After a First Read on July 2, the Portland Board of Education will meet on July 9 at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers at Portland City Hall to vote on a Superintendent Employment Agreement between the board and Emmanuel Caulk, assistant superintendent of schools in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The July 9th vote will be followed by a reception in the State of Maine room at City Hall. Read More
High school teachers in the Portland Public Schools are attending national conferences and other learning activities during the summer as part of Pathways to Success, a district-wide initiative to improve options for students. A $5 million grant from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation is paying for the professional development.Read More
The Portland Board of Education voted unanimously on June 26 to appoint Deering Principal Ira Waltz as the Portland Public Schools’ acting superintendent. Waltz will assume the position on July 1 and remain in the job until August 31 or when a new superintendent begins work, whichever happens first. The board is engaged in a national search for a permanent superintendent to replace James C....Read More
The Portland Public Schools and partners will be serving meals and planning activities at several locations in Portland from June 25 through August 24. The district is partnering with the YMCA, Salvation Army, Ocean Avenue Summer School, the City of Hope on Allen Avenue and the Preble Street Maine Hunger Initiative to offer the free summer meals program at these sites and times:Read More
Ocean Avenue Elementary School recently held its annual egg drop contest. Students, staff, parents and community members were on hand to witness Principal Beverly Coursey drop each egg from the roof of the school. Students created methods to protect an egg from a fall - and many eggs survived the drop.Read More
Reiche Community School has planted an apple orchard as part of an ongoing initiative to bring more nature to its urban school landscape. The orchard is part of an outdoor learning environment for students that also may be enjoyed by the neighborhood. Reiche’s “Green Team,” a group of parents and interested community members, came up with the orchard idea last January to further the goal of...Read More
The Portland Public Schools has named Thomas “Trey” Bachner as the district’s technology services director. For the past four years, Bachner served as senior project engineer for education professional service at Apple, Inc., supporting the Maine Learning Technology Initiative. He previously worked for seven years as the technology director of the Falmouth Public Schools.Read More
Six students from King Middle School have been chosen to join more than 250 other middle schools students from across the United States at a leadership conference in Washington, D.C. during the summer. The King students, all seventh graders, are Ellie Zukowski, Jack Meahl, Eidann Thompson Brown, Sophia Leavitt, Rosemary Santoro and Rose Griffin.Read More
The Portland Public Schools held graduation ceremonies on June 6 and 7 for Deering High School, Portland High School and Casco Bay High School. Portland Adult Education will hold its graduation on June 14 at 6 p.m. at Merrill Auditorium. The event is free and all are welcome.Read More
Juniors at Casco Bay High School (CBHS) will present multimedia projects at the Salt Gallery on June 11 at 6 p.m. The projects tell about students’ recent experience building homes in West Virginia for Habitat for Humanity. Admission to the event is free and the public is invited.Read More
Louise Moses, acting assistant principal of Lyman Moore Middle School, and Kathleen Marquis-Girard, acting assistant principal of Portland High School, were both named to those positions on a permanent basis. Moses was one of 50 applicants for the Moore position. A district employee for 37 years, she is a former special education teacher, middle school math teacher and district teacher leader...Read More
On June 5, students in the Portland Public Schools demonstrated how they are recycling and composting cafeteria waste in a new program launched throughout the district this school year. The program is reducing cafeteria trash by 50 to 80 percent, saving the district money on trash hauling and teaching students about sustainability. All Portland Public Schools will be separating out recycling and...Read More
Four major Portland arts organizations are partnering on a new educational initiative to connect students in the Portland Public Schools to the arts. Read More
