for GNG residents only. The deadline to submit an application is November 10th.

https://forms.gle/9QthuJaivMJUVE4q8

How to become a sponsor:

If you would like to sponsor a family, please email gngcaring@gmail.com. We can provide you the information to decide if you would like to help.