Lincoln County schools are extending the closures that began March 16 in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Schools continue to take different approaches to issues such as distance learning, while all public schools will continue to provide meals in some form.
AOS 93 announced an extension of school closures from two weeks to three weeks, until at least Friday, April 3.
Damariscotta-based AOS 93 has five elementary schools: Bristol Consolidated School, Great Salt Bay Community School, Jefferson Village School, Nobleboro Central School, and South Bristol School.
“Teachers are reaching out to and connecting with all students and families to share suggestions and resources for healthy activities to support learning,” AOS 93 Superintendent Craig Jurgensen said in a March 19 letter announcing the extension. “Community organizations are coming together in unprecedented ways to limit the disruption caused by the coronavirus epidemic.”
RSU 2, RSU 12, and the Wiscasset School Department extended their school closures from two weeks to six weeks, through April 27. RSU 40 extended its closures from five weeks to six weeks. AOS 98 had closed its schools for six weeks from the beginning.
In a message posted to the RSU 2 website Saturday, March 21, acting Superintendent Mary Paine said the district will “continue an approach of teachers connecting with students and providing educational content to support their learning, while at the same time addressing early high priorities.”
These high priorities include graduating the class of 2020, transitioning bridge-year classes (middle school to high school), providing non-digital educational content to students in grade five or younger, and safely allowing students and staff to collect belongings from their schools.
“In this new, weird world we’re in, tensions can run high,” Paine said in the message. “Communication, flexibility, and care for one another will go a long way toward creating an experience we will all look back on with amazement and pride for what we accomplished together in the face of adversity.”
Boothbay Harbor-based AOS 98 consists of Boothbay Region Elementary School, Boothbay Region High School, Edgecomb Eddy School, and Southport Central School in Lincoln County, plus Georgetown Central School in Sagadahoc County.
RSU 2 includes one school in Lincoln County, Dresden Elementary School.
RSU 12 includes two schools in Lincoln County, Whitefield Elementary School and Somerville School. The district also includes Chelsea Elementary School, Palermo Consolidated School, and Windsor Elementary School.
RSU 40 includes three schools in Lincoln County: Miller School, Medomak Middle School, and Medomak Valley High School, all in Waldoboro. The Union-based district also includes Friendship Village School, Prescott Memorial School in Washington, Union Elementary School, and Warren Community School.
The Wiscasset School Department consists of Wiscasset Elementary School and Wiscasset Middle High School.
Private schools also remain closed for the time-being.
At Lincoln Academy in Newcastle, in-person instruction and activities had already been canceled until April 27. Students are engaging in virtual learning from their homes.
The Damariscotta Montessori School, of Nobleboro, and The Center for Teaching and Learning, of Edgecomb, are closed until further notice. The Center for Teaching and Learning has shifted to a “remote learning plan,” according to the school’s website.
Chewonki Elementary and Middle School, of the Chewonki Foundation in Wiscasset, has implemented a full schedule of remote place-based learning as of Monday, March 23. The remote learning will continue until in-person classes can resume.
The foundation’s Maine Coast Semester program resumed distance-learning classes Wednesday, March 25.
Also at Chewonki, the Outdoor Classroom program has suspended all programming until April 5. The Traveling Natural History Program has canceled public appearances until April 5. Chewonki Waypoint has canceled all in-person programming and events until April 26.
