News & Calendars

The Portland Board of Public Education voted on April 9 to approve a $161.4 million FY25 school budget to recommend to the City Council. The Board’s budget centers students by including strategic funding for increased student mental health, reading support, special education and school culture support at the school level. It also supports increased rigor in the classroom, and maintains funding for athletics, extracurriculars, and class sizes. The Board will present its recommended budget to the City Council on April 22. The Council will vote on the school budget on May 20 and send it to voters on June 11.

Deering High School is excited to announce its 150th Open House celebration, set to take place on Saturday, May 11 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. As part of Deering’s ongoing commitment to our community and alumni, the school invites everyone to an unforgettable journey through the halls of history.

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.

Courtney Graffius, the Portland Public Schools’ technology integration coordinator, is the recipient of the 2024 School Administrator of the Year award presented by the Maine Association of School Libraries (MASL).

The award honors administrators who have helped to develop strong and effective school library media programs in their district. Courtney was nominated by PPS librarians in recognition of all she has done to help build and advocate for library programming in the Portland Public Schools, said Meg Rooks, teacher-librarian at Talbot Community School and the district’s library coordinator.

A new partnership between Rowe Elementary School and Rippleffect has resulted in the introduction of a climbing wall and ropes course at the school.

National Assistant Principals Week, April 1-5, 2024, is a time to honor and celebrate the contributions of our assistant principals to the success of our students. Assistant principals have complex jobs. Their duties include supporting teachers and their principal, motivating students and creating a positive learning community – as well as facing the many unpredictable challenges that land on their desk each day. Portland Public Schools is deeply grateful to all these key staff members for all they do to ensure that our students succeed. Thank you!

Lyman Moore Middle School students will deepen their understanding of what it means to be an American when the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) naturalizes 55 candidates for citizenship during a ceremony at the school on Friday, April 5.

Hosting naturalization ceremonies is a decades-long tradition at Moore, said grade 7 social studies teacher David Hilton, who leads the effort to have USCIS select the school as a host site.