CELEBRATION! These students could not keep from dancing as they took part in their end-of-year celebration after school at Coastal Ridge on June 17.
Photo by Jennifer L. Saunders
I WILL REMEMBER YOU. Emotions ran high as fourth-grade students said goodbye to their current and former teachers at Coastal Ridge Elementary School, beginning their transition to become fifth-grade students at York Middle School in the fall.
Photos by Jennifer L. Saunders
FREE FALLING! All eight fourth-grade classes at Coastal Ridge Elementary School took part in the Great Egg Drop on June 18, an annual event where those students who choose to participate create their own inventions for protecting two uncooked eggs from breaking when they are dropped from the height of two stories. Each student had to come up with an individual idea, and parents were only allowed to help find or purchase the materials the students chose. With eggs cradled or buoyed by umbrellas, balloons, handmade parachutes, cushioned shoeboxes and everything in between, the fourth-graders watched as their teachers, assisted by volunteers from the York Fire Department, dropped their inventions from high above - and then rushed to see whether their eggs had survived the fall.
Photo by Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - June 20, the last day of spring, also marked the final day of the 2007-2008 academic year for local students.
Two days earlier, at the York School Committee's meeting, the tone was one of optimism for the academic year ahead as the committee bid farewell to retiring teachers, learned of this year's York Education Foundation grant awards and the adopted the new Coastal Ridge Elementary School Mission Statement, which is part of the school's accreditation process.
Coastal Ridge Principal Sean Murphy explained that the new document, which was created by a subcommittee with the support of the school's faculty and staff, builds off the York School Department Mission Statement and captures the spirit of Coastal Ridge.
The statement reads, "The mission of Coastal Ridge Elementary School is to provide children with an engaging and enriching educational experience. We strive to develop partnerships that facilitate learning, to foster responsible citizenship and to inspire children to excel."
The School Committee gave its full support to the plan, and Murphy said the next step will be for the school to share it with students and their families in the year ahead.
The sense of looking forward to the next academic year continued at the meeting with news that the York School Department's alternative plan to the state's school district consolidation mandate is moving forward as planned.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Henry Scipione updated the School Committee on the status of the plan, explaining that information was submitted to the state at the Maine Department of Education's request, following the preliminary approval of the plan that has allowed the York School Department to remain an independent municipal school district.
"I'm sure we'll get feedback, either it being accepted or additional information," Scipione said, adding, "That process continues."
Two days later, on the last day of school in town, Maine Department of Education Commissioner Susan A. Gendron announced that York's plan was one of 14 alternative plans submitted by school districts with more than 2,500 students - or those that, like York, fit another exception from the reorganization requirements - receiving final approval.
The alternative plan for York has been approved with a student enrollment number below the 2,500 threshold due to a variety of special exceptions. Currently, the York Schools have 1,968 students.
According to the Department of Education, "Gendron approved the request by York to file an alternative plan in place of its original intent to reorganize with Wells-Ogunquit. She has not approved the request by Wells-Ogunquit to file an alternative plan due to concerns about sustainability and has asked the SAU to reopen discussions with SAD 71."
That plan, according to the Department of Education, is still pending.
The next York School Committee meeting is scheduled for July 16 at 7 p.m. at the York School Department Central Office on Route 1
