October 22, 2021

Bonjour,

Welcome back! We hope you enjoyed a sunny and relaxing October break. It's been wonderful to have the school bubbling with lots of laughter, music, and learning once more. Thanks again to our staff and small group of students who made our vacation camp full of fun! Here at EFDM over the break we jumped in piles of leaves, painted with apples and on pumpkins, took a nature walk, and enjoyed plenty of extended forest play.

Please consider your nominations for our School Council Parent Representatives. We would like to have all nominees emailed to office@frenchschool.me by Friday, Oct. 29th. This is a wonderful chance to build connections between teachers, parents, and administration. Scroll down for more details about the School Council!

Picture Re-take Day has been scheduled for Monday Oct. 25th. Please find the link to the online gallery from the original Picture Day below to view your child's portraits, and thank you for supporting local artists!

Our traveling trunk exhibit on "People of the Dawn" will be arriving early next week. Check back in the next newsletter for more info on when and how your family can peruse this temporary museum in La Maison!

Details regarding this year's Halloween Parade plan are fully outlined below; we can't wait to see your costumes! It's always a "treat" of an event that the students look forward to each year. Thanks for planning ahead with us.

Please note, alongside this week's article regarding the IB we are announcing a recently decided upon Professional Day to support our teachers. There will be no school Friday, November 19th, to accommodate the teachers' training. Would you please use this advance notice to plan accordingly? We will consider this additional professional day and any potential snow days in determining the end-of-year calendar when the time comes.

As always, please reach out to Emily in the office with any questions: office@frenchschool.me
Traveling Trunk Exhibit Arriving Next Week!
We are so excited to soon receive the traveling exhibit from the University of Maine Hudson Museum called, "People of the Dawn: Past and Present". This made-for-school exhibit includes display panels showcasing drawings and photographs illustrating traditional life from 1600 to the present for members of the Wabanaki tribes (the five tribes of Maine: Mik'maq, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, and Abenaki).

Also included are many hands-on materials: examples of traditional artistry in baskets, birch bark work, and other tools. Reference books, videos, and CDs also come with this traveling trunk of knowledge. English classes will be taking charge of preparing this exhibit in La Maison, and it will be available for all classes to tour and explore. We plan to also open up this temporary "gallery" for families during certain after-school hours so that the learning can continue at home during the week of Nov. 1st. Please check back next week once we have received and prepared the exhibit for specified viewing times!

You might also wish to check out more about the Hudson Museum, including their online gallery tours and contemporary artist and Wabanaki elder video interviews.
Picture Re-Take Day: Mon. October 25th
If you've already let us know, or your student was absent on picture day, they are already on our list for re-takes. Picture Re-Take Day will be on Monday October 25th. An extra reminder to those on the re-take list will be sent individually before that date. Feel free to peruse the gallery for your student's watermarked individual and sibling portrait shots from the original Picture Day, if you have yet to do so already!

Whether from this first time around, or after retakes, please consider purchasing your child's photos for editorial downloading rights-- you'll be able to make infinite copies, prints, holiday greeting cards, etc., at your choosing. Grant Reid's picfair site also has the option to purchase framed prints of the photos.

We are happy to offer the opportunity for local independent artists to help us out during picture day. Thank you for making their efforts and time worthwhile!
Halloween Parade Friday October 29th
EFDM is happy to carry on a favorite school tradition this year. With extra safety measures in place, we invite you to join the fun!

As in years past, we will have all students participate in a walking parade around South Freeport village, fully in costume! This event will occur from 2 PM to 3 PM on Friday, October 29th, as listed on the academic calendar. We ask that ALL student Halloween costumes include their face mask. Students should NOT wear any additional costume masks on top of their protective masks. Parents who would like to join us for our walkthrough of South Freeport Village will also be required to wear a mask. With the help of parents, teachers will be separating their class groups, and we'll ask you to help maintain extra distance between bodies.

Older students in Elodie and Simon's classes will depart the playground precisely at 2 pm. Students from Victorien, Marie, and Alison's class will follow at 2:15 pm. Parents can feel free to meet their class outside at the designated times.

Parents of younger children may plan to park down at the Freeport Wharf and walk up to meet our group on the school playground so that the little ones can drive back to school after the walk down. Together, we will parade from the playground, down Park St. to the Bernard residence, and onward down the hill toward Brewer's Marina.

