Maine’s Positive Story of the Day ~ Calais Alternative School ~
At Calais Alternative School we are working on improving the communities outlook on our program. I tell parents that I never want students to view coming to our school as a punishment. I want my students and their families to feel pride in their school and the accomplishments (big and small) that we achieve every single day at our little school. In December we chose to forgo traditional first quarter parent teacher conferences, instead opting for an open house. In the past participation in PTC has been extremely low. Regardless, Teachers spent hours planning special projects with their students, decorating the hallways and classrooms. We had cookie decorating, ornament making and a door prize. While we were nervous about having nobody show up we still put forth the effort. Our first student arrived, so excited to give his family member a tour of the school and introduce the staff. His excitement and pride was beaming. A staff member said, “if no other kids show up it’ll be alright. It was worth it just for this moment.” Other kids did show up, bringing parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins. While our numbers weren’t huge the feedback and positivity we received was. It reinvigorated the staff and gave us a reminder of why we do what we do. It just goes to show you don’t know until you try.