Biddeford School Department

 

 

Jeremy Ray, Chris Indorff, Karen Chasse, Kyle Keenan (MS Principal) were invited to speak about the Biddeford school system.

 

Jeremy said that in his fifth year here the image/perception of the school department is changed, through work of schools. Increasing BSS competitiveness with other area schools, due to the level of quality of the educators plus addressing some of the community issues. Some of the community issues are:

 

Economic Investment
-72% of mill space occupied
-$25 Million invested in Pepperell Mill campus
-Seeing the changes downtown with new businesses
-Industrial park is 95% full

 

Demographics
-65% of students eligible for FRL (poverty metric)
-19% are ESL (from 63 students in 2009 to 159 last year)
-51% live in single family homes
-38% graduation rate (5% above Maine average)
-positive retention rate for college level
-transience: only half of Kindergarteners are still with us in 8th grade
-declining enrollments (more citizens in Biddeford over 65 than 5-18 year old)

 

Aspiration
-prepare our students for 21st Century careers and education.

 

Innovation
-STEM Academy (Science, technology, engineering, mathematics). Interconnected and integrated study among these areas and humanities, as well as to the “real world.” 
-BSS encouraged by Jeremy to take some risks to provide best education possible. 
-6th grade pathway from middle-school to culminate with specialized, endorsed diploma, with articulation agreements with colleges (potentially UNE)
-No equivalent to this program in our area, so did national best practice outreach.
-“Real World” problem-solving (always looking for more business and non-profits who could collaborate with students in the STEM program)

 

Personalized Learning K-12
-More teacher training in strategies to more personalize learning, to increase engagement
-Proficiency based learning (different from habits of work and learning, which they are also judged on). Making the progression of the learning process more transparent. 

 

Partnerships
-UNE, St. Joseph’s and Thomas College increased partnerships
-Dayton sub-contracted superintendent services to BSS
-Compass Project (boat building project)
-Rotary Club, Community Bike Center
-Changing of school start times (with Saco, Dayton), meeting the CDC recommendations.

 

Community Outreach
-unique for BSS to hire Karen Chasse to do communications, outreach, relationship building (mostly only happens in private schools)
-Fundraising (Biddeford Education Foundation to enrich learning, in areas that may not be part of the school budget, 501c3) and Waterhouse field renovation, digital sign advertising
-Alumni Affairs

 

Goals
-Our focus: expand community outreach, keep spending in check, improve academic outcomes, increase engagement with families, improve daily attendance, and more

Facilities
-Waterhouse Field was one of the best facilities in the state of Maine, now in state of deep disrepair. Lighting, bleachers, needed. If we don’t do something, we will not be able to play there.  $3.4 – 4.5 Million needed. Fundraising efforts underway. Challenging to fundraise. May go to bond.
-JFK School (kindergarten center). Oldest building in the system. Looking at innovative ideas.
-COT has received $700,000 worth of rehab and improvement. “What classrooms should look like.” Shops are still quite small.  Have applied to the state for construction $.