News & Events

The Portland Board of Public Education voted on April 9 to approve a $161.4 million FY25 school budget to recommend to the City Council. The Board’s budget centers students by including strategic funding for increased student mental health, reading support, special education and school culture support at the school level. It also supports increased rigor in the classroom, and maintains funding for athletics, extracurriculars, and class sizes. The Board will present its recommended budget to the City Council on April 22. The Council will vote on the school budget on May 20 and send it to voters on June 11.

Courtney Graffius, the Portland Public Schools’ technology integration coordinator, is the recipient of the 2024 School Administrator of the Year award presented by the Maine Association of School Libraries (MASL).

The award honors administrators who have helped to develop strong and effective school library media programs in their district. Courtney was nominated by PPS librarians in recognition of all she has done to help build and advocate for library programming in the Portland Public Schools, said Meg Rooks, teacher-librarian at Talbot Community School and the district’s library coordinator.

National Assistant Principals Week, April 1-5, 2024, is a time to honor and celebrate the contributions of our assistant principals to the success of our students. Assistant principals have complex jobs. Their duties include supporting teachers and their principal, motivating students and creating a positive learning community – as well as facing the many unpredictable challenges that land on their desk each day. Portland Public Schools is deeply grateful to all these key staff members for all they do to ensure that our students succeed. Thank you!

There will be a full solar eclipse viewable in Maine on Monday, April 8, at 3:28 pm. While the full eclipse will only be visible elsewhere in Maine, there will be a partial eclipse visible in Portland. To help Portland Public Schools students be able to view the eclipse safely without harming their eyes, the Foundation for Portland Public Schools has protective purchased solar eclipse glasses for all students that will be distributed in school on April 8.

The Deering Players came out on top at the Maine Drama Festival Class A regionals, held March 8 and 9 at Thornton Academy in Saco. The Deering High School team beat out several local powerhouse schools in the One Act competition with their production of Peter Bloedel’s The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet. The win means the Deering Players are now headed to the Maine Drama Festival State Class A Finals in Rockport later this month.

At its March 5 meeting, the Portland Board of Public Education voted to approve a calendar for the 2024-2025 school year. The first day of school for students in grades 1-12 will be Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024 – the day after the Labor Day holiday. Pre-K and kindergarten students will start on Thursday, Sept. 5. The last day of school for students is expected to be Friday, June 13, 2025. Please note that the last day of school may be subject to change, depending on the number of snow days taken.

This year marks the Portland Public Schools 10^th Annual STEM Expo, which PPS puts on each year in partnership with EnviroLogix.

The STEM Expo features exhibits put on by PPS students, local businesses, postsecondary schools and other organizations. It’s a way to showcase the STEM learning occurring in Portland Public Schools’ classrooms. The Expo also expands students’ STEM knowledge and exposes them to exciting career opportunities in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.The STEM Expo will look different in 2024.