Principal's Newsletter👻
by Robin Croteau M.Ed October 30, 2026
Last week, in addition to parent/teacher conferences and a farewell to one of our custodians, 50 pumpkins arrived at LCS, generously donated through our PTO by Beaver Pond Farm. Families helped load and unload the pumpkins and a few eighth grade students made a sign encouraging families to take a pumpkin for their child to decorate for the Pumpkin Walk. There are still a few pumpkins up for the taking if anyone would like one !
While this year feels different from last with much focus on our financial restrictions as a district, this did not stop our supportive community from coming out last night and engaging in the PTO's Spooky Spaghetti Dinner followed by the 8th Grade Annual Pumpkin Walk. The positivity and collaboration at this event were outstanding. The PTO surpassed last year's profit and by looking at a list of students, we are confident that over 70% attended last nights event! The scariest and most creative pumpkins in the middle school and elementary divisions were voted on last night. This year's winners were:
Scariest Pumpkin: Kameron Pillsbury (3rd) and Amelia Putney (6th)
Most Creative Pumpkin: Octavia Butler (PreK) and Trent Ferland (5th)
This afternoon was our highly anticipated Costume Parade and school Trunk-or-Treat! Our middle school students decorated the wing of their hallway for a spooky surprise as all grade levels passed through it to exit the building for our parade. Even Mrs. Magurk's cat Freddy was here in costume to join in the fun! Watching our older students help our younger students with the placement of their carved Jack-O-Lanterns (Thursday afternoon) and take pride in decorating our hallways (today), added to the spooky experience for our younger students. This is one of our most special LCS traditions!
Next week our 6th-8th graders will embark on another favorite LCS tradition and travel to Hulbert for three days of team building and outdoor education. Again, we were incredibly lucky to have received a grant, a scholarship from Avangrid and a larger endowment than usual from the hosting company; The Aloha Foundation. This financial backing made this year's trip for three days and two nights affordable for all of our families and roughly 90% of students offered the opportunity will be participating.
We also have a school board meeting next week on Tuesday, November 3rd at 5:30 in our library. After going out to vote, we encourage families to attend! We are already planning for next year's school budget and remain hopeful that what was taken out this last year can be put back in, as the 100K cut had a major impact on the day-to-day lives of students, families and staff. A big factor in our planning will be in response to what is decided at the community level regarding the tax cap. It is not as straight forward as some sources have made it out to be which is why we posted an informational video on both our website and Facebook page. For anyone who missed it, here is access to it. There remains a lot of misinformation circulating and in an effort to dispel these myths, administration encourages families to reach out. We are willing to answer any questions you may have!
As October has come to an end we are entering the season of giving! Nurse Jessamyn and our school counselor Matt Fraser will be reaching out to families of students who may need assistance in getting a winter jacket, snow pants and/or boots via our "Warming Tree." Each year we place tags on the tree just before Thanksgiving with the gender and size of children in need. All the information remains anonymous. Staff members, parents and community members choose a tag, purchase the items and return the tag to the nurse's office. From there arrangements are made for the items to be picked up by the family in need. If the children in your family are in need and you are not contacted by the end of next week, please reach out via email to jdelude@sau71.org or mfraser@sau71.org.
We hope EVERYONE has a happy and safe Halloween! Don't forget to set your clocks back an hour!
Introducing the 'Wildcat Shack'!
You've probably noticed that the shed that sits at the far end of the front playground, looks a little different lately. A project once abandoned by former staff members has now been revamped by current staff and has taken on a NEW appearance! In addition to getting a fresh coat of paint, a fixed door, secured walls, a swept floor and beautiful new sign, the 'Wildcat Shack' has become a great addition to our campus. Please thank Mrs. Hooper and her husband, Ms. Hibbard, Ms. Tremblay and many of our middle schoolers who contributed to this. The Wildcat Shack is now available as a "snack shack" for our sports teams and/or fundraising groups who want to use it. The hotdogs served at Wednesday's soccer game were our trial run at using this as a concession stand and last night it was our home base for voting after the Pumpkin Walk! There are already rumors circulating that this would be the perfect place for a mural of a wildcat and our new art teacher, Ms. Tuttle may bring that rumor to fruition. Stay tuned for more campus improvements, as this is a true testament to the dedication of our staff!
Miner Memorial Library Club Sign Up
Second Grade Conducts Pumpkin Jack STEM Activity!
For anyone who has not read the book Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell, the story follows a boy named Tim who carves a Jack-O-Lantern and observes what happens to it after Halloween is over. He observes it decomposing outside throughout the winter and later sees new pumpkins sprout from seeds, illustrating the full life cycle of a pumpkin! Mrs. Ferland has used this time of year as an opportunity to introduce a 3rd grade Next Generation Science Standard (NGSS) that asks students to observe models of plants and animals and recognize that although they have diverse life cycles, they all have birth, growth, reproduction and death in common!