September 16, 2020



Hello Great Falls Families,


Once again, we are finishing up another fabulous week of on-campus learning. We are so proud of our students and staff for working so hard at learning new procedures while building classroom communities of respect and rapport. It is evident that as difficult as the transition was to plan for, all of our energies are paying off. The students and staff are so happy to be back!


Thank you again for being patient with all of our new procedures and the adjustments we have been making to our arrival and dismissal process to be as safe and efficient as possible. Because of our most recent positive change to the parent pick-up procedure, we are able to dismiss all students in a timely manner. Starting on Monday, September 21st, we will be shifting our end of dismissal time back by 10 minutes. Students will be brought out to your vehicles at 3:00 instead of 2:50. This will allow us to regain 10 valuable minutes of classroom instruction. Please take note of this change and refrain from lining up in the pick-up loops too early. The parking lots will not be staffed until 2:50.


Our morning drop-off is also going very smoothly. Thank you for your cooperation with the arrival procedure as well. Starting on Monday, September 21st, we will be officially starting school at 8:50 a.m. If you arrive on campus after 8:50 a.m., the drop-off loop will no longer be supervised and you will need to park your vehicle and escort your child to the main entrance. School hours are 8:50 a.m. - 3:10 p.m.


In addition to our improved procedures, we want to thank you for completing the daily health screener before your child arrives on campus. This screener helps us to keep students and staff safe while at school. Our nurse assistant checks all of the screeners on a daily basis and reaches out to families when the screeners are incomplete. It is imperative that we have this data point on your child before they arrive.


Very soon, your child will be coming home with a device case and Kindergarteners will be given a Chromebook. Once the device case is brought home, students will be expected to transport their devices back and forth from school and home. It will be important to charge the devices at home each evening so they are ready for use at school.


This Friday is our first “flexible” Friday. Because all students do not have devices, your child’s teacher may not offer a virtual classroom meeting this week, but no worries, the virtual meetings will soon be a part of the week’s agenda. The purpose of the Friday virtual classroom meetings is to build community between the “A” and “B” groups with hopes that we will return to “green” at some point this school year. Relationships are important and this opportunity will help your child get to know their full class of peers.


Next week’s schedule will also include our bi-annual NWEA reading and math testing for students in grades 1-5. NWEA is our district’s universal screening tool. It is necessary for us to gather this data point to inform Response to Intervention, Gifted and Talented, and classroom instruction. It is aligned to Maine Standards and allows us to collect longitudinal data and best monitor your child’s progress.


School picture day is also on the horizon. The “A” schedule will take their school photos Monday, September 28th while the “B” schedule will smile big for school photos next week on Tuesday, September 22nd. Information on purchasing photos packages will be sent home soon.


Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership. Please be sure to check out the Great Falls News frequently for important information. Please reach out if you have any questions.



Take care,

Becky Fortier and Deanna Etienne

Great Falls Administrators