WOODLAND, Maine — At the March 6th Union 122 school board meeting, Superintendent Karla Michaud shared with the board a letter from RSU 39’s superintendent, Susan White, about Caribou’s capital improvement project to build a new preK-8 learning facility.
“A required part of the process for state funded projects is to reach out to neighboring communities to inquire about the possible interest those communities might have in sending their students to the new facility,” White wrote. “The scope of the project needs to be determined early on in the process and a crucial factor is the number of students that will be attending the new facility. The student population plays a large role in the design of the project as well as the selection of a site if the project is indeed a new school.”
White’s letter states that if a neighboring school should show interest in sending their students to the new facility they too would have a voice in the design of the new learning environment.
“I think it’s great they offered us this opportunity and at this time Woodland wants to stay on their own and have their kids remain here in Woodland,” Michaud said. “I think in the future if it becomes a necessity we can revisit it down the road.”
Michaud said Woodland’s numbers are strong. “I think we’re good for another five to 10 years. I believe we can do it. It’s a tight-knit community here and I think this school is a big part of it. Without it, I think it would be a big loss,” Michaud said.
Michaud plans to send a letter of her own to residents in Union 122, inviting parents of homeschooled children to the Woodland Consolidated School with the hope of encouraging potential students to enroll.
“I want to meet with homeschool students to see what their reasons are for homeschooling and to see if there’s something I can do to entice them to come back,” Michaud said. “Offer them different programs or a partial day just to see if they’re interested. I just want to know if there’s something we can do different and better here to help serve them.”
Michaud’s letter will be in the mail early April. She welcomes parents to bring their kids to the informative meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 30 at 6:30 p.m. at the Woodland school.
