The Valley Unified Education Service Center extends a hearty welcome back to school to the students, families and staff of the following schools:
Dr. Levesque Elementary School/Wisdom Middle-High School
Fort Kent Community High School/Valley Rivers Middle High School
Fort Kent Elementary School
Madawaska Middle/High School
St. John Valley Technology Center
Have a great first day of school and wonderful school year!
Project ACT (Access Covid Tests) has free, rapid, at-home COVID-19 test kits for families of eligible communities while supplies last. To see if your community is eligible, go to accesscovidtests.org or click on the image below and enter your zip code. Placing your order is a simple process.
Between the start of the 2021-2022 school year and this month, 86 students from the three high schools in the Upper St. John Valley have participated in the Valley Unified Education Service Center Alternative Schooling program.
To review our most current Alternative Schooling Enrollment Report for 2021-2022, go to bit.ly/3knydZZ or click on the image below.
Through the Valley Unified SELECTIVES Initiative, students at Madawaska High School, Wisdom High School in St. Agatha, and Community High School in Fort Kent have engaged this school year in elective blended learning opportunities (a mix of anywhere, anytime learning and face-to-face instruction) in the following career-focused and/or special interest topics:
Valley Unified students, families and staff are advised that free COVID-19 are available for order, while supplies last, at the following links:
Valley Unified students, parents, families and staff are advised that voluntary school-based Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination clinics are scheduled next week on March 22 and 23 and next month on April 12 and 13. For more information on specific times and locations, click here or on the image below.
Please note that these clinics are entirely voluntary. Please also note that students who are vaccinated and/or who are enrolled in pooled testing at their schools do not have to isolate from school if they are identified as a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
During the last Valley Unified Board of Directors meeting, a short presentation to the board titled, "Why does Valley Unified still make sense for our communities" was delivered to the board. In summary, even though the Valley Unified Regional High School project is no longer possible, shared services are still part of the Valley Unified Education Service Center, which benefit each district both financially and with enhanced opportunities. With these shared services, each VU member district (MSAD33, MSAD27 and the Madawaska School Department) share services that each district could not maintain if they were on their own. By sharing these services, each member district has the advantage of discounted services, that keep local taxes down.
Please click on the presentation below for a summary of the shared services in the form of educational opportunities and operational efficiencies.
As part of its Early Post-Secondary Expansion Initiative, the Valley Unified Education Service Center (VUESC) is working with Northern Maine Community College (NMCC) and the University of Maine at Fort Kent (UMFK) to develop a Business and Entrepreneurship program at the St. John Valley Technology Center (SJVTC) - the Career and Technical Education arm of the three Valley Unified high schools.
The new Business and Entrepreneurship program of study will begin serving students in August, 2022. Students in the program next year not only will earn high school credit but also will accumulate the following 12 tuition-free early college credits through NMCC and UMFK:
Fall Semester
NMCC BUS 101 - Introduction to Business
UMFK BUS 260 - Business Ethics
Winter/Spring Semester
UMFK BUS 222 - Introduction to Marketing
NMCC BUS 109 - Entrepreneurship
While working with a live high school instructor in a classroom at the SJVTC, students will be accessing these on-line NMCC and UMFK college courses for a blended learning experience.
In year two of the program, students will have the opportunity to earn up to 12 additional tuition-free college credits through NMCC and UMFK and to participate in community-based business internships for high school credit.
The Business and Entrepreneurship program is being developed in response to a needs assessment conducted with local employers and the results of student interest surveys.
For more information about this new Career and Technical Education early college program, click here or on the image below. To enroll in the program, students and their parents/guardians should contact their high school Guidance Counselor.
Upper St. John Valley adults and high school students interested in a career in carpentry are advised that the Valley Unified Continuing Education program, the St. John Valley Technology Center, and a Community Development Block Grant manager from Northern Maine Development Commission are teaming with Curtis Saucier of Home Solutions in Fort Kent to deliver a second Upper St. John Valley Carpentry Training Program on Saturday mornings from 9 AM to 12 Noon, beginning Saturday, March 12 and ending Saturday, May 21, 2022.
To review preliminary information about this workforce development opportunity, click here or on the image below.
