Staff & Community Newsletter - March 31, 2023

In our recent newsletter messages, we have highlighted some of the amazing teaching and learning ongoing at the Portland Public Schools – in math, science, English language arts and social studies, and in music and the arts. In addition to rigorous academic offerings and challenging athletic opportunities, our schools also offer students a diverse range of co-curricular clubs and activities. In this letter, we turn the spotlight on those.

Co-curriculars play an important role in helping the Portland Public Schools achieve the Whole Student goal in the Portland Promise, our district’s strategic plan. That goal commits the district to advancing a well-rounded educational experience that “builds character, encourages civic participation, stimulates creativity and artistic expression, promotes mental and physical wellness, awakens appreciation of the natural world and fosters global competency.” Co-curriculars can help provide those experiences for students.

An “Art Class” exhibit, open March 31 – April 21 at the Portland Public Library’s Lewis Gallery, features artwork created by students from every Portland Public Schools high school and is student curated.

Portland High School has hired Sean Green, the former winning head coach at Cape Elizabeth High School, as its new head football coach. Green aims to develop Portland High’s program into the best in the state.

The Foundation for Portland Public Schools is thrilled to announce an anonymous donation of $250,000 to enrich music, visual, and performing arts experiences for students in the Portland Public Schools.

The Maine Association of School Libraries (MASL) presented its 2023 School Administrator of the Year award to Portland High School Principal Sheila Jepson on March 22.  The award honors administrators who have made worthy contributions to the operations of effective school library media services.

This school year, for the first time, Odyssey of the Mind was offered at Amanda C. Rowe Elementary School. Fast forward to the Nor’Easter Tournament on March 25, when two of the three teams from Rowe School placed first and second in their problems and have been invited to compete at the World Finals in Michigan May 24-27. 

Each year, Maine high school principals nominate one senior from their schools to receive an MPA Principal’s Award. The award, sponsored by the Maine Principals' Association, is given in recognition of a high school senior's academic achievement and good citizenship.The 2023 MPA Principal’s Award winners from the Portland Public Schools’ three high schools are: Abdullah Alzamilli, at Portland High School, selected by Principal Sheila Jepson; Anja Franck at Deering High School, selected by Co-Principal and Interim Assistant Superintendent Dr. Abdullahi Ahmed; and Greta Holmes at Casco Bay High School, selected by Principal Derek Pierce.

The STEM Expo, put on each year by the Portland Public Schools in partnership with EnviroLogix, is back in person in 2023, for the first time since the pandemic. Also, the event is divided into three separate days this year – March 31, April 6 and April 13 – at the district’s high schools to make it easier for high school students to attend.