YARMOUTH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Dear YES Families,

Spring is here and excitement is in the air as we continue to have a fantastic year of learning at Yarmouth Elementary School. As always, we greatly appreciate the combined efforts of all as we support our students in successfully meeting the goals set before them!

I would be remiss if I did not first congratulate our YES students who performed at the annual Yarmouth's Got Talent on Friday night. We were so proud of each and every one of them! We are proud of all our students for trying out for this event. It is these types of opportunities and experiences that help our young people grow and learn such valuable life skills.  We look forward to this coming Friday afternoon at 2:15 p.m. for a "YGT Encore Performance" where Rowe School will be joining us for a special K-4 event. Just a reminder that if you have children at Rowe all pickups and bus dismissal will be at YES on this day. Rowe students can be signed out and picked up in the gym.

As we enter the month of April, our third and fourth grade students, teachers and staff will be wrapping up the annual MEA state assessments. Thank you to everyone for working collaboratively to make this experience run so smoothly for our students.  I appreciate your efforts to make sure that students were on time and well rested. We do not receive results back from the state until the fall of next school year. At that time you will be provided copies of the results for your review. 

We only have two and a half months left of the 2018/2019 school year. Even though there is a short amount of time left, we have many more important learning experiences and opportunities that continue on for our students. 

MINDFUL TECHNOLOGY

A learning experience opportunity for the entire Yarmouth community took place last week at our final Parent-School Alliance meeting. At that meeting Erica Marcus, a mindfulness and wellness coach, gave a thought provoking presentation on the impact that too much technology can have on our lives. She also shared some suggested practices along with self-assessment and family action plan tools. I have attached the information and strongly encourage you to check it out. https://target.brightarrow.com/userfiles/29852/files/Mindful Technology Use Erica Marcus.pdf

SPRING BREAK

The last day of school before vacation is Thursday, April 11. Spring vacation begins on Friday,April 12 and students will return to school on Monday, April 22.

EARTH DAY 2019

Each year, Earth Day—April 22—marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement. Earth Day is now a global event each year, and more than 1 billion people in 192 countries now take part in what is the largest civic-focused day of action in the world.  Throughout the week of April 22-26 students from each grade level will be provided opportunities at recess to help pick up our school grounds at YES during recess to make sure we are being environmentally responsible. 

DROP OFF/PICK UP CIRCLE

As spring rolls around there is more activity by the main entrance and the traffic circle, including more bicycle riders.  Please remember to have your children exit out the passengers side doors to the sidewalk. Keeping drivers side doors closed is safer for everyone and helps to keep the traffic flow running more smoothly. We appreciate your help with this. 

SCHOOL NURSE NOTES

Welcome Spring! Warmer weather brings thoughts of chirping birds, flowers, green grass, beach days…. Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself.  The weather is still cold outside. Please remember to send proper gear for students to play outside. The playground is also VERY wet with rain and melting snow.  I have some spare clothes, but not all sizes, so on wet days please remind your student to bring boots or to stay out of the water on the playground. Or better yet, have a change of clothes in their backpacks because, mudpuddles happen.

On another note, even with the warmer weather, the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to have Maine listed as widespread for flu cases.  Please keep keep students home until:

• Fever free for 24 hours without over the counter fever reducers (acetaminophen or ibuprofen)

• Have not vomited or had diarrhea in the last 24 hours

• Have been treated for strep throat with antibiotics for a minimum of 24 hours and have been cleared by their doctor to return to school

• Symptoms are manageable.  Uncontrolled coughing or thick nasal mucous with a sore throat without a fever can be difficult to manage at school.  Children should rest and hydrate until symptom improve

For more information on how to stay healthy this season, please visit the YES Nurses blog:Here

SCHOOL COUNSELOR CORNER 

Growth mindset enhances a love of learning and perseverance. It also allows students to view mistakes as opportunities and increases their love of challenges. Model your mistakes and share examples of mistakes and challenges in your life. Developing a growth mindset teaches children that progress takes time and it is alright to ask for help. Children with a growth mindset are not afraid to fail. For more information click the following link growth mindset