For more detailed information:
1. local contractors who want to get involved should contact Curtis Saucier at 207-231-0624;
2. area adults interested in participating should contact Valley Unified Continuing Education at either 834-3536 or 728-6314; and
3. high school students interested in taking part should contact Kevin Lavoie, Director of the St. John Valley Technology Center, at 543-6606.
Registration deadline is March 3.
#valleyunified
Due to storm conditions worsening throughout the day, all Valley Unified Schools will dismiss at noon today, Tuesday, February 8, to allow for our buses and those driving to take their time going home during daylight hours. All after school activities are cancelled for today.
Please take your time driving home. Be safe!
With the first semester of the 2021-2022 school year completed and grades and progress reports soon to be sent home to students, parents and families, we have prepared our 10th Valley Unified Strategic Plan Progress Report for review by the citizens across our Upper St. John Valley service region.
To access the report go to bit.ly/3B9cooN or click on the image below.
To review the January, 2022 Valley Unified School Reintegration Update for Students, Parents, Families and Staff, click here or on the image below. Stay healthy and stay warm.
This is a reminder to Valley Unified students, parents, families and staff that voluntary school-based Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination clinics are scheduled this week on Thursday, February 3 for schools in MSAD #33 and the Madawaska School Department and on Friday, February 4 for schools in MSAD #27. For more information on specific times and locations, click here or on the image below.
As the first semester of the 2021-2022 school year draws to a close at Valley Unified schools, and with the second semester set to begin on January 31, now is the perfect time for 10th graders from Madawaska High School, Wisdom High School in St. Agatha, and Community High School in Fort Kent to be thinking about enrolling in one of the 10 trade/technical and professional programs of study at the St. John Valley Technology Center (SJVTC) for the 2022-2023 school year.
Students and their parents/guardians are invited to explore the various learning opportunities available at the SJVTC - the Career and Technical Education arm of the three Valley Unified high schools - by reviewing our 2022-2023 Program of Studies at bit.ly/3tUjHPn or by clicking on the image below.
For more information about any of the programs at the SJVTC or how to enroll in them, students and parents/guardians should contact their high school Guidance Counselor.
The Valley Unified Education Service Center continues its collaboration with area building contractors to address the local need for trained carpenters.
After a successful Fall, 2021 training cohort, the Valley Unified Community Outreach office and Continuing Education program, the director of the St. John Valley Technology Center, and a Community Development Block Grant manager from Northern Maine Development Commission are teaming with Curtis Saucier of Home Solutions in Fort Kent to deliver a second Upper St. John Valley Carpentry Training Program on Saturday mornings from 9 AM to 12 Noon, beginning Saturday, March 5 and ending Saturday, May 21, 2022.
To review preliminary information about this workforce development opportunity, go to bit.ly/33IGUtj or click on the image below.
For more detailed information:
1. local contractors who want to get involved should contact Curtis Saucier at 207-231-0624;
2. area adults interested in participating should contact Valley Unified Continuing Education at either 834-3536 or 728-6314; and
3. high school students interested in taking part should contact Kevin Lavoie, Director of the St. John Valley Technology Center, at 543-6606.
#valleyunified
On January 12, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Maine Department of Eduction (DOE) announced further revisions to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for responding to COVID-19 in schools. One section of the SOP addresses contact tracing.
To access information about how our schools will now conduct contact tracing, go to bit.ly/3GCTrwg or click on the image below.
#valleyunified
We have previously notified you about several changes to the current school year calendar. Now, we want to provide students, parents/guardians and staff members with an updated calendar that reflects the following changes from the original:
To access the revised school calendar, go to bit.ly/3reeij1 or click on the link below.
Please destroy all previous versions of this year’s calendar and use this one.
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For updated information and a detailed reminder concerning the times and locations of the upcoming voluntary school-based Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination clinics in Valley Unified schools, please go to bit.ly/3tbTNWO or click on the image below.
The US Food and Drug Administration recently authorized COVID-19 boosters for use with 12-15 year olds. Clinics will be held this month on January 13 and 14. Parents/guardians should contact their local school by 12 noon on January 12 to register their children.
As we enter the new calendar year, all schools across Maine, including our Valley Unified school districts, have new guidance to follow specific to how to respond to positive COVID-19 cases, which include those individuals who are identified as close contacts. The new information can be found here.
Here are some of the biggest changes, which go into effect immediately, and do not count for any positive COVID-19 cases or close contacts identified before December 30, 2021:
