Greetings Longfellow Families! 

We welcome you back after this beautiful Maine summer,  hoping you have been able to relax and enjoy time with loved ones! The 2022-2023 school year will be a transition for our school community with the ongoing construction project, wonderful new additions to the teaching staff and new leadership! Please see your class placements in this week’s communication. 

From the desk of the Principal Nicole Bradeen:

“I find that opportunities actually present themselves in unexpected ways, and that’s what I want to be open to.” – NEA Heritage Fellow PJ Hirabayashi

I am humbled and honored to serve as the principal of Longfellow School and look forward to collaborating with all students, teachers and families. I know that it has been a challenging few years, and am grateful for the leadership of Terry Young and Holly Johnson, as well as all of the teachers and staff. As we continue to lead with courage, passion, and care, I am excited to discover the unique opportunities we have to grow academically, socially, and as a community as we work towards the Portland Promise: When we listen and celebrate what is both common and different, we become wiser and more inclusive. 

Longfellow will continue to align with district priorities around literacy and math, as well as social emotional learning and community building.  We hope to empower students and teachers to discover their “best selves” so that they can find strategies and success in the classroom and beyond.  In preparation for that work, I offer a few prompts that you can discuss at home: 

• How do you want to feel when you are at school? 
• What is unique about you?
• What do you want to learn about others? 

From the desk of Assistant Principal Shorr:

I am thrilled and honored to be taking on the Assistant Principal role here at Longfellow! Over the last five years, I have gotten to know many of you through my role as a special education teacher and case

manager. Before coming to Longfellow in 2017, I spent nine years as an elementary classroom teacher in an inclusive setting and worked as a peer instructional coach in East Harlem, New York. 

I am excited to widen my scope of student impact in this dual role as assistant principal and literacy coach. I will lead teachers in the district literacy focus on phonics instruction and support continued progress for our students in reading and writing. My passion for literacy instruction in tandem with my knowledge of tiered interventions and social-emotional learning will continue to foster equitable access to instruction for our students. 

We are looking forward to collaborating with you and meeting you at our popsicle social on Wednesday, August 31 from 4 p.m.-7 p.m . If you have any questions, please reach out!
 

With Appreciation, 

Nicole Bradeen, Longfellow Principal

Tricia Shorr, Longfellow Assistant Principal, Literacy Coach