Site Selection Committee Reaches Consensus on Frenchville Site

At its October 29, 2019 meeting at the Madawaska Middle/High School, the Valley Unified Regional Educational Facility Site Selection Committee reached consensus to recommend the Frenchville site as the location for the proposed Valley Unified Regional School.  To watch a WOWL Channel 16 video of the meeting, click here or on the image below.

#valleyunified

New Articulation Agreement Between SJVTC and UMFK

Priority #5 of the Valley Unified Education Service Center strategic plan, Rightsizing Education in the Upper St. John Valley 2017-2027, calls for reviewing and aligning programs at the St. John Valley Technology Center (SJVTC) in Frenchville based on local workforce demands.

Priority #6 of the plan calls for expanding early college/dual enrollment opportunities with the University of Maine at Fort Kent (UMFK) and Northern Maine Community College (NMCC).

The recent signing of an articulation agreement between the SJVTC Forest Resource Management Career and Technical Education program and the Forestry program at UMFK is one example of on-going progress in both these strategic priorities. 

To learn more about this new agreement, click here or on the image below.

#valleyunified

October 29 Site Selection Committee Meeting Agenda

The Valley Unified Regional Educational Facility Site Selection Committee will meet on Tuesday, October 29, 2019, beginning at 6 PM in the Library at Madawaska Middle/High School.  To view the meeting agenda, click here or on the image below.  Public attendance is welcomed and encouraged.

#valleyunified

Valley Unified Regional School: More Than a New Building

Our plans and vision for the proposed Valley Unified Regional School entail far more than the construction of a new building.  They involve the design and structure of an educational facility like no school we remember from our own years as students.

For more information on our vision for a modern, comprehensive, integrated learning center, the curricular opportunities it will provide our young people, and how it can benefit the employers, businesses, industries, and communities of the Upper St. John Valley, click here or on the image below.  Just imagine the possibilities!                                                                 

 #valleyunified

Upcoming Meeting of Site Selection Committee

The Valley Unified Regional Educational Facility Site Selection Committee will meet on Tuesday, October 29, 2019 in the Library at Madawaska Middle/High School, beginning at 6 PM.  To review the purpose for the meeting, click here or on the image below.  Public attendance is welcomed and encouraged.

#valleyunified

News and Views About Site Selection and the Proposed School

For recent news about site selection and views about the importance of the proposed Valley Unified regional school, click here or on the image below to read Morgan Mitchell's October 19 article in the Fiddlehead Focus.  The next meeting of the Valley Unified Regional Educational Facility Site Selection Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, October 29, 2019, beginning at 6 PM in the Library at Madawaska Middle/High School.

#valleyunified

WOWL Video of Transportation Subcommittee for Site Selection

A Special Meeting of the Transportation Subcommittee for Site Selection was held on Wednesday, October 16, 2019  at the St. John Valley Technology Center in Frenchville, beginning at 2 PM.  To view the WOWL Channel 16 video of the meeting, click here or on the image below.

The subcommittee's recommendations will be presented to the Valley Unified Regional Educational Facility Site Selection Committee at its next meeting which is scheduled for Tuesday, October 29, 2019 in the Library at Madawaska Middle/High School, beginning at 6 PM.

#valleyunified

Special Meeting of Transportation Subcommittee for Site Selection

There will be a Special Meeting of the Transportation Subcommittee for Site Selection at the St. John Valley Technology Center in Frenchville, beginning at 2 PM on Wednesday, October 16, 2019.  To view the meeting agenda, click here or on the image below.

#valleyunified

The Road to Site Selection

The Valley Unified Regional Educational Facility Site Selection Committee is making steady progress toward identifying and recommending a site for the proposed grades 7-16 comprehensive, integrated school to the Valley Unified Board of Directors.  This process has been time consuming and has prompted some in communities across the Upper St. John Valley to wonder what's taking so long while others have expressed concern that things are moving too fast.