PTO NEWS

• Hannaford Gift Cards – Due Wed, April 10 at noon.
• Silver Graphics – Choose from over 40 keepsakes that feature your child’s artwork! These make wonderful gifts. The sale begins March 28. Paper forms are due April 8; online forms are due April 10. Products will be available to pick up from the YES library on May 7 (Tues) and May 8 (Wed), 3:30-6pm – right before Mother’s Day!
• Volunteering for Next School Year – If you want the chance to connect in new ways with the schools and work with a fun group, just click the link below to fill out our 1 to 2-minute PTO survey. We have positions for all levels of time commitments and interests. Filling out the form does not obligate you but does give us a chance to learn about your interests and how you might like to help next school year. http://bit.ly/PTOVolunteerSurvey 
• YES Bowling and Laser Tag Evening – Friday, April 26, 6pm, Spare Time (867 Riverside St, Portland). All new and existing families are welcome to join us for bowling and laser tag! We’ll have our own lanes for 2 hours of bowling and a 15-minute round of laser tag. Cost is $12 per person; bowling shoes included. This is not a drop-off event. A full menu to purchase food is available. Please RSVP to Melissa at m_neish@yahoo.com, as space is limited. We hope to see you there!
• Raise Craze-Wave of Kindness - WOW! Our students performed over 750 Acts of Kindness, collected 78 reusable shopping bags for Yarmouth Food Pantry, kept 7 lbs of markers out of the landfill, added over 15 pounds of plastic caps toward a community bench, and raised over $200 for the YCAN Lunch Crunch program. Our 3 events were a wonderful way to meet new friends and participate in kindness activities together. Over $4,000 was raised, which will go to fund student enrichment this year. Thank you to all who participated! The ripple of our Kindness Wave will be felt all spring! 
• PTO Meeting – Please join us April 25 at 4pm in the YES library.
• Thank You Parents! – Our parents are as amazing as this list of PTO-funded enrichments. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AZTRYP74NcWljLysS7WbC0iwsqcmEbmrc0MK-btlUVc/edit. Thank you! Please contact Heather or Christy with comments/questions. (christinehayashida@hotmail.com or info@yarmouthpto.org).

YEF FUNDRAISER

Mark your calendars for Wednesday, April 24, for a Yarmouth Education Foundation fundraiser! Brickyard Hollow will donate 5% of its sales that evening to YEF. It’s an exciting time of year for YEF as the organization is getting ready to award another round of grants to our schools. Winners will be announced later this month!

COMMUNITY NEWS

Summer Writing Camp

Dear Parents of Writers,

Have you ever thought, “So many camps, lots of sports options, I just wish one of them was a camp for writers.”  Wish no more! For the seventh year in a row, a writing camp will be happening in Yarmouth.

The camp offers time to write with other young authors in a relaxed environment designed to spark creativity. Writers will have time to get their thoughts on paper, be inspired and energized by the activities, and have time to interact with other kids who love to write. Even if you have been to the camp before, each year we design many new activities. Information about our Yarmouth camp is here:

June 24-28, 2019 at Yarmouth History Center from 9 AM to 2 PM

Online registration link: goo.gl/o7Yrv9

Online flyer for more information: https://bit.ly/2GUPdVK

There are other writing camps around southern Maine run by our group. For more info, click here.

So, grab a writing friend or two and join us!  If you have any questions, please write to Lorrie King, co-director of SMWP Young Authors Camps at yac.smwp@gmail.com orlorrie_king@yarmouthschools.org

First Pitch Dinner- YHS Baseball- April 4

Join Coach Marc Halsted and the YHS Baseball Team for the annual First Pitch Dinner that is being held on Thursday, April 4 from 5:00-7:00 at YHS. In addition to culinary masterpieces being served like spaghetti and salad, there will also be a number of awesome items up for bid during the silent auction portion of the event. You can buy tickets at the door that evening. 

Activity Nights- April 5

Power of One Activity Night- Mr. Borda (YHS) Advisees

This activity night will be held at YES on April 5th, for second and third graders, from 6:00 - 8:00 PM. The charge will be $5 per student. The activities include face painting, card games, puzzles, arts, crafts, basketball, four square, and Just Dance (wii). They will be selling water bottles for $1. Proceeds will be donated to the First Parish Food Pantry.The preregistration form can be found here: goo.gl/1nZ2d6

Yarmouth Girls Lacrosse Activity Night

The Yarmouth Girls Lax program is sponsoring and activity night for fourth, fifth and sixth graders at HMS from 5:30-7:30 PM on April 5th. You can find more details here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Xljoku2WD0LmC7L0RBzhn3c5lsMil1SsNk5t0JGY-ug/edit?usp=sharing

YHS Clothing Drive

The Yarmouth High School Global Action Club is sponsoring a clothing drive to support refugees in the greater Portland area! People coming to Maine often have very few belongings, especially winter clothing. This clothing drive will help their transition to our Maine communities. 

Please help support this cause by bringing in clothing (especially winter clothing -- coats, hats, gloves, boots, pants, shirts, etc.) and any extra bags or backpacks! 

We will have a blue bin in the YHS main office where you can place your donations, or you can deliver the items to the main office at Rowe, YES, or HMS. We will be accepting donations through April 10!

Girls On The Run

The Girls on the Run organization is looking for volunteers for their spring 5k on June 2, 2019 and for volunteer coaches for grades 3-5 at YES for the Fall and Spring 2019/2020 seasons. If you are interested Please contact Staci Olsen at  staci.olson@girlsontherun.org  or Cary Phoenix at caryphoenix@gmail.com.

SPRING SPECIAL EVENT DATES                    

May 16- 4th Grade Concert 6:30 p.m.                                                                       

May 24- Grandparents/Special Friends Day                                                               

June 14- YES Field Day (Rain Date: June 17)

I continue to be so thankful and appreciative in working with the students, families and staff at Yarmouth Elementary School. Thank you all for your continued support of your children and our school. As always, please reach out to me with any questions or concerns. I wish everyone a fun and safe spring vacation week!

Best,

Ryan Gleason, YES Principal