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More than 40 Portland Public Schools retiring employees were honored by the Portland Board of Public Education and the district in a ceremony on Tuesday, June 6. Those recognized have served throughout the district and held a wide variety of roles in service of our students and families. The 2022-2023 school year retirees include administrators, teachers, educational technicians, administrative assistants and secretaries, transportation employees, custodians, a guidance counselor, a speech therapist, a payroll manager, an academic enrichment specialist and the district’s facilities director. The retirees have collectively given nearly 1,000 years of dedicated service to the Portland Public Schools.

Casco Bay High School held its 15th graduation exercises on Thursday, June 8, at Merrill Auditorium. CBHS commencement ceremonies stand out each year in combining the unconventional with traditional graduation pomp and circumstance. This year’s evening event for the 92 members of the Class of 2023 was no exception.

The ceremony included multiple good-natured jokes about beloved Principal Derek Pierce and class speaker Lionel Celestino interrupting his remarks, doffing his cap and gown and performing an acrobatic street dance demonstration across the stage. It also included remarks by Interim Co-Superintendents Melea Nalli and Aaron Townsend and as well as speeches by school staff and graduates, student musical performances and the presentation of diplomas.

Since 2015, the Portland Public Schools has had a "float" in the Pride Portland events - a yellow PPS bus!  As a welcoming, inclusive school district, we proudly affirm and stand with our LGBTQ+ students, staff and families.

This year Pride events are on Saturday, June 17. The parade kicks off at 1 p.m. and the entire PPS community is welcome to participate! Students, staff, Board of Public Education members and families can all come march with PPS in the parade, and either walk in front of the bus or ride the bus! Wear your PPS gear if you have some – from any school – to represent PPS.

Deering High School, one of the most diverse high schools north of Boston, held the school's 149th graduation exercises for the Class of 2023 on Thursday, June 8, at Merrill Auditorium. The morning ceremony included remarks by Interim Co-Superintendents Melea Nalli and Aaron Townsend and Deering Co-Principal Alyson Dame, as well as speeches by students and the presentation of awards and diplomas.

Portland High School, one of the oldest operating public high schools in the United States, held its 202nd graduation exercises on Wednesday, June 7, at Merrill Auditorium. The late morning ceremony included remarks by Portland Interim Co-Superintendents Aaron Townsend and Melea Nalli and Portland High Principal Sheila Jepson, speeches and musical performances by students and the presentation of awards and diplomas.

The Board of Public Education voted unanimously June 6 to appoint Dr. Ryan Scallon, currently an assistant superintendent in the School District of Philadelphia, as the next superintendent of the Portland Public Schools, beginning July 1. The Board selected Scallon, who holds a doctorate degree in education, following a six-month nationwide search.

At its June 6 meeting, the Portland Board of Public Education approved the appointments of the following administrators: Jake Giessman as principal of Deering High School; Alyson Dame as Deering High School assistant principal; Priya Natarajan as assistant principal of Casco Bay High School; Amy Marx as principal of King Middle School; and Terry Young as principal of Talbot Community School. The appointments are effective July 1.

Following a nationwide search, the Portland Board of Public Education has selected Dr. Ryan Scallon, currently an assistant superintendent in the School District of Philadelphia, to become the next superintendent of the Portland Public Schools. Scallon, who holds a doctorate degree in education, was one of two finalists for the position. The Board is scheduled to vote on Scallon’s appointment at its June 6 meeting. His official start date will be July 1.

Portland Adult Education, a leading provider of adult educational programs and workforce development initiatives, is pleased to announce the launch of its Renewable Energy Careers: Introduction to Solar Installation and Heat Pumps Program. This pre-apprenticeship program – developed in partnership with ReVision Energy, Portland Arts and Technology High School (PATHS) and Portland Adult Education (PAE) – prepares multilingual adults to enter (or re-enter) the field of renewable energy as a viable and sustainable career path.

At the 2023 Maine Literary Awards on May 18, Deering High School senior Mayinga Mukinayi won the Youth Nonfiction Award for her piece "No Water, No Food: Thirteen Days in the Jungle." Her story was published in the Telling Room chapbook, "Between My Ribs."

The district’s sixth annual Seal of Biliteracy Ceremony was held on May 17 at Deering High School. As Maine’s largest and most diverse school district, the Portland Public Schools is very proud of initiating this award. There were 66 Seal recipients this year – 40 percent more than last year and the most since the award began.

East End Community School is planning a celebration for beloved crossing guard Danny Lowe on Thursday, June 1. Lowe, a young man with autism, has dedicated himself to helping students get safely across the intersection of North Street and Walnut Street since 2014. The school celebrated Lowe on June 1, 2022, and now the  second annual “Danny Day” celebration will take place on that same date this year, from 7 a.m. to 7:45 a.m.

