October 29, 2021

Bonjour,

We are so excited about today's Halloween Parade! The decorations have been hanging in the hall and classrooms all week, and we can't wait to celebrate this fun afternoon with you! Once more included,, here are the outlined details of the event and the open invitation to family members to join us! Please note, your students should come to school dressed regularly, we will all have a chance to change into our costumes during the afternoon.

We still need a few more nominations for our School Council Parent Representatives. We would like to have all nominees emailed to office@frenchschool.me today, Friday, October 29. This is a wonderful chance to build connections between teachers, parents, and administration. Scroll down for more details about the School Council!

Our traveling trunk exhibit on "People of the Dawn" has arrived! As students learn more about the displays this week, we will keep you informed on when and how your family can peruse this temporary museum in La Maison.

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 19, 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 have received 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 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.
No "Bad" Weather
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A friendly reminder that here at EFDM we always take time for outside time! Unless dangerous conditions are present, we make it a priority to enjoy our expansive play yard and forest in all kinds of weather. This means that each student should come to school equipped with a waterproof coat, and as the temperatures drop, appropriate accessories such as rain boots, rain pants, gloves, a hat, etc. We want all children to be able to enjoy the outside time with us comfortably, without threat of catching a cold, so thank you for preparing and planning ahead!
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!
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: 
Thanksgiving Drive at FCS
Once more this year we are sharing the requested item list from Freeport Community Services for their Thanksgiving food donation program. Last year Beth was able to drop off an overflowing trunk full of items collected at L'Ecole for our community at large. As we wind our way through autumn, please feel free to begin dropping off any of the above non-perishable items into the designated boxes in the school glass entryway. We will bring our EFDM lot to FCS in mid-November. If you are able or interested in donating any perishable items listed above, feel free to reach out directly to FCS contact Michael Tausek for more information on when and how. Thanks so much for keeping this list in mind during your upcoming grocery runs! As the seasons change we will share other holiday programs that we plan to participate in alongside Freeport Community Services. Merci!
Shaina's Strings Perform at Mariner's Game
Bravo to all of our wonderful violinists who joined other members of Shaina's Strings last week for their beautiful rendition of God Bless America at the Maine Mariner's Hockey Game! The tradition and excitement of Shaina's Strings playing before a baseball or hockey game has been missing for a while, but with the Maine Mariner's stadium requiring vaccination for all attendees, Shaina has finally been able to bring her group back to the ice! What a memorable experience that we are so grateful to be a part of. Thank you for supporting our Suzuki musicians!
Peek Into the Classrooms
Owls, cats, witches, and more have been part of the PS class repertoire this week-- using pumpkins and other spooky arts and crafts, these kiddos are ready for Halloween!
The MS classroom has a brand new dollhouse to explore and play with lately, and it's a real hit! Marie and Martine also built a fun shadow play game that kept students thinking and moving.
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!
CP and CE1 students are enjoying lessons lately, including the study of time and how it's different depending on where you are in the world and why that is.
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: Open-Minded
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 Open Mindedness as those who are capable to say:
“We critically appreciate our own cultures and personal histories, as well as the values and traditions of others. We seek and evaluate a range of points of view, and we are willing to grow from the experience.”

Educating students to become open to the world around them will help them become more conscientious and kind-hearted citizens in their communities. Not only does open-mindedness highlight qualities of compassion and empathy, it also allows children to ask questions beyond their relm of comfort and to get used to thinking about and seeing their world in different ways. 
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
October 28, 2011, Halloween nor'easter! Our Halloween activities were affected by the storm, however, students rapidly adapted with this JACK O' SNOWMAN. This photo made the cover of the AEFE newsletter :-)