Hermon Families,
Here are some HSD updates for you!
Thanks for your continued support.
Below: COVID Updates, Flu Shots, Student Behavior Info, Vaccination Clinic for 5-12-Year-Olds, Athletic Accolades, Strategic Initiatives, ...
Congratulations to Sydney Gallop and the Lady Hawks! IMPRESSIVE!
VAX Clinic 5-12-Year-Olds:
When: November 8th and 29th from 3-6 pm
Where: Hermon High School
COVID-19 Student Vaccine Clinic
Penobscot Community Health Care (PCHC) is hosting a COVID-19 vaccine clinic to provide FREE COVID-19 vaccines to Hermon School District students ages 5 and older (anticipating expected FDA approval).
Dates:
First Dose: Monday, November 8 from 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Second Dose: Monday, November 29 from 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Location:
Hermon High School (Gymnasium/Auditorium/Library)
Families may sign up their child by using the following link: HERE
This sign-up form collects both student and parent names and will be shared with PCHC staff. The form collects your email address and contact phone number. You will receive a confirmation time that is a close to your original request as possible. Please arrive a little early.
The deadline for vaccine registration is November 4, 2021.
Parent consent is required for students under the age of 18 and can be accessed using
the following link:
Students 18 years of age and older may complete the vaccine consent using the following link:
The completed consent form must accompany the parent on both days of the clinic.
Once the registration is received, you will get a returned email with a specific time for your vaccine during the 2nd or 3rd week in October. We will try to accommodate the times selected but there are no guarantees of the selected time slot.
Participants will be required to wait on-site at least 15 minutes after the vaccine to monitor for any adverse reactions.
PCHC will be offering the Pfizer vaccine at the clinic.
PCHC will have medical providers on-site to administer the vaccine and answer questions.
Any questions regarding the COVID-19 vaccine may be directed to hsd-vaccinations@schools.hermon.net.
Student Ethics and Behavior
We have experienced some recent behavior incidents that cause me to remind families of our expectations and approach to student behavior.
HSD has high expectations for student conduct. As a community, we want to teach, enforce and support positive student behavior for all students and staff. We address behavior issues as they arise.
The policies below focus on discrimination in its various forms, behavior expectations, and bullying. These can help ground our community with shared expectations.
Go Hawks!
Code AC: ... Discrimination against and harassment of students because of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, ancestry or national origin, or disability are prohibited.
The Board directs the school administration to implement a continuing program designed to prevent discrimination against all applicants, employees, students, and other individuals having access rights to school premises and activities.
The school unit has designated and authorized an Affirmative Action Officer/Title IX
Coordinator who is responsible for ensuring compliance with all federal and state requirements relating to nondiscrimination, including sexual harassment. The Affirmative Action Officer/Title IX Coordinator is a person with direct access to the Superintendent.
The school unit has implemented complaint procedures for resolving complaints of
discrimination/harassment and sexual harassment under this policy. The school unit provides required notices of these complaint procedures and how they can be accessed, as well as the school unit’s compliance with federal and state civil rights laws and regulations to all applicants for employment, employees, students, parents and other interested parties.
Below is our local policy. Code: ADAA Hermon School Department School System Commitment to Standards for Ethical and Responsible Behavior
The Hermon School Committee believes that promoting ethical and responsible
behavior is an essential part of the Hermon School Department’s educational mission.
The School Committee recognizes that ethics, constructive attitudes, responsible
behavior, and “character” are important if a student is to leave school as a “responsible
and involved citizen,” as described in the Guiding Principles of the Maine Learning
Results. The School Committee also recognizes that Maine law requires the adoption
of a district-wide student code of conduct consistent with statewide standards for
student behavior developed by the Commissioner of the Department of Education in
compliance with 20-A MRSA § 254(11).
The School Committee seeks to create and maintain a school climate in which ethical and responsible behavior can flourish. The School Committee believes that instilling a sense of ethics and responsibility in students requires setting positive expectations for student behavior as well as establishing disciplinary consequences for behavior that violates School Committee policy or school rules. Further, the School Committee believes that in order to teach ethical and responsible behavior, adults who interact with students must strive to model and reinforce ethical and responsible behavior. To that end, the School Committee supports an active partnership between schools and parents.
Recognizing that collaboratively identified core values are the foundation for a school
a culture that encourages and reinforces ethical and responsible student behavior, the
School Committee is committed to the establishment and implementation of a process
for identifying shared values and setting and enforcing standards for behavior, including prescription of consequences for unacceptable behavior. The process for identifying such shared values will invite and include the participation of School Committee members, school administrators, staff, parents, students, and the community. Core values will be reviewed periodically, with opportunity for public participation. The School Committee will direct the superintendent/designee to develop a process to assess school system progress toward achievement of an ethical and responsible school culture.
