Garden club will be 1-3pm tomorrow, July 19th.
Next week's Garden Club will be on Tuesday, July 5th with the normal hours of 9am-11am. Students of all ages are welcome.
The RSU 12 Board of Directors meeting is on June 16, 2022 at 7pm at Chelsea Elementary School. Agenda and materials for the RSU 12 Board of Directors meeting on June 16, 2022 can be found here, https://www.svrsu.org/documents/rsu-12-board-of-directors-agendas-and-backup/2021-2022/june-2022/335685
Don’t forget! Voting Day is today!
Congratulations to our Whitefield School Pickleball Champions. Hannah Ratcliff and Oryanna Winchenbach. Our runners-up this year are Audrey Tibbetts and Stella Martinelli.
All four of these ladies will be competing together in a softball championship next week. Let's hope they can bring home another trophy!
Reminder to our families that Field Day is Friday, June 10th! Your child needs a signed permission slip and a change of clothes to use the bounce house and giant slip 'n slide! We are looking forward to a beautiful day celebrating all of the fun we've had in PE this year!
Reminder to our families that Field Day is Friday, June 10th! Your child needs a signed permission slip and a change of clothes to use the bounce house and giant slip 'n slide! We are looking forward to a beautiful day celebrating all of the fun we've had in PE this year!
FYI
Parent Luncheon / End of the Year Award Assembly information:
This is a reminder that Whitefield Elementary School will be having a three bus run this afternoon. We will also have a three bus run tomorrow afternoon, Friday, June 3rd.
Tomorrow, Thursday, June 2nd, we will be having a three bus run in the afternoon. Drop off times may very from normal. If this causes any issues, we encourage you to pick up your child at dismissal. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We thank you for you patience and understanding.
The last day of school is June 16th with a dismissal time of 11:30am.
Good Morning:
I have two issues that I need to present to you today as they are both pressing and involve all students and staff here at WHES. After reading this memo, please feel free to contact me here at school.
Texas School Shooting
We have all been horrified by the news of the school shooting in Texas. These events strike deep in the hearts of everyone but, especially, educators and parents. I was asked by a parent what the school will be doing to address this sad occurrence. In meeting with the staff this morning, I asked them to not directly address the event unless there are questions from any students as we are not sure what parents may have said to their children or what the students may have seen or heard from tv or other media. Should a question arise, staff were told to provide clear, simple information and not engage in speculation, heresay or rumors as these are often the catalyst for unnecessary fears. All responses are developmentally suited for the age group the staff member is addressing. The staff was also asked to be extra sensitive to any child exhibiting any kind of unusual stress or anxiety that might be caused because of this event and we have our counseling and support staff ready to assist any kids that may need some extra care over the next few days. Ultimately, we are trying to make this day be the same as any other, keeping to our typical routines but being ready to address situations that may arise.
As for what you may choose to do at home, following are some guidelines that I pulled from a reliable resource that you may want to review and consider for your own home. I think they apply well to both school and home.
Try and keep routines as normal as possible. Kids gain security from the predictability of routine, including attending school.
Limit exposure to television and the news.
Be honest with kids and share with them as much information as they are developmentally able to handle.
Listen to kids’ fears and concerns.
Reassure kids that the world is a good place to be, but that there are people who do bad things.
Parents and adults need to first deal with and assess their own responses to crisis and stress.
Rebuild and reaffirm attachments and relationships.
*There is also an attachment from the National Association of School Psychologists that you may find helpful.
Drinking Water Issue at WHES
Larry Dancer, the RSU #12 Facilities Director, came to school today with the results of the standard water testing that the school routinely completes and the results are requiring us to take immediate action in order to guarantee the safety of our students and staff. Our latest test of our well shows that our level of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exceeded the state's allowable standard. PFAS are sometimes referred to as "forever chemicals." Our test was listed as 26 parts per trillion (ppt) whereas the allowable level is 20 ppt. This means is that we cannot ingest the water from our well at this point nor can we use it in cooking. You can find more information related to PFAS by visiting the webpage of: DWP PFAS. Prior to another test that indicates we have moved below the state standard, we will be providing bottled water for all students and staff and our kitchen staff will not be using the school's well water for any cooking task. For more information about PFAS you may contact Ashley Hodge at ashley.hodge@maine .gov.
We will keep all parents apprised of the water situation as the last few weeks of school play out.
Mark
Mark Deblois, Principal
Whitefield Elementary School
164 Grand Army Road
Whitefield, ME 04353-3503
(207) 549-5251
Email: mdeblois@svrsu.org
FYI:
This is not an RSU 12 sponsored event
We cleaned out our lost and found over April vacation and it is already overflowing. Please encourage your children to check the lost and found frequently. We also encourage parents to stop by and claim lost items. Anything left in the lost and found at the end of the year will be donated to Goodwill.
On Wednesday, May 25th, at 6:30pm at the Chelsea Elementary School, the RSU 12 Board of Directors will be holding the RSU 12 District Budget Meeting. This town-meeting style meeting is the first step in a two-step budget process. RSU 12 citizens at the meeting vote on each cost center of the school budget. The second step of the process is on June 14th when citizens vote at local polling stations on whether or not they approve the budget that was decided on at the May 25th District Budget Meeting. You can learn more detail about the budget by going to this website, https://www.svrsu.org/page/rsu-12-proposed-budget-fiscal-year-2023. The RSU 12 Board of Directors encourages all RSU 12 residents to attend the RSU 12 District Budget Meeting on Wednesday.
This year's Dennis Cullenberg Memorial Scholarship has been awarded to Miranda Northrup. She will be graduating from Lincoln Academy in June and will be attending Saint Joseph's College in Windham, Maine. She plans to major in Elementary Education. Congratulations, Mia!!!!
More from our Farm to School Partnership about the May harvest of the month
Happy Cinco de Mayo from the Whitefield nutrition staff! Pulled chipotle pork on a bun and homemade guacamole were a huge hi
Whitefield School has secured a substitute bus driver for this afternoon. We will be having a normal 4 bus run this afternoon. There will be no disruptions on drop off times.
Thank you for your understanding and patience.