14th Street School Field Notes

Fourteenth Street School is fortunate to have a team of highly skilled and caring specialists to support specific student learning needs. Speech therapist Jillian Cookson (left) has worked at Fourteenth Street School for four years. In addition to helping students improve their oral language skills, she also serves as IEP coordinator for all Fourteenth Street School students identified for special education. Ms. Cookson loves connecting with students and watching them make progress. When not working, she enjoys coaching softball and spending time with her family. Multilingual learner teacher Kacey Falcon (middle) is in her second year at Fourteenth Street School. A former classroom teacher, Ms. Falcon is fascinated by the language learning process and says that she is inspired by her students everyday. She is also grateful for the opportunity to get to know and assist families from diverse backgrounds. Outside of school, Ms. Falcon likes to cook and take walks with her daughter, who is a third grader at Fourteenth Street School. Occupational therapist Maria Glidden (right) is also in her second year at Fourteenth Street School. She loves helping children build skills so they can participate in a wide variety of activities. When not working, Ms. Glidden can be found in the great outdoors, often fishing and hunting with family and friends.

It was a joy to see so many families at our annual Academic Showcase and third quarter PEAK (Parents and Educators Accelerating Kids) event on March 5th. Students were delighted and proud to show off their colorful creations in the hallways and all that they have been learning in the classroom. Families also relished sharing in the reading of The Napping House by Audrey Wood and participating in a book-themed scavenger hunt hosted by literacy coach Shana Curtis (a.k.a. Granny).

On March 13th, the PTO hosted its annual spaghetti dinner & raffle for Fourteenth Street School families. Not only was this event a delicious way to bring people together, it also raised funds to support future activities for our students. Many thanks to the PTO volunteers whose hard work made the event such a success, to the various businesses and organizations that donated food and prizes, to third graders Griffin Blair and Michael Hayes for ensuring food scraps and trash went into the correct bins, and to Sam the Ram for making an appearance. We appreciate you all!

Thanks to the generosity of the PTO, an educator from Owls Head Transportation Museum traveled to Fourteenth Street School on March 16th and March 30th to offer workshops on different topics to all students by classroom. Topics included electricity, aerodynamics, the science behind well-known children's stories, biomimicry, and the five senses. The educator, a former classroom teacher, was knowledgeable and engaging and it wonderful to see the students having so much fun while learning.

In lieu of a third quarter school assembly, the PBIS Tier 1 Team opted to celebrate community by sponsoring a movies/games afternoon on March 27th. Students selected a movie from among the following: The Great Mouse Detective, Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, and The Peanuts Movie; they also had the option of playing board games or Legos. They presented a specially designed ticket to enter the movie "theater" or games room as well as tickets to "purchase" popcorn and a juice box at the traveling concessions stand. Many thanks to the PBIS Tier 1 Team for organizing the event, to Bangor Mall Cinemas for donating the popcorn, and to parent volunteers, including PTO President Emilie Bronson-Blair and PTO Secretary Sam Hayes, for preparing the tickets, providing the juice boxes, and running the concessions stand.

Every Friday we randomly select a prize winner (one per class) from among the students who received a RAMS award that week for being a Responsible worker, Acting respectfully, having a Mighty positive attitude, and/or staying Safe. Selected students get to choose a small toy; read to a class; help Mr. Deane in the hallways, Ms. McCorrison in the office, or Ms. Roth and Mrs. Robicheau in the kitchen; eat lunch with a friend; eat lunch with me; announce the weekly RAMS award winners; hang artwork with Ms. Caler; or select a book from the book vending machine.

Week of March 2, 2026

Front row (L to R): Carmen C., Charlie M., Stone L.

Back row (L to R): Ollie W., Oren P., Ava J., Brycen B., Crystal H., Leon H.

Not pictured: Ivy D.

Weeks of March 9 and 16, 2026

Front row (L to R): Oliver W., Ollie S., Levi M., Roland H., Levi B.

Back row (L to R): Devlin K., Teo B., Maddie L., Blaze D., Hollister B.

Week of March 23, 2026

Front row (L to R): Princeton B., Maeve W., Maddy H., Felix B., Emily S.

Back row (L to R): Pedro C., Maisie F., Maggie B., Indigo H.

Not pictured: Cedric C.

Fourteenth Street School staff have been engaged in a collective read and discussion of From Behavior to Belonging: The Inclusive Art of Supporting Students Who Challenge Us by Julie Causton and Kate MacLeod. This professional development started in January and, for scheduling reasons, has mostly taken place within two groups in 30-minute increments. For this reason, we were very grateful to be able to bring everyone together on the February 11th and March 12th early release afternoons for more in-depth conversation about the book, the issues it raises, and ideas we can implement moving forward. On the March 13th staff workshop day, classroom teachers developed science units and explored new math curricula in grade-level groups across the district. Specialists worked in job-alike groups on important topics in their areas of expertise.

What a relief to be nearing the end of cold and flu season! The Bangor School Department has set attendance goals based on federal and state requirements that, in turn, are based on research connecting attendance to students' future academic, economic, and social success. These goals include an average daily attendance rate of 95% and a chronic absenteeism rate of fewer than 10% of students. Average daily attendance (ADA) is defined as the average number of students present in school each day; chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused. (So, at this point in the year, a student has been absent on 12 or more days would be considered chronically absent.) Currently, our ADA rate is just below 95% and our percentage of students who are chronically absent is just above 10%. It would be great to meet these goals by the end of the school year!

To that end, the following guidelines regarding illness might be helpful:

Students who have a fever, vomiting, diarrhea, or a highly contagious infection (e.g., impetigo; hand, foot, and mouth disease) should be kept home;
Students who have been fever, vomiting, and diarrhea-free for 24 hours can be sent to school;
Students who have cold symptoms (e.g., runny nose) or an indeterminate complaint (e.g., belly hurting) but feel okay otherwise should be sent to school.

Please do your best to ensure your student arrives at school by 8:55 am. Students who arrive late (even 5-10 minutes) are more prone to dysregulation when they enter after their class has started, especially if their peers are already at gym, music, or library. They also miss valuable academic time, which makes it harder for them to meet grade-level learning targets.

If you need to make a change to your student's after-school plan (from bus to pickup or vice versa), please let Ms. McCorrison know as early in the day as possible. Changes requested after 2:45 pm may not be able to be accommodated (although we will certainly try to do so).
On scheduled early release days (April 8th and May 13th) or if Superintendent Robinson calls for an early dismissal due to weather, the school day will end at 11:55 am, at which time walkers will be dismissed. Students who ride Bus J, Bus H, or Bus A-1 will be dropped off at their bus stops approximately three hours before their normal drop-off time. Breakfast and lunch will still be available at school.
If Superintendent Robinson calls for a two-hour delay due to weather, the school day will start at 10:55 am. Students may be dropped off starting at 10:40 am. Students who ride Bus J, Bus H, or Bus A-1 will be picked up at their bus stops approximately two hours after their normal pick-up time. Breakfast and lunch will still be available at school.

The PTO invites you to dine out for a cause! Mark your calendars for April 23rd for dining with Moe's Original BBQ on Broadway. A portion of all sales that day will go to benefit the PTO. We will also have another fundraiser on May 14th, 4:00-8:00 pm, with Texas Roadhouse.

The next PTO meeting will be on April 7th at 5:30 pm. We will be reviewing March's Spaghetti Dinner & Raffle and planning for Teacher Appreciation Week. All are welcome to attend.