Portland Public School Department News

The new East End Community School will begin classes on September 7, the first day of school in Portland. About 420 students from the immediate neighborhood and other parts of Portland will attend the school this year.

The East End Community School is the first elementary school in Portland to offer Expeditionary Learning, a multidisciplinary approach where students work on in-depth projects. The school also will emphasize literacy, and it will incorporate Responsive Classroom techniques to create and maintain a positive school environment.

The $12 million, state-of-the-art building includes a “green” roof over one section and other, energy-efficient features. It is the first new school built in Portland in 30 years, replacing Jack Elementary (closed in 2001 due to mold) and Adams Elementary.

The school has 24 classrooms, six exploration rooms, a hands-on lab, art and music classrooms, a full-size gym, cafeteria, stage, community meeting rooms and a family resource room. A Portland Public Library branch is located in the building.

Lyseth Elementary School will offer single-gender reading and math instruction for two, fourth grade classes this year as one of several learning options available at the school. Students will spend about half of the day in gender-specific activities, and the other half in mixed classes.

“We are trying this because research suggests that children do better academically when they are in gender-specific activities,” said Principal Jeff Porter. He said that the program will be reviewed and refined, as needed.

Porter noted that Lyseth also offers looping (where students stay with the same teacher for two years) and team teaching at the fourth grade to meet different learning styles.

Lee Crocker, a veteran teacher and administrator in the Portland Public Schools, has been named principal of Lyman Moore Middle School for the 2006-2007 school year. Crocker previously served for five years as assistant principal at Portland High School. At Moore, he will replace Stephen Rogers, who has taken a one-year position as Portland High assistant principal.

Crocker taught social studies and special education at Lincoln Middle School, Portland High and in the Portland Rehabilitative Education Program for 27 years before becoming assistant principal in 2001. He has played an important role in establishing standards to meet local learning results and in other aspects of school improvement.

In other administrative changes, Sheila Jepson, formerly the principal of Bonny Eagle High School in Standish, has been appointed assistant principal at Deering High School. Jepson was a special education teacher, assistant director of special education and assistant principal before becoming Bonny Eagle’s principal seven and a half years ago.

Gary Groves has joined Deering as co-curricular director, a position that he formerly held at Westbrook High School and Portland High. Groves previously worked in sports management, running Anaheim Stadium in southern California and coordinating the hundreds of activities taking place in that major league ballpark.

Both Jepson and Groves will replace administrators who chose to return to the classroom. Carlos Gomez will teach Spanish at Deering again, after serving for one year as assistant principal. Scott Shibles will teach health and physical education at Casco Bay High School.