January 29, 2024

Hello Kaler Families!

Save the date! Please join me for an Information Night next Tuesday, Feb. 6th, 5:30-6:30. I will be sharing information about our:

Current enrollment and demographics
School goals and how we are doing
Attendance practices
Elementary School Handbook
Parent engagement opportunities

This will be a presentation starting at 5:30 with plenty of chances to ask questions and talk with other families. Child care will be provided by staff who are on the Kaler Leadership Team. Please consider attending!

Kaler School is considered a Title I school, which means our school is funded through many different sources. The majority of our funding comes from local and state dollars. Kaler also received federal funds through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). These additional dollars are a benefit for our school. We qualify for this benefit due to the number of students who are eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch. Title I, is a federal program designed “To provide all children a significant opportunity to receive a fair, equitable, and high-quality education, and to close educational achievement gaps.” We use these funds to pay for additional staff. Our goal is to support all students making achievement gains, including our students who are furthest from opportunity. You can always see recent data at the Maine DOE Dashboard https://www.maine.gov/doe/dashboard

Andrea Ernst, Kaler and Small School Social-Emotional Learning Teacher, is starting to use the Second Step Bullying Prevention Unit with our students. In the lessons, your child will learn specific skills to help stop bullying. Students will learn how to:

Recognize when bullying is happening
Report bullying to a caring adult
Refuse to let bullying happen to themselves or others
Be an upstander who stands up and is part of the solution to bullying

Look for the complete letter she sent to you last week.

PTA Fundraiser! The PTA is rolling out a new fundraiser called “gotsneakers?” It’s a sneaker recycling organization. It’s very simple:

bring/send in used sneakers
put them in the bag in the lobby
the bag gets shipped (free of cost)
the PTA gets money to support students!

You can also find more info on their site and info about what they do with different types of used sneakers.

Important Dates

Information Night - Tuesday, Feb. 6th 5:30-6:30
PTA Meeting - Tuesday, Feb. 13th 5:30-6:30
School Vacation - Feb. 19th-23rd
School starts again - Monday, Feb. 26th
Chipotle PTA Fundraiser - Monday, March 4th
Early Dismissal Day - Wednesday, March 6th, 11:00 for preK, 12:40 for K-4
End of Trimester 2 - Friday, March 8th

As always, please reach out with questions,

Myra Caron

Principal, Kaler Elementary School

207-799-3214

caronmy@spsdme.org

https://www.spsdme.org/o/kaler

James O. Kaler Elementary