We are publishing this version of the October eNews to include updated website links (some links in yesterday's version were taking you to the wrong program).

Sorry for any inconvenience!

Community Programs Spotlight



Camp Sunshine Pumpkin Festival @ LL Bean

Come check out the Pumpkin Festival taking place at the LL Bean Campus from Friday Oct 16 to Sunday Oct 18! Click this link, or the photo above to go to the Camp Sunshine website with more details.

Community Night @ Maine Beer Co.

Join the Harraseeket Harriers and other Fall Sports programs on Thursday Oct 29 to help raise money for the Community Programs Scholarship Fund! 20% of all food sales from 4-8pm (dine in or take out) will be donated back to CP. Reservations required for dine in (this night only). Costumes encouraged!

44th Annual Great Osprey 10K Ocean Run

Looking ahead - the Osprey road race will take place on Saturday Nov 7, starting at Wolfe Neck State Park! We hope to see you there! Race details and registration can be found on our website here.

Late Fall & Winter Youth Programming

Head over to our website for a full list of programs with more details, or check out the highlights below:

Email our team at with any questions or concerns, or if you are interested in running your own program!

Gee's Basketball Academy

All sessions accepting more registrations! This is a great introduction to the game of basketball. Participants will begin to learn the basic fundamentals of the game while developing passing, shooting, and ball handling skills through fun-filled activities and drills.

Spark You: Science Masters

Science is just the beginning! Each week, students explore exciting topics through hands-on experiments, engineering challenges, creative projects, games, and teamwork. They investigate subjects such as chemistry, physics, biology, engineering, space, geology, electricity, and environmental science - but there's a twist: our students help build the curriculum! Our classes at MLS are full, but there is still room to join us in Durham.

Tiny Tappy Toes & Top Rockers Dance Crew

Kids ages 3 to 5 learn basic ballet, tap and creative movement steps in Tiny Tappy Toes. Dance teaches self confidence, balance, and coordination and keeps a child's mind and body working together. Older dancers should check out Top Rockers, which is open to grades K-5!

Tumbling & Fitness: Athlete Training

Learn and improve basic gymnastics floor, youth fitness, and beam skills while attaining series connection proficiency in a positive and productive environment. Skills including handstands, cartwheels, round-offs, and forward rolls will be taught at a high level in a progressive and proficient manner, with wellness at the core of the program. Benefit from gymnastics and fitness-focused prompts while building strength, agility, balance, and flexibility in this dynamic small-group youth personal training offering. This program has been expanded to include children in grades 2 through 5. Younger Participants should check out Tumbling & Fitness: Child with Parent!

Youth Basketball

Join us for a Basketball Information Night on Wednesday, Oct 21 at 6pm in the FHS Cafeteria! Our basketball programs will begin at the end of this month and early in November. We appreciate players signing up early, as this helps us create rosters and hit the ground running once practices begin. Check out the links below for more details:

K-2 Little Hoopsters

Grade 3-6 Rec League

Grade 5-8 Travel Basketball

Adult Enrichment Opportunities

Wok and Roll with Chris Toy!

Join me for a hands on evening of learning how to choose, use, and care for a wok along with secrets for making great stir-fry that is tasty, crisp, and not soggy! You’ll learn how to roll and cook fresh crispy egg rolls along with a quick and easy homemade duck sauce. Chris will have specially curated woks, cleavers, and cookbooks available for sale as well.

Adulting 101 Series:

Develop knowledge and skills that will help you as you graduate to your next adventure, after finishing school. Please register for these free programs to reserve your spot.

Job Search: Receive advice from a local business on the job search process. Topics include resumes, interviewing, and tips for your first month on the job. Bring your questions to share with the group. This session will be led by L.L.Bean.

Adult & Pediatric CPR Training

Join me for a hands on evening of learning how to choose, use, and care for a wok along with secrets for making great stir-fry that is tasty, crisp, and not soggy! You’ll learn how to roll and cook fresh crispy egg rolls along

Local Events & Activities...

