RUMFORD – Administrators of SAD 43’s four schools announced events at Monday’s board meeting ranging from special holiday concerts to literacy, bullying and author-in-residence programs.

Anne Chamberlin, principal of Rumford Elementary School, said a new program titled the Student Assistance Team aims to make sure no student falls through the academic cracks.

In the program, a team of staff members, as well as the parents of the child, meet periodically to ensure that that child’s needs are being met. She said referrals are made by teachers.

A special program next month aims to introduce elementary-age pupils to well-known children’s author Lynn Plourde.

A literacy night based on Plourde’s works will be held on Jan. 11 for parents and pupils. The author will be in the classroom on Jan. 12.

The Rumford Elementary School holiday concert is scheduled for Dec. 13 when young musicians in grades 3-5 will perform. Younger pupils will give the school’s spring concert.

At Mountain Valley Middle School, Principal Charles Lever said bullying expert Stan Davis will present a program on Jan. 30.

In educational matters, he said Gear-Up students from the University of Maine at Farmington have begun tutoring any eighth-grade student who needs a little extra help.

Lever said the school’s new alternative education program has 10 seventh- and eighth-graders enrolled and a waiting list for several others.

Matt Gilbert, principal of Mountain Valley High School, said 79 students attend one of the vocational programs at the Region 9 School of Applied Technology, and 20-30 more attend adult education classes at the vocational school.

He said if two more programs are added, which residents will vote on next month, at least 20 more students are expected to enroll.

The annual high school Christmas concert is planned for the evening of Dec. 20, followed by an assembly on Friday, Dec. 22, when Superintendent Jim Hodgkin, Gilbert and several other staff members will perform for students.

In other matters, new staff appointments include Emily Jorgensen as an educational technician at Meroby Elementary School; Jason Berry as an educational technician at the Pennacook Learning Center; Don Fuller as assistant ski coach at the middle school; and, Robert Laubauskas as the volunteer assistant for the high school boys junior varsity basketball team.