Dear friends,
This evening, I will nominate Dr. Christina Boursaw as the next principal of Westbrook Middle School, replacing Laurie Wood who will retire at the end of the school year after 10 years at WMS. Dr. Boursaw currently serves as principal at Gilbert Elementary School, a K-6 school in Augusta where she was honored as 2024 Distinguished Elementary/Middle School Principal by the Maine Principals’ Association. Prior to moving to Maine, she was an elementary and middle school administrator and teacher in Redlands and Beaumont, California. She also served as her district’s Human Resources director and Title IX coordinator, published several articles on teaching, and wrote K-8 units of study integrating literacy and math with Next Generation Science Standards. Christina has mentored aspiring and novice principals, developed mentor programs for teachers, and supported professional development through workshops and coaching. She prioritizes building relationships and dialogue, creating welcoming and inclusive environments for all students, staff, and families, and is eager to get to know our Westbrook community.
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Christina Boursaw to Westbrook Middle School!
Take care,
Peter Lancia, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Saccarappa is hosting a Variety Show Family Night on May 22nd from 5:30-7:00 p.m. The Variety Show will be played twice in the cafeteria, once at 5:30 p.m. and again at 6:15 p.m.. Please bring a blanket or fold-up chair to get comfortable. In addition to the show, there will be many other fun activities, including bracelet making and a summer book swap. All students must be accompanied by an adult throughout the event.
We hope to see you there!
We have the absolute best students, families, PTO, and community partners. Thank you to everyone who helped make Staff Appreciation Week a success. The flowers, notes, treats, raffle prizes, and even massages successfully showed the staff how incredibly cared for and appreciated they are. Thank you to everyone who contributed.
Hannaford Helps Schools! Scan the QR code and select Saccarappa School as the recipient of your Hannaford Helps dollars. The top 200 schools to redeem the most School Dollars receive an extra $1,000! This opportunity ends June 7th. Thank you for choosing Saccarappa, and thank you to Hannaford for your ongoing support.
Members of the Portland Symphony Orchestra visited Saccarappa today to perform their KinderKonzert show for our first and second grade students. Thank you, PSO!
Dear families,
This week, May 5-9, is Staff Appreciation Week. We honor our entire staff - teachers, support staff, and administrators - throughout the week and thank them for everything they do to support our students and the community. In Westbrook, we value strong relationships and our staff members are all dedicated to making connections that lead to the success of every student, every day. Please join me in recognizing them for their hard work! I encourage you to take a moment to send school staff a note or give them a call to say thank you. Connect with your school PTO to see how you can help with their activities to celebrate staff. Encourage your child to draw a picture for them, write them a poem, say thank you, or give them an extra smile. Small gestures of kindness mean the world them. We are fortunate to know and learn among such talented educators in Westbrook! Let’s tell them how much they mean to us!
Take care,
Dr. Peter Lancia, Superintendent of Schools
Saccarappa School Plant Sale! Support the Saccarappa Garden Club by visiting the Plant Sale on Saturday, May 17th from 9-11:30 a.m. Hope to see you there!
Congratulations to the winners of the Bikes for Books raffle, and bravo to everyone who participated. As a school, there were over 37,000 pages read! Well done, Shining Stars! Thank you to the Saccarappa Masonic Lodge for the generous donation of bikes, to Ernie's Bike Shop for their assistance in assembling them, and to the Kiwanis Club for providing all of the helmets.
Support the Saccarappa School PTO by dining in or enjoying takeout from Rio Bravo on Wednesday, April 30th. Rio Bravo is open from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., and 10% of the proceeds benefit Saccarappa School. Thank you for your support!
Don't Forget! Virtual Variety Show submissions are due after the break. The due date has been extended to Friday, May 2nd. All you need to do is email a 30-second video clip of something your child enjoys doing to their classroom teacher. See the flyer for more information. Please note that the family viewing event has been rescheduled for Thursday, May 22nd. It's your chance to shine, Shining Stars!
The Bikes for Books program ends Monday! Every time your child reads five short books or 100 pages, they qualify for a submission. Please turn in any remaining entry slips by Monday, April 28th. The Saccarappa Lodge Masons will then visit all of the Westbrook elementary schools on Tuesday so we can raffle off the bikes! Good luck!
Read the April Teaching and Learning district newsletter! https://westbrooksdme.edurooms.com/engage/westbrook-school-department/newsletters/april-teaching-and-learning-newsletter
Join us for the Education Extravaganza at WMS on May 8th. The event runs from 5-7 p.m. There will be free giveaways and a fun activity with guest author Francie LaTour! We hope to see you there!
Thank you to Portland Stage for coming to Saccarappa and performing readers' theater for the students. In addition to the whole-school presentation, Grades 1-3 participated in additional workshops to learn more about the art of performing and engaging with literature.
The students had a blast guessing the themes during our Secret Staff Spirit Week. Thank you to all of the staff who participated!
Tonight's event at WMS, "Raising Humans in a Digital World", has been postponed. The speaker's flight to Maine was cancelled. We are working to reschedule for September and will share the new date as soon as it's confirmed.
The Raising Humans in a Digital World event, previously scheduled for tonight, has been postponed due to an issue with the presenter. Be on the lookout for a new date.
Saccarappa Skate Night at Happy Wheels! Join the Saccarappa PTO on Saturday, April 5th, from 5-7 p.m. for a skate night fundraiser at Happy Wheels. The cost is $11 to skate, and all children must be accompanied by an adult.
All of Westbrook's elementary school families are invited to participate in a Family Math Night on April 7th at Congin School. The event runs from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Hope to see you all there!
Saccarappa's students and staff had fun showing their school spirit last week! Thank you to the Student Council for organizing this event. We had Interest/Sports Day, Teacher-Student Swap Day, Wacky Day, Country Day, and Class Theme Day. Well done, Shining Stars!
