BOWDOINHAM

Thanks to the cold and falling snow, it was a small crowd of six that attended a community forum at Bowdoinham Community School Monday night to offer thoughts and feedback on what a shared vision for the school should like.

Despite the small group, there was much discussion revolving around learning and what it should look like in the elementary school.

Principal Chris Lajoie said School Administrative District 75 started working last fall with the Reinventing Schools Coalition, a group that helps districts to improve educational practices and move toward a proficiencybased education system. It is both a state mandate to move towards a diploma based on proficiency in standards, and a mission SAD 75 is undertaking. Every school is coming up with a vision statement and the district will develop a vision statement in those flavors.

Like a “reset,” the district is looking at its purpose and to set a vision for the next several years, Lajoie said. Bowdoinham Community School’s leadership team developed a prompt for students, staff and parents to respond to — they asked an open-ended question of these stakeholders: Describe a time they loved learning.

From that question, four main themes arose.

One revolved around authentic learning, or learning that was experiential and project-based. The second was relationships, as people remembered the people they were with during that learning experiencing, or remembered a mentor or teacher who stood out and made an impact on them.

Foundation literacy and math experiences arose as the third theme, and the fourth category fell under what educators call the “growth mind set.” Lajoie said staff have been studying this growth mind set, a time people overcome a learning challenge, making for learning that stayed with them and make them a better person.

The leadership team then looked at vision statements given these experiences that matter to people, Lajoie said, “and that we want to be the type of school where this sort of thing happens.”

They came up with two: “In it together, learning that lasts,” and “Meaningful learning every day, for life.”

A vision statement, Lajoie said, serves as the lens through which the school looks as it makes decisions as an organization. The forum participants discussed to two options, later voting for their favorite.

The group also brainstormed and discussed what students should be able to do to be successful in life. A focus on the social aspect and the “whole child” was mentioned. A desire for students to be their own advocates and to have a sense of stewardship also was stressed, as well as for them to know their history, environment and where they are in the world. The skills of problem solving, collaboration and information gathering, were voiced. Highlighting risk-taking and student choice was also discussed, particularly related to kids having to later choose a career and things they are passionate about.

“Did anyone write, do well on a test?” Lajoie asked.

His group talked about exploring the beauty of expression — the arts and music, the idea of presenting an idea and getting feedback from others and the basics.

Parent and volunteer Tessa Kingsley added, “fail gracefully and analyze results.” If that attempt didn’t work, why?

“You’re going to fail, a lot, in life. It’s not always going to work,” she said. “You need to know how to do that.”

Lajoie called this the habits of mind and said there are some basics kids need to learn in terms of academics.

“But it’s more about how we interact with each other and the world and push ourselves in a way,” he said. “We want to be the type of school that does that; that sets kids up for that.”

Kate Cutko said she’s noticed with her children that the looming tests seem “oppressive and restrictive.” There is an awareness of the gravity of the tests she never had as a child.

“It’s too big, it’s too much, too important,” she said. “But yet I understand the reality is, it’s big and important and it affects what our school is able to get. It’s part of what drove us away from public school with our older child.”

As a school, “you might be able to do what you need to do… but don’t make it a big deal,” Cutko said. “Don’t oversell it or undersell it.”

Third through fifth graders undergo about seven total hours of testing spread out over four days, Lajoie said.

Following the shared vision work, which should be done by April, the school will do some work on collegiality, looking at moral purpose and aligning resources to those things that align with the school’s vision. Lajoie said there will be other opportunities for community feedback. He can be reached at [email protected].