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At the 2023 Maine Literary Awards on May 18, Deering High School senior Mayinga Mukinayi won the Youth Nonfiction Award for her piece "No Water, No Food: Thirteen Days in the Jungle." Her story was published in the Telling Room chapbook, "Between My Ribs."

The district’s sixth annual Seal of Biliteracy Ceremony was held on May 17 at Deering High School. As Maine’s largest and most diverse school district, the Portland Public Schools is very proud of initiating this award. There were 66 Seal recipients this year – 40 percent more than last year and the most since the award began.

East End Community School is planning a celebration for beloved crossing guard Danny Lowe on Thursday, June 1. Lowe, a young man with autism, has dedicated himself to helping students get safely across the intersection of North Street and Walnut Street since 2014. The school celebrated Lowe on June 1, 2022, and now the  second annual “Danny Day” celebration will take place on that same date this year, from 7 a.m. to 7:45 a.m.

Lyman Moore Middle School students on May 20 hosted a middle school Model United Nations conference, organized in cooperation with the Model UN Club at Bates College. Approximately 50 student “delegates” from four Maine schools participated. “The event was a huge success. Lyman Moore students won several awards,” said social studies teacher David Hilton, who co-chairs the school’s Model United Nations Team.

Cyle Davenport, a Deering High School science teacher, is one of 10 educators throughout New England to win an inaugural Air and Space Forces’ Sentry Educator Award. The award recognizes educators who support Air Force Core Values of integrity, service and excellence.

The City Council voted unanimously on May 15 to approve the FY24 budget recommended by the Portland Board of Education. The vote now sends the budget for the 2023-2024 school year to Portland voters on June 13. The budget balances fiscal constraints with reinvesting in core operations such as finance and human resources, while also investing in student-facing staff to support all students, including many newly arrived multi-language learners. It also is mindful of the tax burden on Portland residents during a time of high inflation.

Baleria Yugu is the 2023 recipient of the Portland High School Step Up Award. The Step Up Award at Portland High School provides funding for students in the Make It Happen! program who would otherwise have to forego school-year extracurricular opportunities in order to work after school and/or on weekends. Baleria, a rising junior at Portland High School, will receive $1,250 per semester until graduation for her last two years of high school. The Step Up Award was created by Ann and Bill Weber, parents of two Portland High School graduates.

The selection of Joshua Chard, a teacher at East End Community School, as 2023 Cumberland County Teacher of the Year, puts the veteran teacher in the running to be 2024 Maine Teacher of the Year. This is the second year in a row that a Portland Public Schools teacher has been chosen as Cumberland County Teacher of the Year.

After a nationwide search, the Portland Board of Public Education has narrowed the pool of applicants for the position of superintendent of the Portland Public Schools down to two finalists. They are Eric Moore, currently senior advisor to the superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools, and Dr. Ryan Scallon, who is an assistant superintendent in the School District of Philadelphia. Scallon holds a doctorate degree in education and Moore is on track to earn his doctorate in education later this year.

Now that the field has been narrowed down, key stakeholders, including members of the Portland Board of Public Education, staff, students, parents and other community members, will interview them on May 17 and 18. The interviews with students, parents and community members will be live-streamed and recorded for public viewing.

The public is invited to the opening reception of the annual Portland Public Schools Student Art Show this Friday, May 5, at City Hall. After being held virtually since the pandemic, the event is back in person. The artwork of hundreds of talented students in kindergarten through grade 12 will be on display in City Hall hallways from May 5 to May 19.

William Anton, a school superintendent from Vermont, will be the new principal of Rowe Elementary School, starting July 1. Anton was selected for the role by Interim Co-Superintendents Melea Nalli and Aaron Townsend, and his appointment was approved by the Portland Board of Public Education at its May 2 meeting.

Emily Serway, an art teacher at Deering High School, is this year’s winner of the Russell Award. Serway was recognized for her achievement by Deering Principal Alyson Dame and fellow teachers at a special event at the school on April 13.

East End Community School students recently enjoyed a multilingual storytime in which high school students read to them in a variety of languages. “The younger kids were starstruck by the teens, and the teens were charmed by them in turn,” said Shana Genre, EECS teacher librarian. “The teachers, too, were delighted and warmed to see kids of all ages connecting with each other over books.” She said the event also was a learning experience for both the older and younger students.

Casco Bay High School teacher Matt Bernstein, who is Maine’s 2023 Teacher of the Year, went to the White House April 24, joining other state teachers of the year from across the country for a recognition ceremony with President Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, and US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. Watch a YouTube video of the event.

On Thursday, April 27, the City Council’s Finance Committee voted unanimously to recommend the Portland Board of Public Education’s $143.8 million school budget for the 2023-2024 school year to the full City Council. Members of that Council committee praised the collaborative way the district and Board worked with councilors to craft the FY24 budget and said they appreciated the efforts to meet student and staff needs while reining in costs.

On April 24, the Portland Board of Public Education presented its recommended $143.8 million school budget for the 2023-2024 school year to the City Council. Board Chair Sarah Lentz and Interim Co-Superintendents Aaron Townsend and Melea Nalli, who jointly made the presentation, told the Council that the budget is a fair and responsible one at a time of daunting fiscal challenges. “This budget reinvests in core operations such as finance and human resources, while also investing in student-facing staff to support all of our students, including our many newly arrived multi-language learners,” they said. “Within this budget, we’ve also done our best to anticipate and plan for the FY25 budget, when the district will no longer have access to federal COVID money and will likely face decreased funding from the state level. This budget does all that while simultaneously being mindful of the tax burden on Portland residents in a year when inflation is higher than most can remember.”

The Portland Board of Public Education voted unanimously on April 11 to approve a $143.8 million FY24 school budget to recommend to the City Council. The Board’s budget will enable the district to maintain its Portland Promise gains for the 2023-2024 school year, support students and staff and improve operational effectiveness, while being cognizant of Portland taxpayers. The Board will present its recommended budget to the City Council on April 24. The Council will vote on the school budget in May and send it to voters on June 13.

Deering High School’s Greg Tosi was among eight athletic trainers across Maine recently named as legends in the field by the Maine Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (MIAAA).

Students in the Make It Happen! Program at Lyman Moore Middle School are embarking on a community-building cooking project. A senior at Deering High School is creating a welcoming Persian mural for the school. A Portland High School senior has curated a show of artwork from Portland Public Schools high students that is currently on display at the Portland Public Library’s Lewis Gallery. All these student-led projects are made possible with grants from Painting for a Purpose.

Lyman Moore Middle School students enhanced their understanding of what it means to be an American when the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) naturalized 30 candidates for citizenship during a ceremony at the school on Friday, April 7.

Portland and Deering high schools on April 4 announced the hiring of a new head field hockey coach for the district’s co-op team: Kristin Rogers.

Each year, Maine high school principals nominate one senior from their schools to receive an MPA Principal’s Award. The award, sponsored by the Maine Principals' Association, is given in recognition of a high school senior's academic achievement and good citizenship.The 2023 MPA Principal’s Award winners from the Portland Public Schools’ three high schools are: Abdullah Alzamilli, at Portland High School, selected by Principal Sheila Jepson; Anja Franck at Deering High School, selected by Co-Principal and Interim Assistant Superintendent Dr. Abdullahi Ahmed; and Greta Holmes at Casco Bay High School, selected by Principal Derek Pierce.

This school year, for the first time, Odyssey of the Mind was offered at Amanda C. Rowe Elementary School. Fast forward to the Nor’Easter Tournament on March 25, when two of the three teams from Rowe School placed first and second in their problems and have been invited to compete at the World Finals in Michigan May 24-27.