Thursday, September 3rd, 2020
Dear Families of L'Ecole Française du Maine,
Fall is in the air! As we prepare for chilly mornings and sunny afternoons, please continue to pack extra clothes as needed for your students to be comfortable with open windows and outdoor time in varying temperatures. Be sure to also stop by our lost-and-found to see if any articles of yours have been left behind.
If you were unable to make it to the teacher presentations for "Back to School" Week, we'd be happy to share the summarizing notes from each class! Email Emily at office@frenchschool.me for more info, or to set up a time around drop-off or pick-up to chat and check-in with teachers!
Merci!
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Drop-Off / Pick-Up Routine
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Our one-line, one-location drop-off and pick-up for all students is working wonderfully! We will plan to maintain the following procedures moving forward:
Drop-off & Pick-Up at playground gate:
All students!
Drop-off & Pick-Up at glass entryway:
Late arrivals (after 8:40am) or early pick-up (before 3pm).
You are welcome to drop-off anytime starting at 8:15am. Pick-up is between 3:00 and 3:30pm. Please maintain distancing between family groups in line. We ask you to only arrive at school after assuring "all clear" on the survey checklist. Verbal reminders (and paper copies as needed) will be provided at drop-off each day.
If you have an uncertainty regarding any of the questions on the checklist above, please call our office to discuss before coming to school: 207-865-3308
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Reminder: We will be closed for Labor Day, Monday September 7th, 2020. Enjoy the long weekend! |
| Changes to Calendar Events |
Having created our current school calendar with hopes of the best possible outcome in light of COVID-19, some special days and events may have been scheduled which will likely have to be adjusted or changed.
The first event requiring a change will be our annual Family and Alumni Picnic, on the calendar for 12:00pm Friday Sept. 4th. Unfortunately, we will not be able to host this event at this time.
We'd also like to note the change of our much loved Grandparents' Day event. Instead of October 5th, our plan is to hopefully host this event in late spring 2021. Updates will be shared as we near that season.
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In these days of no field trips, we are so grateful to have Sayles field, Bliss Woods and lovely forest trails right around the corner! Students in PS and MS/GS enjoyed their first nature walks last week. They found many items along the way which they then brought back to their classrooms to classify (and then return outside). Classes will plan to take the same nature walk in all seasons, noticing the differences during their walk and among the treasures they are able to find!
Insect observation has been a big activity this month, for all ages of students at l'école!
Preschool friends each had a chance to choose an item from their walk and help classify according to their observations. We loved this lesson, merci Dasha, Katie, Marie et Tania!!
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Parents of new to l'école students, be on the lookout for an email sent to you from our online art museum: Artsonia. Your student account needs parental permission to be activated. Our art teacher Dasha loves uploading images of all your students' beautiful artwork, and the school can even use funds from the website to purchase needed art supplies-- Thanks for checking it out!
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Reopening Plans and Covid-19 Protocols 08/03/2020 version
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| Classroom "Virtual" Tours |
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This is certainly the year of adapting to change! Since we cannot have large groups of adults entering the building, we plan to include photos of students within their classroom environments, indoors and out. Each upcoming newsletter will present a different classroom at work and play!
Victorien's Classroom GS et CP, Kindergarten and 1st grade
Welcome to Victorien's GS and CP classroom! Students in K and 1st share this large classroom and two walls of whiteboards for their separate work. Our friends in GS and CP are busy laying their foundations of future learning in math, reading, and critical thinking, tout en français bien sûr! This group spends a lot of time out of doors too, exploring the forests behind the school and taking their science and art projects outside! Desks inside are positioned in classic rows facing the board. Learning tools and utensils are provided in individual pencil cases and trays to limit sharing.
Students work on a project, recreating a given shape with their own white boards.
All students have their own tray of legos, play-doh, and pencil case full of personal-use utensils throughout the day.
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Some GS and CP students built a fort with findings from the forest!
Art class with Dasha under the tent too!
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Reminder to check the separately sent special edition of our newsletter for this year's school directory, sent to only parents of current students!
Let us know if any changes or updates can be made to the directory, and we will share future versions as needed. |
| Updates to Allergy Info and Lunch Reminder |
To reinstate our allergy restrictions for this year:
Please refrain from sending foods with TREE NUTS as ingredient (almond OK) or processed in a factory with. Teachers will be checking ingredient lists.
As for the following allergies, the threat is ingestion and not exposure. This means you may pack foods with these ingredients, but should be aware of the allergy. Students will be strictly adhering to a no sharing of food policy and a thorough cleaning of any common eating areas will continue to be performed as necessary.
- peanuts
- chickpea, green pea, lentils, sesame
- sunflower seeds/oil
Also as a reminder, please pack snacks and meals that students can open and eat on their own, to avoid others handling items. Merci |
| Implementing Maine CDC Protocols Safely |
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Everyone gets their temperature taken at the start of the day- Even Emily!
Frequent hand-washing thoughtout the day
Learning outside whenever possible
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Merci beaucoup!
We are certainly going to miss Sydney, our wonderful summer camp counselor and garderie helper extraordinaire, whose last day with us is Friday Sept. 4th. Sydney's wonderful sense of fun will be missed on the playground as she returns to her college responsibilities for the year ahead. Best of luck Sydney, et au revoir!
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