Superintendent's Portland Forecaster Column
![Developing and implementing clear, efficient and accountable systems]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1697573184/portlandschoolsorg/hju5rrygnrwylmpxp2zz/RyanScallonphoto.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1697573184/portlandschoolsorg/hju5rrygnrwylmpxp2zz/RyanScallonphoto.jpg","width":313}])
This column is the final installment in my series detailing the impacts of the new Portland Public Schools’ five-year Strategic Plan. This month, I’m focusing on our Systems priority.
This column is the next in my series detailing how our new Portland Public Schools’ five-year Strategic Plan impacts students in the classroom. This month, I’m focusing on our People priority.
I’m continuing my series of columns on how our new Portland Public Schools’ five-year Strategic Plan impacts students in the classroom. This month I’m focusing on our Whole Student priority.
I’m writing a series of columns about the impact that our new Portland Public Schools’ five-year Strategic Plan will have on students in the classroom. This month I’m focusing on our plan’s central priority: Equity.
How will the Portland Public Schools’ new five-year Strategic Plan impact students in the classroom? That’s a question I will be exploring in my column over the next few months. This month I’m focusing on our special education programming.
The Portland Public Schools started this school year with a new Strategic Plan. It has five priorities we plan to achieve over the next five years and maps out the steps we’re going to take each year to realize those priorities. But what does our Strategic Plan mean for students in the classroom? That’s a question I’ll be exploring in my column over the next few months.
The Portland Public Schools envisions a future where our high schools have fantastic facilities where we provide students with a rigorous academic, career and technical education high school experience. And with our high school buildings assessed in 2017 to have $40 million each in improvement needs – a price tag sure to climb higher due to increased construction costs – the time to plan for the future is now.
One of the things I really appreciate about education is that it’s cyclical. We feel pride and a sense of accomplishment as school ends each June and renewed excitement each fall as we begin a new school year. The summer provides an interlude that we use not only for summer learning but to reflect on what we did last year and plan for this year. Here’s a look back at the summer and some highlights of what’s next as the 2024-2025 school year gets underway.
The Portland Public Schools reached a milestone in June, when the Board of Public Education unanimously approved our new Strategic Plan. This plan is the result of a tremendous effort over the past year by the whole PPS community, working and talking together about how best to fulfill our district’s unique potential. Now we move into the new school year and beyond with a clear roadmap of what we want to achieve over the next five years and how to get there.
Did you know that the Portland Public Schools recently received a “School of the Year” award for environmental learning? Or that two Casco Bay High School students won highly competitive 2024 Maine Literary Awards? Or that one of our custodians is an accomplished artist whose duck painting took the top prize in Maine’s 2024 Migratory Waterfowl Stamp Art Contest?
We’re proud of all the many accomplishments of PPS students, staff and the district during the 2023-2024 school year. As we end the year, I want to highlight a few recent accolades you may not be aware of.