JAY — Attendance at Spruce Mountain Primary School improved in the final weeks of the school year, Principal Darcy Shink told Regional School Unit 73 directors June 11, while the school continues to focus on tardiness, early intervention and readiness for incoming students.

Shink said attendance at the primary school has “improved tremendously” over the past month and into June, with daily attendance “hovering around 95, 96% every day.” She said the school still needs to address tardiness, but added, “at least they’re there.”

Shink said enrollment at the primary school is 316, with registrations continuing for kindergarten and pre-kindergarten.

She also gave directors a year-end behavior report, saying the school recorded 1,191 behavior reports during the year. Shink said the number should be understood in the context of early childhood intervention.

“Try not to be too alarmed,” Shink said. “In the primary school, it is so, so important that we have early intervention, especially with social skills.”

Shink said behavior reporting helps staff determine what students need.

“Things need to be reported so that our interventionists can make plans,” she said.

The primary school is also continuing work on social-emotional learning and behavior supports. Shink said staff attended training on MindUP, the school’s social-emotional learning curriculum, and that the school’s positive behavioral interventions and supports team completed its final training in Bangor.

At the MindUP training, Shink said, staff learned Spruce Mountain Primary School was ahead of some other schools using the curriculum.

“We’re ahead of the game and we really know our stuff,” she said.

Shink said the PBIS team created action plans and discussed next steps for next year, including the possibility of forming a parent committee to help with events, school improvements and other work. She also said the school is working with Thriving Minds on trauma-informed training for all staff next year, using grant funds.

The school also held its first kindergarten kickoff night, Shink said. About a third of kindergarten families attended and heard from teachers about ways to help children prepare for school.

Shink said teachers encouraged families to build independence, manage screen time, read with children, play math games in the car, practice writing names and help children understand the word “no.”

The biggest focus, Shink said, is independence, noting that classroom teachers cannot help every student at once with shoes, snow pants and other tasks.

Shink also reported that transitional kindergarten and prekindergarten students held end-of-year celebrations and that the school held field day with help from volunteers, staff and students from other Spruce Mountain schools.