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The Portland Board of Public Education voted on April 9 to approve a $161.4 million FY25 school budget to recommend to the City Council. The Board’s budget centers students by including strategic funding for increased student mental health, reading support, special education and school culture support at the school level. It also supports increased rigor in the classroom, and maintains funding for athletics, extracurriculars, and class sizes. The Board will present its recommended budget to the City Council on April 22. The Council will vote on the school budget on May 20 and send it to voters on June 11.

Deering High School is excited to announce its 150th Open House celebration, set to take place on Saturday, May 11 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm. As part of Deering’s ongoing commitment to our community and alumni, the school invites everyone to an unforgettable journey through the halls of history.

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.

Courtney Graffius, the Portland Public Schools’ technology integration coordinator, is the recipient of the 2024 School Administrator of the Year award presented by the Maine Association of School Libraries (MASL).

The award honors administrators who have helped to develop strong and effective school library media programs in their district. Courtney was nominated by PPS librarians in recognition of all she has done to help build and advocate for library programming in the Portland Public Schools, said Meg Rooks, teacher-librarian at Talbot Community School and the district’s library coordinator.

A new partnership between Rowe Elementary School and Rippleffect has resulted in the introduction of a climbing wall and ropes course at the school.

National Assistant Principals Week, April 1-5, 2024, is a time to honor and celebrate the contributions of our assistant principals to the success of our students. Assistant principals have complex jobs. Their duties include supporting teachers and their principal, motivating students and creating a positive learning community – as well as facing the many unpredictable challenges that land on their desk each day. Portland Public Schools is deeply grateful to all these key staff members for all they do to ensure that our students succeed. Thank you!

Lyman Moore Middle School students will deepen their understanding of what it means to be an American when the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) naturalizes 55 candidates for citizenship during a ceremony at the school on Friday, April 5.

Hosting naturalization ceremonies is a decades-long tradition at Moore, said grade 7 social studies teacher David Hilton, who leads the effort to have USCIS select the school as a host site.

There will be a full solar eclipse viewable in Maine on Monday, April 8, at 3:28 pm. While the full eclipse will only be visible elsewhere in Maine, there will be a partial eclipse visible in Portland. To help Portland Public Schools students be able to view the eclipse safely without harming their eyes, the Foundation for Portland Public Schools has protective purchased solar eclipse glasses for all students that will be distributed in school on April 8.

The Deering Players came out on top at the Maine Drama Festival Class A regionals, held March 8 and 9 at Thornton Academy in Saco. The Deering High School team beat out several local powerhouse schools in the One Act competition with their production of Peter Bloedel’s The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet. The win means the Deering Players are now headed to the Maine Drama Festival State Class A Finals in Rockport later this month.

At its March 5 meeting, the Portland Board of Public Education voted to approve a calendar for the 2024-2025 school year. The first day of school for students in grades 1-12 will be Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024 – the day after the Labor Day holiday. Pre-K and kindergarten students will start on Thursday, Sept. 5. The last day of school for students is expected to be Friday, June 13, 2025. Please note that the last day of school may be subject to change, depending on the number of snow days taken.

This year marks the Portland Public Schools 10^th Annual STEM Expo, which PPS puts on each year in partnership with EnviroLogix.

The STEM Expo features exhibits put on by PPS students, local businesses, postsecondary schools and other organizations. It’s a way to showcase the STEM learning occurring in Portland Public Schools’ classrooms. The Expo also expands students’ STEM knowledge and exposes them to exciting career opportunities in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.The STEM Expo will look different in 2024.

The Portland Public Schools Multilingual & Multicultural Center is thrilled to announce that Rock Around the World is back – for the first time since the pandemic! Tickets to this event are limited! To reserve your ticket(s) and to learn more, please visit www.portlandschools.org/rock!

