OMS and OHS families have now completed 100% of their yearly paperwork.

ASA is now at 75% from 69% two days ago! Let's go Asa Parents. We can do this!

• The beginning of the year paperwork has important information regarding photo, name, and media releases.
• Information regarding emergency contacts, hospital preference for emergencies, who can pick up your child in your absence, and other important demographic data.
• Some of this data is also tied to our federal reporting, and in turn federal funding for things like Title 1 Services and intervention.
• Additionally, the free breakfast and lunch program for all students is also contingent on this data.

If you need help completing this paperwork, please contact the school immediately.

The feeling of fall seems to be in the air and all of the things we love about this season are upon us. Autumn brings fall sports, apple picking, pumpkin carving, leaf peeping, bon fires, and cozy sweaters. Here at school it also brings picture day, NWEA testing, the flu clinic, the book fair, and parent teacher conferences. It sure is a busy time of year but it has never been more important to stop and find ways to enjoy the season with those in our lives.

Making time for those near and dear to our hearts has huge benefits for all of us. Children who spend quality time with their families are less likely to have behavioral issues at home or school, are less likely to engage in risky behaviors like drug and alcohol use, and they also tend to be physically healthier on the whole. Quality time with family also proves to reduce stress and anxiety for adults, lead to healthier lifestyles, and prolong our life expectancy.

So, if you need a few ideas of how to enjoy the season for you and yours, here is a little inspiration from Good Housekeeping, 61 Best Fall Activities to Celebrate the Season. We hope you have a delightful fall season and will look forward to seeing everyone again next month at parent teacher conferences in November. In the meantime, please know that we are here if you need us.

Sincerely,

Ms. Wyman and Ms. West

RSU 26 is in the process of developing a 5 year strategic plan. This plan will be used to allocate finite resources like staff time and dollars towards priority areas. A committee spanning all stakeholders (teachers, parents, students, etc) is leading this process, but we very much need broader input to understand the community’s priorities. This survey is based on feedback we heard at recent strategic plan forums with staff, the community, and students. We invite all stakeholders to complete this survey to ensure community priorities are reflected in the strategic plan. Click on the link below to complete the survey. Survey closes Tuesday, October 10th.

For each question please rank the words or phrases in priority order from first/top to last/bottom. We understand that it will be difficult to exactly rank whether a certain word should be, say, 3rd or 4th, so don’t worry too much about getting this perfect. We just want your broad impressions. Things that are most important to you should be ranked near the top and things that are relatively less important should be ranked near the bottom. You can rank either by dragging and dropping tiles up and down OR by clicking on the up or down areas to move tiles.

We will be bringing a draft strategic plan back for input from everybody in the spring. Thank you for your input!

Please join us in welcoming Mr. Matt to the Asa office. He is our full time administrative office assistant. Matt joined the office team two weeks before school started. So, he may already be a familiar face and voice to you on the phone. You may also recognize him from his work here at Asa as an ed tech in the special education program last year. Matt comes to us with over 30 years of experience in education. He worked as a school counselor with middle school students for the majority of his career and we feel lucky to have him here with us now in the Asa office.

Welcome Matt!

RSU 26 conducts regular safety drills to help prepare students and staff for emergency situations. These drills include: fire, lockdown, and evacuation drills. Orono Middle and Orono High are required to complete 8 fire drills annually, whereas 10 are required at Asa Adams School. During fire drills, we practice leaving the building quickly, efficiently and safely to designated locations on campus. During lockdown drills, we practice remaining in the classroom in a quiet, hidden and protected way. During an evacuation drill, we practice safely leaving the school building and moving to our offsite locations. These drills function to provide students and staff with the necessary information and practice they will need to remain safe in the event of an emergency. The specific date and time of the drills are not shared with students, staff and community to help provide a more realistic experience, and to keep everyone safe during the drills.

The PTO would like to express their gratitude and appreciation for those of you who participated in the parent/caregiver survey, shared family contact information for the student directory, and/or came out to donate generously during the Darlings Ice Cream for a Cause event. It was a joy to see so many of you in one place!

Though December seems far away - now is the time that we start collecting crafts for the student holiday market (craft fair). We will be sending home more details about that soon - so prepare to put on your thinking caps and craft aprons!

We have other upcoming events (and dreams!) we'd like to share with you and we plan to do so at our first public meeting on October 3rd at 6:15PM via Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82023489321). We want to hear from and work with you. Please join us! Questions or comments before then? Contact us at asaadamspto@rsu26.org.

Students arriving before 8:30 should report to the Cafeteria or Gym based on their grade level.

• Grades PK, K, & 1 will report to the CAFETERIA.
• Grades 2-4 will report to the GYM.
• Grade 5 will report to the GYM prior to 8:15 and to the ART Room after 8:15.
• Any student having breakfast at school will report to the cafeteria to eat and if they are in grades 2-5 they should then report to the GYM or ART room when finished.

Dismissal begins at 2:45pm for walkers and pickups. Buses dismiss at 2:55pm.

• Walkers: Students in grades 3, 4, or 5 with written parent permission to walk home will be dismissed through the 5th grade wing. Staff supervising the dismissal will check them off as they leave.

• Parent Pick-Ups: Students in grades K-5 that will be picked up by parents, will be dismissed to the red playground and wait in their grade level line until they are called to meet their parents. Parents may pick up from the Asa parking lot or from Goodridge Drive.

• Bus Riders: Students departing on buses will be called to the playground at 2:55pm to board their buses as they arrive.

The book fair coming November 6th-10th.

Email: kwyman@rsu26.org
Location: 6 Goodridge Drive, Orono, ME, USA
Phone: (207)866-2151