Following the identification of core values, the School Committee, with input from
administrators, staff, parents, students, and members of the community, will adopt a
Student Code of Conduct consistent with statewide standards for student behavior1
that shall, as required by law:
A. Define unacceptable student behavior;
B. Establish standards of student responsibility for behavior;
C. Prescribe consequences for violation of the Student Code of Conduct,
including first-time violations, when appropriate;
D. Describe appropriate procedures for referring students in need of special
services to those services;
E. Establish criteria to determine when the further assessment of a current
Individual Education Plan (IEP) is necessary, based on removal of the
student from class;
F. Establish policies and procedures concerning the removal of disruptive or
violent students from a classroom or a school bus, as well as student
disciplinary and placement decisions, when appropriate; and
G. Establish guidelines and criteria concerning the appropriate circumstances
when the Superintendent/designee may provide information to the local
police or other appropriate law enforcement authorities regarding an
offense that involves violence committed by any person on school grounds
or other school property.
The Student Code of Conduct will be reviewed periodically by the School Committee,
with input from administrators, staff, parents, students, and members of the community.
Students, parents, staff, and the community will be informed of the Student Code of
Conduct through handbooks and/or other means selected by the superintendent/
designee.
Ethics and Curriculum: The School Committee encourages integration of ethics into content areas of the curriculum, as appropriate. The School Committee also encourages schools to provide students with meaningful opportunities to apply values and ethical and responsible behavior through activities such as problem-solving, peer mediation and student government/leadership development.
Legal Reference: 20-A MRSA §§ 254, 1001(15)
Below is our ADDA Bullying Policy
The Hermon School Committee believes that bullying, including cyberbullying, is
detrimental to student well-being and to student learning and achievement. It interferes
with the mission of the schools to educate their students and disrupts the operations of
the schools. Bullying affects not only students who are targets but also those who
participate in and witness such behavior.
Bullying Prohibited Bullying, including “cyberbullying,” is not acceptable conduct in the Hermon School Department and is prohibited.
Retaliation for the reporting of incidents of such behavior is also prohibited.
In adopting this policy, it is not the School Committee’s intent to prohibit students from
expressing their ideas, including religious, political and philosophical views that may
offend the sensibilities of others, or from engaging in civil debate. However, the School
Committee does not condone and will take action in response to conduct that directly
interferes with students’ rights at school under applicable laws or with the educational
mission, operations, discipline or general welfare of the schools.
Student Handbooks from each school also highlight the expectations for school rules.
Please contact your building principal if you have any questions. Thank you.
FLY!
HSD Strategic Initiatives:
FLY is a working document that identifies our local model of governance, administration, and most primary initiatives.
Technology Committee Survey: Recently the district technology committee met to discuss and plan All Things Technology with a focus on the 4-C's: Collaboration, Creativity, Communication, and Critical Thinking. Those meeting notes can be found HERE.
Students, Staff, and Parents. Please take the technology survey HERE
PVC Champs!
Hermon Golf Coach Kent Johnson was named PVC Class B Golf Coach of the Year!
Great job Coach and thanks for all you do!!
COVID Update
Thank you Hermon families for your commitment to vaccination, pool testing and CDC guidelines. Based on the state SOP requirements your efforts have saved 100's of students from having to quarantine. In fact, HSD has received high praise for its program. Thank you to our nurses for all of their hard work!
The link to sign up for pool testing:
1. First, click here (https://testcenter.concentricbyginkgo.com/minor-consent).
2. Then, enter this access code: QGFE84
3. Finally, enter your child’s information, and you’re done!
Note: If you need to provide consent for more than one child, please complete the process once for each child.
*Data from 10.7.21
School | Enrolled | Students Pool Testing Consent | Staff Pool Testing | Students Reporting Vaccination | Non Participants |
PADS | 460 | 343 (up 64) | 53 (up 2) | 0 | 117 (down 105) |
HMS | 328 | 223 (up 20) | 33 (up 2) | 66 (up 26) | 72 (down) |
HHS | 583 | *250 | 21 | 271 (up 38) | 145 (down 97) |
*some data also includes pool testing or vaccination based on the latest pool test round
Current cases total 5 PADS, 2 HMS, 1 HHS
Staff Vaccination per DHHS Reporting:
We have had a couple of technical glitches uploading this information to the state.
Here are our staff vaccination % results as reported by HSD employees.
Central Office 80%
HHS 90%
HMS 84%
PADS 100%
Influenza Clinic
We will hold an influenza Clinic for our high school students to receive their flu vaccine. Nov. 5th from 1pm-4:30pm.
The 1 pm-2 pm time frame is really when we would like to see the students attend. 2p-4:30p will be open to all staff and families of staff.
They will need to bring the Health screening form completed and signed by a parent. IF the form is not signed they will not receive the vaccine.
Rest in peace. Thank you for your service.