REVISED Dates/Locations: Race to the Top Regional Meetings
INFORMATIONAL LETTER: 83
POLICY CODE: IHCD
TO: Superintendents of Schools
FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner
DATE: March 3, 2010
RE: REVISED Dates/Locations: Race to the Top Regional Meetings
Due to venue scheduling conflicts, we have made some revisions to our planned regional meetings on Maine’s Race to the Top (RT3) application. These meetings are open to all and do not require reservation. All meetings are scheduled for 4 to 7 p.m. We apologize for any inconvenience.
The meetings are now scheduled as follows:
March 15 Westbrook Middle School - cafeteria
March 17 University of Maine, Orono - Wells Conference Center, Room #1
March 18 University of Maine, Farmington - Olson Student Center, North Dining Hall
March 24 Rose M. Gaffney School, Machias - gymnasium
March 25 University of Maine, Presque Isle - Campus Center, multi-purpose room
The Maine Department of Education, with assistance from many staff on the various teams and input from the field, is developing Maine’s blueprint for education reform and Race to the Top application. West Ed has been hired, using a grant from Nellie Mae, to assist in the development and writing of the Race to the Top application. West Ed will also help facilitate discussion at these regional meetings in March at which we will present the blueprint, and seek feedback and participation by school administrative units in the application, which will be finalized and submitted by June 1.
At the regional meetings I will present to you a conceptual framework for our application. We are interested in ideas for bold action in our schools. This can include bringing existing successful programs to scale as well as looking at initiatives from elsewhere that could be brought to Maine.
If successful, Maine could be eligible for $75 million or more in federal funds. If your school administrative unit were to receive a share of that money, what would you do with it?
These meetings are for administrators, teachers, parents, citizens, and business people – for anyone who is interested. These are working sessions – please come prepared to participate.
Following the five regional meetings, we will draft summaries of the information gathered at them. We will also be scheduling several webinars so that school officials can learn about our final application and make decisions about whether and how their school administrative units will participate in the final application.
For more information, and to sign up for a new RT3 e-newsletter, go to: http://www.maine.gov/education/rt3
If you have questions about the schedule of upcoming meetings, please contact Tammy Morrill at 207-624-6620 or Tammy.Morrill@Maine.gov .