Lyman Moore Middle School students on May 20 hosted a middle school Model United Nations conference, organized in cooperation with the Model UN Club at Bates College. Approximately 50 student “delegates” from four Maine schools participated. “The event was a huge success. Lyman Moore students won several awards,” said social studies teacher David Hilton, who co-chairs the school’s Model United Nations Team.

Cyle Davenport, a Deering High School science teacher, is one of 10 educators throughout New England to win an inaugural Air and Space Forces’ Sentry Educator Award. The award recognizes educators who support Air Force Core Values of integrity, service and excellence.

The City Council voted unanimously on May 15 to approve the FY24 budget recommended by the Portland Board of Education. The vote now sends the budget for the 2023-2024 school year to Portland voters on June 13. The budget balances fiscal constraints with reinvesting in core operations such as finance and human resources, while also investing in student-facing staff to support all students, including many newly arrived multi-language learners. It also is mindful of the tax burden on Portland residents during a time of high inflation.

Baleria Yugu is the 2023 recipient of the Portland High School Step Up Award. The Step Up Award at Portland High School provides funding for students in the Make It Happen! program who would otherwise have to forego school-year extracurricular opportunities in order to work after school and/or on weekends. Baleria, a rising junior at Portland High School, will receive $1,250 per semester until graduation for her last two years of high school. The Step Up Award was created by Ann and Bill Weber, parents of two Portland High School graduates.

The selection of Joshua Chard, a teacher at East End Community School, as 2023 Cumberland County Teacher of the Year, puts the veteran teacher in the running to be 2024 Maine Teacher of the Year. This is the second year in a row that a Portland Public Schools teacher has been chosen as Cumberland County Teacher of the Year.

After a nationwide search, the Portland Board of Public Education has narrowed the pool of applicants for the position of superintendent of the Portland Public Schools down to two finalists. They are Eric Moore, currently senior advisor to the superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools, and Dr. Ryan Scallon, who is an assistant superintendent in the School District of Philadelphia. Scallon holds a doctorate degree in education and Moore is on track to earn his doctorate in education later this year.

Now that the field has been narrowed down, key stakeholders, including members of the Portland Board of Public Education, staff, students, parents and other community members, will interview them on May 17 and 18. The interviews with students, parents and community members will be live-streamed and recorded for public viewing.

The public is invited to the opening reception of the annual Portland Public Schools Student Art Show this Friday, May 5, at City Hall. After being held virtually since the pandemic, the event is back in person. The artwork of hundreds of talented students in kindergarten through grade 12 will be on display in City Hall hallways from May 5 to May 19.

William Anton, a school superintendent from Vermont, will be the new principal of Rowe Elementary School, starting July 1. Anton was selected for the role by Interim Co-Superintendents Melea Nalli and Aaron Townsend, and his appointment was approved by the Portland Board of Public Education at its May 2 meeting.

Emily Serway, an art teacher at Deering High School, is this year’s winner of the Russell Award. Serway was recognized for her achievement by Deering Principal Alyson Dame and fellow teachers at a special event at the school on April 13.

East End Community School students recently enjoyed a multilingual storytime in which high school students read to them in a variety of languages. “The younger kids were starstruck by the teens, and the teens were charmed by them in turn,” said Shana Genre, EECS teacher librarian. “The teachers, too, were delighted and warmed to see kids of all ages connecting with each other over books.” She said the event also was a learning experience for both the older and younger students.

Casco Bay High School teacher Matt Bernstein, who is Maine’s 2023 Teacher of the Year, went to the White House April 24, joining other state teachers of the year from across the country for a recognition ceremony with President Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, and US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. Watch a YouTube video of the event.

On Thursday, April 27, the City Council’s Finance Committee voted unanimously to recommend the Portland Board of Public Education’s $143.8 million school budget for the 2023-2024 school year to the full City Council. Members of that Council committee praised the collaborative way the district and Board worked with councilors to craft the FY24 budget and said they appreciated the efforts to meet student and staff needs while reining in costs.

On April 24, the Portland Board of Public Education presented its recommended $143.8 million school budget for the 2023-2024 school year to the City Council. Board Chair Sarah Lentz and Interim Co-Superintendents Aaron Townsend and Melea Nalli, who jointly made the presentation, told the Council that the budget is a fair and responsible one at a time of daunting fiscal challenges. “This budget reinvests in core operations such as finance and human resources, while also investing in student-facing staff to support all of our students, including our many newly arrived multi-language learners,” they said. “Within this budget, we’ve also done our best to anticipate and plan for the FY25 budget, when the district will no longer have access to federal COVID money and will likely face decreased funding from the state level. This budget does all that while simultaneously being mindful of the tax burden on Portland residents in a year when inflation is higher than most can remember.”