FARMINGTON — Staff at two schools in Regional School Unit 9 are being recognized for their implementation of the Building Assets, Reducing Risks program, district directors were advised at Tuesday night’s meeting.
Nichole Goodspeed, principal of Cascade Brook School in New Sharon, said, “I am super excited to share some good news with you.” Cascade Brook and Mt. Blue Middle School in Farmington are being recognized by BARR and the Maine Department of Education on Feb. 12.
Officials will observe Cascade Brook School teachers doing some of the BARR activities, Goodspeed said, “So we are pretty excited about that.”
“The BARR model allows staff to better understand and build on students’ strengths, proactively address the nonacademic reasons why a student may be falling behind in school, and identify what resources they need and steps they can take to thrive,” according to its website, barrcenter.org.
BARR’s U-Time for kindergarten to grade five students and I-Time for grades 6 to 12 are 30-minute sessions focused on strengthening connections between students and staff.
In another announcement, Goodspeed said that she and a team member received full scholarships to attend the national BARR conference during April vacation.
“Back in the fall, I put in a proposal to have some of my community connect team present at the national BARR conference,” she said. “And we got accepted to present there, but then we had a budget freeze. So we decided that we were going to pass this year, but we found out today that two of my team members, including myself, got full scholarships to go to the conference, including everything. We are excited, and we are going to go.”
The national conference is set for April 23-24 in Rancho Mirage, California, according to the BARR website.
Goodspeed commended the teachers for their willingness to showcase their work, adding, “The teachers at Cascade Brook School are amazing. We asked them who wanted to do U-Times, and we had teachers volunteer, knowing there’s going to be like maybe 10 people standing there watching them do it. So we’re pretty excited, and you should be really proud of the teachers and the students at Cascade Brook.”
PowerSchool data breach
Superintendent Christian Elkington provided an update on a data breach involving PowerSchool, the district’s student information system.
According to Elkington, PowerSchool has assured the district that it is safe to continue using the system and that the breach has been contained. The district is expecting a full report soon from PowerSchool and the cybersecurity firm assisting them, he said.
The breach occurred Jan. 7 when a compromised credential allowed unauthorized access to PowerSchool’s Support Portal. The hackers downloaded data tables containing personally identifiable information of staff and students, including names, addresses, birthdates, grade levels, and medical alert information. However, Elkington emphasized that Social Security numbers and financial data were not compromised.
He cautioned that the breach might increase the risk of phishing attempts. “Please don’t just be on the lookout for someone possibly claiming to be from PowerSchool,” he warned. “It’s more likely to be someone pretending to be something or someone else and is trying to use our contact information to convince us to send them money, etc.”
Elkington advised parents, staff, and students to remain vigilant for phishing attempts and to report suspicious emails, calls, or messages immediately.
PowerSchool is expected to provide additional resources for those affected, which will be shared as soon as they become available, he said.
For further updates, RSU 9 will continue to communicate with parents and staff as more details emerge about the breach.
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