A small celebratory treat will be waiting for all at each stop, after which parents can drive or walk back up the hill to school with the group for dismissal off the playground as usual. We extend special thanks to our hosts- the Brewer and Bernard families for inviting us to "trick-or-treat" each year!
School Council Parent Representative Elections
Parent Representatives in 2017
The School Council is a group of staff, administration, and parents who meet a few times a year to discuss student life and connect. To host this year's election, we will need at least one nominee from each classroom. Please consider taking on this small commitment to assist in growing connections between the school and families. Meetings for the foreseeable future will occur over zoom or in the parlor of La Maison, schedules, and availability pending.
 
If you would like to nominate yourself or someone else to be a candidate, please email office@frenchschool.me by Friday, Oct. 29th, with the name of your choice! Voting will take place Tues. November 2nd via an online anonymous ballot survey.
 
Merci beaucoup!
Spotlight on English: Reading
In an effort to give a more detailed glimpse into English this year, Amy will be periodically writing up articles to share in our newsletter! This week, the focus is on Reading. Here, Amy explains the process of assessing and meeting each child where they are, while also setting individualized goals for the year and explaining how the teaching of skills happens with multiple levels in the room. More information about the assessments she is using and how to understand them can be found below! Feel free to reach out with any further questions. From Amy:

Throughout the year in English class, students work on reading both fiction and non-fiction pieces and apply various skills, such as making inferences, comparing and contrasting, retelling and summarizing, and identifying the main idea and themes of texts.

While students in all grades work on the same skills, these skills and their application becomes more complex as they advance in grades. Often these skills begin as simply answering literal questions, then require students to identify literal details to support their answers and advance to citing multiple examples in the text to support their inferential answers. 

DIBELS assessments and Reading A-Z are used to benchmark and monitor progress throughout the year. DIBELS assessments have been done for the beginning of the year and parents should keep an eye out in their child’s English folder for these results. Reading A-Z results are not yet complete but will come home as they are completed. 

Reading Level (According to Reading A-Z): 
Grade 2: Level P
Grade 3: Level T
Grade 4: Level W
Grade 5: Level Z

DIBELS Reading Fluency Rates: 
"Café et Conversation" sous la tente
This fall, our "Café et Conversation" resumes "sous la tente" each Wednesday morning from 8:30-9:00, and as long as the weather is cooperative! These meetings provide an extra opportunity for our school community to gather and share experiences. We hope you will mark your calendars and try to attend. As before, a theme each week but no real agenda, and last-minute drop-ins are welcome :-)

Wednesday morning from 8:30-9:00
October 27: Grade 3-4-5 with Simon and Alex and Raphaël
Peek Into the Classrooms
Fall projects galore are decorating the hallways and classrooms here at school. The PS class has some new mobiles hanging from the ceiling with their handmade Halloween characters! The trucks are still a huge hit on the playground these days aves les petits! Hopefully it will be a while still until we can play "snowplow" with them ;)
A look back before the break at the wonderful tradition in Moyenne Section of making apple sauce all together. Students in Marie's room are involved in every part of the process from peeling to cutting to cooking! Merci, Marie et Martine, for this yummy project!
GS students continue to have a blast in their classroom and with their class: indoors and outdoors Victorien always has a game up his sleeve!
We had a good turnout from Elodie's room during camp over the vacation-- they made some fabulous fall crafts! Back at school, they are ready to work and have not lost a beat getting back into the swing of things.
From math lessons and workbooks to new field games in the crisp air with Raphael, our big kids are keeping their brains and bodies active these days in Simon's class.
The Learner Profile: Inquirers
The IB Organization aims to foster internationally-minded students, aware of their impact on their community both locally and globally, and understanding their role in the creation of a better and more peaceful world. 

In order to better execute this mission, the IB Organisation created a concept called the Learner Profile, a list of 10 attributes that are valued and upheld by all of the IB World Schools.

As we move forward as a PYP Candidate school, we are also working to incorporate the Learner Profile into our own school community.

