Welcome to Regional School Unit 13



 

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*BEST IN STATE WINNER*
Judges have chosen Thomaston Grammar School’s app concept, School Dayz, as a Best in State winner in the Verizon Innovative App Challenge!  Verizon received more than 1,200 app concept submissions in this highly competitive contest. Team members Maia McCue, Sophie Mergendahl, Jameson Bell, Alaina Myers, and Ben Witham should be proud of their hard work and innovation!

The focus of their app concept, School Dayz, is making good choices.  In the app students create a profile and develop a character (avatar) that can go to different sites where they are confronted with choices concerning drugs and alcohol, food choices and bullying.  The “player” can win shopping credit for making good choices or learn more about one of the topics if making bad choices.  

This year the team is eligible to win a new prize that will be awarded by popular vote—the App Challenge Fan Favorite award.  Just text SCHOOLDAYZ1 to 22333 using a mobile phone or tablet.  If you go to the Verizon App Innovative Challenge site, you will find a slightly different code, but that will work as well.  http://appchallenge.tsaweb.org

Verizon created the App Challenge Fan Favorite award to give another Best in State team a chance at winning the top prizes! The team that gets the most votes will receive an additional $15,000 prize, the opportunity to work with MIT experts to build its concept into a working app, and an all-expenses-paid trip to the TSA conference in Nashville, Tennessee, in June 2016.

SPREAD THE WORD!    PLEASE VOTE EARLY AND OFTEN!
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*SCHOOLS OF OUR FUTURE*
Schools of Our Future Project Summary, approved at the March 3, 2016 School Board Meeting
Project Summary
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Overview
Presentation

Links to Articles

**DRAFT** Siemens Preliminary Report & Facility Analysis

**Energy and Air Quality Project Scope Approved By RSU #13 School Board** (This does not include necessary changes due to the movement of grades and students, nor does it include the eventual Owls Head and So. Thomaston PreK-5th Grade solution.)

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*SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS*
RSU 13 is looking for qualified substitute teachers!  If you are interested, please click here for an application, or contact the Superintendent's office at 596-6620 and ask for Human Resources.  We pay $75 per day for those with a 2-year college degree and $80 per day if you have a 4-year college degree.

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*RSU 13 STRATEGIC PLAN 2013–2018*

Beginning in September of 2011, a Strategic Planning Team -- comprised of representatives drawn from our six communities, the staff, the school board, and the administration - convened to lead a process focused on developing a five-year strategic plan for our newly consolidated school district. 

Areas of focus highlighted in the planning process included:  teaching and learning; recruitment, retention, and evaluation of staff; financial matters; facilities; community engagement; and long-range development. The Strategic Planning Team also solicited a wide range of input from community and faculty members through surveys; parent, faculty and student meetings; and open community forums.

The resulting plan was adopted by the RSU 13 School Board by a unanimous vote at its regular meeting on March 7, 2013, and now stands as a blueprint for action in identifying priorities and establishing credible work plans for guiding the district toward excellence over the next five years. Importantly, the plan also is designed to be updated periodically with indicators of progress included in the strategic plan section – Measuring Our Progress and Effectiveness (pages 21-28). 

RSU 13 wishes to acknowledge, with grateful appreciation, the dedication and conscientious attention that the following individuals contributed in bringing the RSU 13 Strategic Plan forward:

Duke Albanese, Great Schools Partnership, Inc. (Technical Assistance)                                 

Loren Andrews, Vice Chair, School Board

Lew Collins, Superintendent of Schools

Emily Davis, School Counselor 

Laurel Dean, Educational Technician

George Emery, School Board Member

Tom Forti, Principal, Oceanside High School East

Neal Guyer, Director of School Improvement

Greg Hamlin, Community Member, Past RSU 13 Board Chair

Ruth Anne Hohfeld, Community Member, Past RSU 13 Board Chair 

Jessie Luttrell, Educational Technician

Anna Mason, Community Member                                 

Patricia Mellor, Teacher

Tom Molloy, Community Member

Susan Stilwell, Principal, Owls Head Central/Thomaston Grammar

 

Click here to view RSU 13's Strategic Plan

 

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*RSU 13 Mathematics Program Audit*

Report Release Spring 2013
In the 2012 school year, and as RSU 13 entered its third year of consolidation, evidence of inconsistent mathematics achievement continued to be seen across the district’s schools and grade spans. Data trends suggested that evidence of successful mathematics learning was more evident for elementary grades, with successive proficiency drops occurring in the mid-level grades and continuing into high school. This audit sought to study and validate these trends, and to identify salient factors contributing to acknowledged strengths and weaknesses. 

This program audit, involving multiple methods of study and investigation, began in the winter of 2012 and continued until spring of 2013. Joint study design and co-authorship involving both RSU 13 personnel and the Great Schools Partnership offered the opportunity to include an independent agency in this collaborative review. An independent view is valued as critical in forming a realistic characterization of the strengths and challenges that will inform continuing efforts for improved mathematics teaching and learning in RSU 13. 

The results of this program audit will now be utilized for further professional study and as a basis for program development recommendations to be considered by mathematics curriculum team leaders, the RSU 13 Administrative team, each building principal, RSU 13’s math teachers, and the RSU 13 Curriculum Committee.

Click here to view this report:  Mathematics Program Audit