Dear Peaks Island Elementary Families,

Well, we have completed the 2025 portion of the school year. It has been a great first four months. We want to sincerely thank all of you for your consistent support of our school. Your kindness to all of our students is felt each and everyday. Peaks is a special place and all of you contribute to making it so. And now for some updates…

We ended the year with many activities highlighted by our 4th and 5th grade entrepreneurs selling Peaks Island merchandise at the Loretta Voyer Fair and the Jingle Ball Fair. The students were very proud of how much they were able to sell and we all love seeing Peaks Island community members wearing the gear about the island. Thanks to the organizers of the fairs and to all who purchased "merch". If you would like some items of your own, just contact the school!

Our PreK students became scientists in December. They conducted wind experiments using three different objects to see what the force of air flow did to each object and documented the results. Additionally, PreK conducted some experiments with texture, with the slimy gooey materials receiving the most five star reviews.

In Kindergarten, weather has been a focus of study. The students explored different kinds of weather acting as local meteorologists. Categorizing different kinds of clouds became a treasured activity. And of course our K class continues to observe the changes to our beloved playground tree, Brenda.

Our First Grade class has been working really diligently on CKLA (Phonics and fundamentals of reading) along with independent work in Boost Reading. Additionally, our hard working students have started working with hands-on materials to gain numeracy understanding. A highlight each week is visiting our local library to listen to read alouds and check out books.

Grades 2 & 3 learned how to track animals. The new snowfall in December allowed our budding wildlife locators to get outside and use their new skills to imagine what animals were scampering about. The class is also diving deep into a weather unit and studying the climate.

Grades 4 & 5 took a field trip to the Telling Room in downtown Portland where they were given cameras to take pictures. The students then took those pictures and used them as prompts for free writing. It was a very “urban” adventure.

Beginning in January, the Peaks Island school is trying a new school community building activity. On Thursdays, the entire school will gather in the morning after arrival and engage in “Thursday Morning Sing” led by our talented music teacher, Faith York. Students will have the opportunity to share their musical abilities with their schoolmates and celebrate in the wonderment of communal song.

 

Here’s to wonderful 2026

The Team at Peaks Island Elementary