To read a summary of what's involved in the critically important site selection phase of any school construction project in Maine and what's been accomplished and remains to be done relative to selecting a site for the proposed Valley Unified School, click here or on the image below.

#valleyunified

Fiddlehead Focus Article on 10-8 Site Selection Committee Meeting

The Valley Unified Regional Educational Facility Site Selection Committee met on Tuesday, October 8, 2019 at Dr. Levesque Elementary School in Frenchville.  To read Morgan Mitchell's Fiddlehead Focus article about the meeting, click here or on the image below. 

The Site Selection Committee is scheduled to meet again on Tuesday, October 29, 2019 in the Library at Madawaska Middle/High School, beginning at 6 PM.

#valleyunified

October 8, 2019 Site Selection Committee Meeting

The Valley Unified Regional Educational Facility Site Selection Committee met on Tuesday, October 8, 2019 at Dr. Levesque Elementary School in Frenchville.  To view the WOWL Channel 16 video of the meeting, click here or on the image below. 

The Site Selection Committee will next meet on Tuesday, October 29, 2019 in the Library at Madawaska Middle/High School, beginning at 6 PM.

#valleyunified

What Was the Driving Force for a New School?

As we continue to work toward the goal of bringing the proposed Valley Unified School to the Upper St. John Valley, some have asked how this idea was born or what was the driving force behind the decision to pursue a new school for our region.  Those are good questions.  To review information concerning some of the reasons behind this decision and to understand the proposed school's critical role in our regional strategic plan for rightsizing education in the Upper St. John Valley, click here or on the image below.

#valleyunified

Misrepresentation

October 8, 2019

To Whom it May Concern, 

As a resident of Fort Kent and Superintendent of Schools for all three school units in the Valley Unified Education Service CenterI am writing to ask the individual or group behind the “Keep our Schools in Fort Kent” and “Help Save Our School” signs to stop posting these throughout our community, as they constitute a misrepresentation of community sentiment in Fort Kent and across MSAD #27. 

To the citizens of the communities served by the Madawaska School Department and MSAD #33, I am writing to assure you the individual or group responsible for these signs  do not speak for me, for the greater Fort Kent community, and for MSAD #27.  

I am also writing to ask all citizens of the Upper St. John Valley: aren’t we tired of settling, tired of watching opportunities come to our region and leave because of individuals who refuse to realize that it’s time to think, behave, and act differently?  

We all need to approach the opportunity for a modern, new, regional  educational facility in our region with an open mind and we must be receptive to change.   The blueprint laid out for education in our communities 80, 50, and even 20 years ago can no longer be followed.  

As both a Fort Kent resident and Madawaska native who now serves as Superintendent of Schools for all the communities in the Valley Unified Education Service Center, I invite any citizen in our region with misgivings about the proposed new school to come sit with us and hear about the realities of education today and into the future and to learn what will happen if this regional school project does not succeed.  

This regional school project is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  Prejudice based on rumor, innuendo, fear, baseless accusations, and personal/local politics may compromise the best chance our children and our communities have for a competitive future.  We all deserve better. Please allow the site selection committee to continue its work without bias. Please attend meetings and listen to the facts. And please open your mind to change.    

Finally, to the individual or group behind the “Keep Our School in Fort Kent” roadside marketing campaign, please take down your signs.  All you are doing is creating discomfort and jeopardizing the most important project our region has ever had. Is that really the outcome you want?      

Respectfully, 

Benjamin Sirois

Citizen of the St. John Valley Community

October 8 Site Selection Committee Meeting Agenda

The Valley Unified Regional Educational Facility Site Selection Committee will meet in Frenchville on Tuesday, October 8, 2019 in the cafeteria/gymnasium at Dr. Levesque Elementary School from 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM.  To view the meeting agenda, click here or on the image below.  Public attendance is welcomed and encouraged.

#valleyunified