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PPS kindergartners will be visiting the student-built Sugar House at the Portland Arts and Technology High School (PATHS) March 20-23 as part of a Wabanaki Studies unit called Maple Thanksgiving, in which students learn about the Indigenous origins of maple sugaring.

Portland High School senior Jaime Beya-Mbiyavanga won the Runner Up Award at the Poetry Out Loud State Competition, held March 13 at Bates College in Lewiston. Congratulations to this outstanding student!

On Tuesday, March 21^st the Maine Legislature’s Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services will hold a public hearing on LD 937 - Resolve, to Establish the Commission Regarding Foreign-trained Physicians Living in Maine.  This bill would establish a commission to look at ways that Maine could help facilitate and support foreign-trained physicians who are living in Maine to use their skills and training as a doctor.

The $141.3 million Portland Public Schools superintendents’ recommended school budget for the 2023-2024 school year has three key priorities: It maintains the district’s commitment to its Portland Promise goals of Achievement, Whole Student and People – all centered on the fourth goal of Equity; is responsive to the needs of all students, especially students newly learning English; and improves operational effectiveness in such areas as finance and human resources. The FY24 budget balances challenging fiscal constraints, including a significant reduction in state aid and inflation, with increased costs to support staff and students, while being cognizant of taxpayers. It would increase the school portion of the tax rate by 7 percent, adding about $15.60 per month to the tax bill of the average homeowner.

Portland Public Schools educators have shared some recent examples of innovative teaching and learning in the arts in our schools this year. Read on to learn more details:

The Portland Public Schools is proud that Casco Bay High School is featured in a new book titled “Schools of Opportunity: 10 Research-Based Models of Equity in Action.” The book focuses on schools that use equity-oriented practices that close opportunity gaps.

Libby Catania, a special education teacher and case manager at East End Community School and founder of Our Place, a nonprofit that supports the healthy development of youth and families in Portland, has been selected as a 2023 Outstanding Woman. Libby is one of 20 Outstanding Women being honored this year by Maine’s Coast 93.1 in conjunction with Hannaford Supermarkets.

A Casco Bay High School sophomore has won a statewide essay competition about a teacher at the school who made a difference and a Casco Bay junior earned an Honorable Mention for his tribute to a former teacher at Ocean Avenue Elementary School.

At the beginning of February, the Portland Public Schools celebrated the inauguration of the Make It Happen! (MIH) middle school program with a field trip to the University of Southern Maine. MIH is a college readiness program that helps PPS multilingual students aspire to and prepare for higher education. It was established in 2008 for multilingual students in grades 7-12, supported by grant funds. Due to budget limitations, the MIH middle school program was dropped six years ago, but has been relaunched in the 2022-2023 school year with new grant funding resources. The program is already having an impact at the district’s three middle schools

Portland Public Schools educators at the high school, middle school and elementary level recently shared some examples of innovative humanities and English language arts (ELA) teaching and learning in our schools this year. Read on to learn more details.

Every January and April, Casco Bay High School pauses classes so students can engage in week-long, elective courses called intensives, in which students can study a topic in depth, all day, for five days. This January, the school offered a new intensive called “Casco Teaches.” It was designed to introduce students to the world of teaching and to the concept of teaching as a future profession

The Spinglass Management Group has completed its audit of the Portland Public Schools’ payroll practices and issued a report. The report reflects many of the payroll problems – with systems, staffing and processing – that the district has already shared since the beginning of its payroll issues this fall. The report also details significant strides the district has made to stabilize systems, enter into an agreement to outsource payroll functions, and increase payroll staffing. Additionally, it outlines the work the district continues to do to resolve outstanding concerns.

Painting for a Purpose, a local nonprofit organization founded by teachers, brings creative people together to paint whimsical decorative items that they sell to raise money to fund service-learning projects led by Portland Public Schools students who want to make a difference. Students receive up to $500 to put their idea into action. So far this school year, Painting for a Purpose has funded a wide variety of PPS students' amazing service-learning projects.

