HEBRON — Lifelong friends Avery Jurek and Rachel Brouwer know first-hand the power art can have on one’s development and self confidence. The teens will now share that feeling of empowerment with girls (and boys) this summer through their work with an art education camp in Malawi. The first-ever, two-week long art camp is the culmination […]
Schools & Education
News and information about schools and education from the Sun Journal.
Oxford Hills Middle School: A space odyssey with Dr. Jessica Meir
PARIS — Find your passion and take a risk. Students and staff at the Oxford Hills Middle School got a unique opportunity last week to see and hear from a NASA astronaut who may one day be circling the Moon or on her way to Mars. “Make sure you are doing the one thing you […]
SAD 17 hits milestone with EPS funding
PARIS — For the first time, SAD 17 officials will ask voters in its eight district towns to raise and appropriate locals funds, which exceed the state’s Essential Programs and Services allocation model. The proposed amount exceeding EPS is $1,094,849. The simple explanation for the “overage” is that it is not an overage, but rather shifting […]
School budget up 1.73 percent
OXFORD HILLS — SAD 17 Superintendent Rick Colpitts has unveiled the proposed fiscal 2018 school budget of $39,688,294 – a 1.73 percent hike. The budget reflects a 1.47 reduction in state subsidy and a 4.19 percent increase in local assessments. Based on Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed budget, the SAD 17 budget is a $674,415 increase. The […]
Towns’ ire should be directed to state
PARIS — Residents must take the lead and demand changes from their legislators to keep the escalating costs of public education and the decreasing assistance from the state in check. That’s the message that some 15 town and school officials from the SAD 17 eight-district towns agreed will be necessary to fix the inequities in […]
Haslett of Oxford becomes Eagle Scout, Paris library gets DVD cases
PARIS — Growing up Garrett Haslett of Oxford put in a lot of time into Boy Scouts, but then life interrupted. Not wanting to let all of that time go to waste, he decided to rejoin recently and complete his Eagle Scout project for one of his favorite haunts – the Paris Public Library. Last week, […]
Grant could save $2M for Oxford Hills and other area school districts
PARIS — The Oxford Hills School District has been awarded a grant that is expected to save it and two other school districts more than $2 million over a five-year period. The projected $2,050,000 savings to SAD 17 and Maine Regional Vocational Center 11 (Oxford Hills Technical School), RSU 44 (Bethel, Greenwood, Newry and Woodstock), and […]
Students milking it at school
REGIONAL — Got milk? Students in three Oxford Hills School District elementary schools sure do. In fact, the students at Paris Elementary School, Oxford Elementary School and Agnes Gray Elementary School in West Paris drank so much they were among the five schools in the state with the highest milk consumption per student during National Breakfast Week. […]
SAD 17 future to be discussed
PARIS — School officials are inviting parents and others to a “Community Conversation” about the future of the Oxford Hills School District. The event will take place Monday, March 27 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Oxford Hills Middle School library (north campus). District Curriculum Director Heather Manchester said the event is an attempt to […]
Oxford Hills Homeschool Robotics Club represent Maine at national FIRST LEGO League championships
AREA — A passion for hiking – not only with fellow humans but also man’s best friend – led to the creation of the Trail Hounds’ successful safe hiking project, which landed the team the opportunity to represent Maine in the North American Open Championships for the FIRST LEGO League in May. The Trail Hounds are […]