...with RSU5CP & Other Local Groups:

Freeport Trails Challenge

This fun opportunity ends on October 13th!

Do you like nature walks and being outdoors? Check out the link below to learn more about this community exploration event! Participants have the chance to win fun gifts and prizes.

https://freeportconservationtrust.org/trailchallenge

Our partners at Freeport Community Services offer community events taking place regularly at their location at 53 Depot Street in Freeport:



Art Van

Every 2nd & 4th Thursday of the Month, from 10:30am-12pm. Meet in the FCS courtyard to create art with your neighbors.

Tech Time with the Library

Every 1st Thursday of the month, from 1-3pm. Meet in the FCS lobby. Come with questions, curiosity, and any gadgets you may need help troubleshooting!

Free Lunch Friday

Every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month, from 12-1pm in the Bradley Room at FCS. Free meals for everyone in the community, prepared by local volunteers.

Adult Education

For questions about our Adult Education programs, you may contact our Adult Ed Coordinator, Liza Gerber:

call 207-865-6171 ext. 8322 or email GerberM@rsu5.org

Laugh & Learn

Our Laugh & Learn programs in Durham, Freeport and Pownal had a great first month and were excited to welcome many new returning faces! Our team spent the first week establishing routines and exchanging stories of summertime adventures, and back-to-school feelings with kids. We are excited for the year ahead together!

Throughout the school year, our Preschool team works hard to prepare an inclusive, educational and fun environment for children as they prepare for their next steps to Prek and Kindergarten. On top of building strong relationships with peers and teachers, and gross and fine motor skills, Preschoolers will spend time learning about colors, shapes, numbers, days of the week, months and seasons  and so much more! Our Curriculum is curated in house by our experienced Preschool team and blends educational philosophies like Montessori, Waldorf and Reggio Emilia, while also referencing the Preschool MELDS. 

This year, we’re going on a “Roadtrip Across the United States”! We’ll spend the year learning about different states and regions across the country and be immersed in each area’s traditions, landscapes, animals, foods and more! We’ll be tracking our “roadtrip” on a classroom map and with state and regional maps and license plates that will be sent home at the end of the school year. Students started the year off by familiarizing themselves with each other, our classroom routines and community and our classroom resources. Building on learning about paint, colors, days of the week, etc. we started our learning journey locally by learning about Maine through colors. This included Orange sunsets and pumpkins, purple lupins, green pine trees and Black Bears to name a few. From here, we’ll “travel” to Vermont in early October- just in time for fall foliage! We’ve also already worked our way to the letter “C” in our alphabet learning.

We look forward to another great year ahead!

Registration for Laugh & Learn Preschool, Before and After Care is open however spaces are limited for the 2026-2027 school year. Visit the Laugh & Learn page on our website for more details and to begin the registration process. Any questions? Reach out to: childhooded@rsu5.org 

Laugh & Learn programs are growing so fast that we’re looking to add more teachers to our team! This fun and fulfilling position can be viewed and applied for by visiting this link. Questions? Please reach out to: childhooded@rsu5.org

Gift Cards

Need an idea for a quick and easy gift? Community Programs sells gift cards of any value! Give us a call at 207-865-6171 for details and to purchase.

Reminder to Use Credits on Your Accounts!

Many credits have been issued over the past year, which means you could register for a program using money that has already been applied to your account. To see whether or not you have a credit, you can log into your profile at this link - after logging in, click "My Account" and any credits will be listed under the "Account" menu on the left (see example image below).

Information on Scholarships

One of our goals here at Community Programs is to make our programming accessible to everyone. To help us reach that goal, we offer scholarship funding to anyone who may need it - all you have to do is apply!

If you are interested in applying for a scholarship (full or partial), we ask you to please submit our application form BEFORE registering for the program. The earlier we are able to process these requests, the better, as it helps us budget and plan our programming each season. You may submit your application/request to our office by emailing the completed form to cp@rsu5.org. All information provided will be kept confidential.