Thursday, August 27, 2020

Dear Families of L'Ecole Française du Maine,

Another big thank you to all who attended and participated in our Back to School classroom presentations this week. We hope your questions were answered, and that you enjoyed meeting teachers and other parents in our community! Teachers are always available to schedule a brief check-in or chat around pick-up time or another time that works best for you. Please reach out to Emily in the office (office@frenchschool.me) to get teacher notes from their presentations if you couldn't make it!

Drop-Off/Pick-Up Routines

After giving our youngest and newer families a chance to get used to the school grounds and take their time with goodbyes, transitions seem to be going smoother and we would love to try a one-line, one-location drop-off and pick-up for all students!

Starting Monday August 31st, please plan for the following changes:

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).

All families are now welcome to enter at the playground gate on front side of building. Younger students will head right up the back ramp into the building with their teachers, while older students will start the day outside.

For Pick-Up, you are also welcome to ALL arrive at the playground gate. Staff will send your child out to you from the back ramp if they are not on the playground.

With a potentially slightly longer line of students waiting to enter the grounds, a reminder that you are welcome to drop-off anytime starting at 8:15am. Pick-up is anywhere between 3:00 and 3:30pm. Please maintain distancing between family groups in line.

Emily will be taking all temperatures and asking for assurance to our at-home self-check survey shared once more below. 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
Clear Masks Have Arrived!

The new clear masks for the staff have arrived- and they are really great! These new medical grade masks offer the visibility of a face shield, with the protection of a mask.


Now we can show you with our smiles how happy we are to be back at school with your children! Not to mention another "clear "benefit, learning a language will definitely be more efficient when students can see the teacher speaking :-)

Changes to Calendar Events

Having created our current school calendar with hopes of the best possible outcome in light of the current COVID-19 situation, 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.

Monarch Caterpillar progress!

Some of our monarch friends have already begun their long sleep within their shiny cocoons!
Students in GS have enjoyed studying the monarchs in their caterpillar state, and will continue their lessons of the life-cycle.
Artsonia Accounts Set-Up

Parents of new to l'école students, be on the lookout for an email sent to you from our art website, 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!


Reopening Plans and Covid-19 Protocols 08/03/2020 version
click to download:     
Classroom "Virtual" Tours
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!

Elodie's Classroom
CP et CE1, 1st and 2nd grade

Elodie's classroom is one of the largest in our building. Students in CP and CE1 are lucky to have big windows for ventilation and two different white boards for the varying work of both grade levels. They spend a lot of time working at our outdoor classroom and have even completed a wonderful obstacle course through the playground!


Students work on a Bingo project in their classroom

Obstacle Course on the playground, how many times did you complete the cycle of challenges?
Directory Info
Reminder to be on the lookout for the separately sent special edition of our newsletter for this year's school directory, sent to only parents of current students!
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. For some items, even beginning the tear or opening of wrapping can help out teachers immensely! Merci!
Implementing Maine CDC Protocols Safely
Everyone gets their temperature taken at the start of the day- Even Emily!
Frequent hand-washing thoughtout the day
Learning outside whenever possible
Congratualtions Elise!
Congratulations!

Elise wrote a novella this summer, all the while running the EFDM Bilingual Summer Camp by day. 

Her writing caught the attention of The University of Edinburgh, Scotland where she learned this week she was accepted into their prestigious Masters Program in Fiction Writing!  

Bon voyage Elise! 
and
Merci for a great summer!