Each week we will be taking a look at one of the Learner Profile attributes and seeing how it can help foster responsible members of local, national and global communities. 
The IB Organization describes Inquirers as those who are capable to say:

“We nurture our curiosity, developing skills for inquiry and research. We know how to learn independently and with others. We learn with enthusiasm and sustain our love of learning throughout life.”
Nurturing students who are eager to learn and who have the confidence to seek answers to their own questions is a keystone in the education of an IB student. We want to encourage our children to become Inquirers and to help them push to the end of their curiosity as they seek to better understand the world.
Upcoming Calendar Events
Please find the most recent version of our school calendar here.

Upcoming dates to keep in mind:

  • Friday Oct. 29th: Halloween Parade!
  • Tues. Nov. 2nd: Online Voting for School Council Reps
  • Thursday Nov. 11th: Veteran's Day: No School
  • Friday Nov. 12th: Early Release, Parent Teacher Conferences
  • Friday Nov. 19th: Professional Day: No School
  • Nov. 24th-26th: Thanksgiving Break: No School
Covid Protocols and Recommendations
To reinstate our protocols for this year, please be sure to familiarize yourself with the following presentation:
Download ==> 2021-2022 protocols and recommendations.pdf 
Here is a summary of our 2021-2022 protocols and recommendations:
  • We encourage all parents/caretakers/older siblings to get vaccinated.
  • Masks will be required for all members of our school community inside the school during operating hours (teachers and staff, students, and parents, as well as vendors, volunteers, and visitors) and are recommended outside on the school grounds.
  • Masks will be required inside regardless of vaccination status.
  • Access to the school building is limited to essential workers and students. 
  • COVID 19 PCR will not be required before school starts.
  • Domestic travel doesn't require testing either before or afterward. 
  • International travel requires testing 3-5 days after return.
Procedures if Someone Becomes Ill or Exposed to COVID-19
  1. If a child becomes ill during the day, they will be isolated in the room near the main office, and the school will notify parents to pick them up immediately.
  2. If a staff member becomes ill during the day, they must go home.
  3. If a child or staff member is diagnosed with COVID-19, the school will notify the entire school community. Possible outcomes include staying open, closing a classroom temporarily, or closing the school temporarily. Regardless, rigorous cleaning and sanitizing of the school, inside and out, will precede any return of students and staff.
Guidelines for quarantine after exposure to a person with COVID-19:
  1. Exposure to COVID is defined as having close (within 6 feet) contact with a COVID-positive person for a period of at least 15 minutes in a 24 hour during which they would be considered contagious. Persons are considered contagious, beginning 48 hours before exposure. The use of masks decreases but does not fully remove the risk of transmission and therefore is not taken into consideration when defining an exposure.
  2. If an unvaccinated parent is exposed to a person with COVID-19, the parent must quarantine for 10 days, consistent with state and federal CDC guidance. A PCR COVID test 7 days into the quarantine is recommended to help assure that an exposed person is not an asymptomatic carrier. The negative test does not shorten the quarantine period of 10 days per Maine CDC recommendations. Children of exposed parents do not need to quarantine UNLESS the parent develops symptoms or tests positive for COVID. These children would still be permitted to attend school provided they can be safely picked up and dropped off by someone, not under quarantine.
  3. If a vaccinated parent is exposed to a person with COVID-19, the parent is NOT required to quarantine but must monitor their symptoms and get tested if any symptoms develop. It is also strongly recommended that vaccinated persons exposed to COVID-19 wear a mask whenever around others for a period of 10 days.
  4. Students at EFDM who are exposed directly to someone with COVID-19 must follow the guidelines for unvaccinated parents above. As vaccinations for children are available, the school will issue updated guidance on quarantine for vaccinated students.
The school is extremely grateful to the following parents, who are medical professionals, for sharing their time, expertise and for helping us write clear protocols.
At l'Ecole Française du Maine: 
Dr. James Gallea, MD, Emergency Medicine Specialist
Dr. Lisa Lucas, DO, Primary Care Physician
At the French American School of Tampa Bay:
Dr. Gaetane Michaud, MD, Pulmonary Critical Care, Tampa General Hospital and USF Tampa
Window to the past ... just for fun
Circa 2014- Beloved Faculty Member Elodie Le Nezet taught at EFDM for many years and is now teaching and living in Amsterdam.