Creative artwork from Portland Public Schools students is included in the Portland Museum of Art’s annual Youth Art Month exhibition showcasing the incredible talent of art education programs across Maine. Youth Art Month, a collaboration of the PMA with the Maine Art Education Association that takes place each year in March, also is an opportunity to highlight art educators and the importance of and access to quality art programs.

On March 5, Superintendent Ryan Scallon presented the Portland Board of Public Education with a recommended $161 million budget for the 2024-2025 school year that centers students, invests in schools and is aligned to the district’s emerging strategic plan. This is the first time that the district has presented a comprehensive budget of all revenues and expenses. The budget addresses significant fiscal challenges with strategic reductions and restructuring. It would raise the school portion of the property tax rate by 6.85%, adding just under $16 per month to the annual tax bill of the median-priced home in Portland. This tax rate increase is significantly below the 17.41% that would be necessary to replace all the lost revenue and the increasing expenses that the district faces.

Deering High School's Trivia Team proudly announces their inaugural Winter Invitational Quiz Bowl Tournament – set to take place on Saturday, March 2, from 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Deering High School, located at 370 Stevens Avenue.

The community is invited to an enchanted evening of theater arts on Wednesday, March 6, at 6 p.m. when the Deering Players will present “The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet" at the Deering High School Auditorium, located at 370 Stevens Avenue.  Deering students will embark on this theatrical journey led by Maine's 2024 Teacher of the Year and Deering Drama Director Joshua Chard, alongside the school’s exceptionally talented audiovisual technician Cory Macgowan.

"Seeing With New Eyes: Portraits & Poetry," an interdisciplinary exhibit rooted in poetry, social-emotional learning (SEL) and the visual arts, opened at Lyseth Elementary School on Feb. 5. This vibrant and immersive exhibit invites the community to experience students' emotions, experiences with nature, and artistic expression.

A group of talented young voices at Rowe Elementary School comes together once a week during recess, forming an extraordinary musical chorus led by dedicated music teacher Aidan Boardman. This group has not only become a source of joy for the students, but is now gearing up for a special performance: singing the national anthem at an upcoming Maine Mariners game, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on March 5.

A special ceremony was held at the Portland Expo on Feb. 1 to honor longtime Portland High School educator and public address announcer Pete Gribbin, as the 84-year-old retired from being the “voice of Portland High School.

Katie West, the district's experiential learning and environmental literacy coordinator, shared this account and photos of recent outdoor learning at East End Community School that the students joyfully embraced.

A student in the groundbreaking cybersecurity program at the Portland Arts and Technology High School (PATHS) has achieved a significant milestone by passing the CompTIA CySA+ Certification Exam, making him the first PATHS student to accomplish this feat. The program also has an outstanding instructor.

Joshua Chard, a second- and third-grade looping teacher at East End Community School, was named the 2024 Maine Teacher of the Year last fall. Now he’s starting off the new year by sharing his insights about teaching in a Q&A with the Maine Department of Education. Find out why this veteran educator still loves teaching – one reason is that he gets “to be playful and joyful all day long with a bunch of small people” – and also how being Deering High School’s drama director helps him in the classroom. Learn more.

Anonymous donors have given the Foundation for Portland Public Schools (FPPS) a $50,000 matching donation to launch the Ed Feeney Athletics Fund, named after retired Portland High School girls basketball coach Ed Feeney. When Portland Public Schools coaches, teachers, or school social workers learn of a student who lacks basic athletic gear to play sports, the Foundation can now purchase that gear for students.

The Foundation is accepting further donations to the Ed Feeney Athletics Fund to assist even more students. All gifts will be matched dollar for dollar.

Casco Bay High School’s student literary magazine, “The Blue Heron,” has earned a First Class award from the Recognizing Excellence in Art and Literary Magazines (REALM) program, run by the National Council of Teachers of English.

The Deering High School Debate Team has won 2024 Maine State Speech and Debate Championship! The event was held at Skowhegan Area High School on Jan. 20.