For example, a King Middle School sixth-grader won a grant to help her share Ethiopian cuisine and traditions with the school community. She conducted independent research on Ethiopia and fed her classmates injera flatbread and other Ethiopian food. She had a meal catered from Asmara Restaurant, and shared a presentation that celebrated her culture and educated others on her mother’s home country. Click HERE to learn about this and the seven other projects that Painting for a Purpose helped make a reality this year.

Portland Public Schools educators at the high school, middle school and elementary level recently shared some examples of awesome science and math learning happening at their schools this year. Read on to learn more details:

It was rescheduled three times due to bad weather, but Casco Bay High School seniors on Jan. 27 were finally able to successfully complete the school’s 10th annual “College March” –  a public affirmation of students’ higher education goals.

The Deering Debate Team won numerous awards at the Maine State Speech and Debate Championships at Bangor High School on January 21. The team also won the 2023 MPA Sportsmanship Award at the event. Following states, Deering debaters went to the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) National Qualifying tournament for Congressional Debate, held at the Maine State House on January 28, where two Deering freshmen qualified for nationals as alternates.

Three Portland Public Schools nurses recently earned the National Certification in School Nursing (NCSN) credential, which is a validation of specialized knowledge and expertise as a school nurse. Nell Bridger, Presumpscot Elementary School nurse; Shirah O’Connell, East End Community School nurse; and Elizabeth Spaulding, a nurse at Rowe Elementary School, are among 30 Maine school nurses who recently completed their NCSN certification, a nationally recognized standard for providing excellence in school nursing care.

After more than five years of a highly collaborative process with Indigenous advisors from across the Dawnland – of which Maine is a part – the Portland Public Schools has officially launched a Wabanaki Studies curriculum across all elementary schools.

Casco Bay High School seniors’ 10th annual “College March” – a public affirmation of students’ higher education goals – has been rescheduled from the previously planned date of Jan. 20, 2022, due to a snowstorm. The new date for the event will be Friday, Jan. 27, 2023. The Portland community is encouraged to come out and cheer the students on!

New Mainers Resource Center, Portland Adult Education and the Daniel Hanley Center for Health Leadership have come together to host a remote conference: Fulfilling Potential: Foreign Trained Physicians – A Pathway Forward for Maine on January 19^th, from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm.

Alma Advisory Group, the professional search firm that the Portland Board of Public Education hired last month to aid in the search for a new superintendent, met with the Board and the Superintendent Search Committee earlier this week. Alma made a presentation as it worked with the Board and the Search Committee to define the scope of the work, the search timeline and community engagement in the search process.

Following the Dec. 16 resignation of Superintendent Xavier Botana, effective this month, the Portland Board of Public Education at its Jan. 3 meeting appointed assistant superintendents Melea Nalli and Aaron Townsend to be interim co-superintendents until a new superintendent is selected by June. Dr. Abdullahi Ahmed, currently co-principal at Deering High School, will take on the role of interim assistant superintendent for the transition. The team will move fully into leadership after Jan. 13.

Ninth-grade authors from Casco Bay High School shared their children's books about Wabanaki history and culture with a rapt audience of Ocean Avenue and Talbot Elementary students on Dec. 20. Superintendent Xavier Botana's December column in The Forecaster shares more about this unique learning project. Read it HERE.

Portland Board of Public Education Chair Sarah Lentz presented the 2022 State of the Schools address to the City Council and the public on Monday, Dec. 19. The City Charter requires that the Board chair deliver an annual address to the Council on the state of the public education system in Portland.

The Portland Board of Public Education voted on Friday, Dec.16, to accept the resignation of Superintendent Xavier Botana, effective January 31, 2023, or the starting date of an interim superintendent, whichever is first. Botana had planned to retire in June 2023, but he cited the district’s continuing payroll issues as the reason for his stepping aside now to let new leadership bring closure to the payroll challenges.