May 17, 2020
Dear YES Families,
Throughout the school year we recognize several national holidays. On Monday, May 25 we do not hold school in honor of Memorial Day. When we are in school I try to make a point of sharing with students the significance of these days and why they are more than just "a day off from school". Having had two grandfathers who served in the Army and Navy during WWII, Memorial Day has always been an important one in my family as I'm sure it is in many of yours. Here is some of the information I typically share with our students. Feel free to pass this on as we help them to understand and remember why we recognize this important day:
Memorial Day is a national holiday in the United States. It is also a state holiday in many states. The holiday honors troops who have died in past wars like World War I and the Korean War. Memorial Day is often mistaken with Veterans Day. The latter honors all US military veterans while Memorial Day honors the soldiers who died while serving. Memorial Day was first held in 1865 after the American Civil War. It was called Decoration Day at that time. The holiday was first called Memorial Day in 1882, and became a federal holiday in 1967. On June 28, 1968, the United States Congress made a law that said that the official Memorial Day holiday is May 30, but that Memorial Day was to be observed by Federal Employees as a paid holiday on the last Monday in May.
On Memorial Day, people participate in and watch an annual parade. In addition, flags are flown at half-mast until noon, then to full mast until sunset. It is also a popular day to visit the resting places of soldiers and decorate them with flags and flowers. In the United States Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of summer.
END OF SCHOOL YEAR 19-20 INFORMATION
As you read in Dr. Dolloff's e-mail our end of school year plans are starting to become more finalized. For your own planning here are some YES specific dates and information for you to be aware of:
Week of June 1: This will be the last week for any new student learning. Remote learning business as usual.
Week of June 8-12: The focus on this last week of school will be to wrap up the year with teachers and begin the transition process for the 20-21 school year.
- Monday, June 8: Field Day! Our staff is developing an innovative way for us to celebrate this long standing YES tradition as a school virtually.
- Tuesday, June 9: YES Step-Up Day! Students entering grades 2, 3 and 4 in 20-21 will find out who their teachers and classmates will be. More specific details to come as we approach that day. Students entering grade 5 will have their Step-Up Day on Wednesday, June 10 with the HMS staff.
- Wednesday & Thursday, June 10 & 11: Last two days of school. More details to come.
- Friday, June 12: Report Cards mailed home.
Week of June 15: We are finalizing a plan to coordinate a curbside drop off for the following school items:
- School iPads and chargers
- Library books
- Classroom library books
Again, we will communicate specific details to you as we finish up that planning in the coming days.
END OF YEAR REPORT CARDS
As noted, spring report cards will be mailed home on June 12. As you are aware, the move to emergency remote learning from March 17 to June 12 has affected our ability to provide the same depth of instruction on all of the grade-level standards. Over these last few months of the school year our instructional focus has been on reinforcement of skills and concepts that were encountered earlier in the year while folding in exposure to new priority content.
The winter student report cards were provided to you in February. At that time you received a report that shared your child’s progress in reading, writing, math, and habits of work. The report card broke those subjects down into indicators to reflect how students progressed towards grade-level standards at that point in the year.
Due to our shift to remote learning, this end of the year report card will be shared in a teacher narrative form as opposed to being broken down by each indicator. The more summative assessments we typically use to inform the report card, such as the Benchmark Assessment System for reading, cannot be administered in this format. However, there has been a significant amount of ongoing formative feedback from teachers through this model.
As in the past, we will still report out on reading, writing, math, and habits of work. This modification will allow your child’s teacher to provide feedback on their progress, but it will be more customized to fit the learning targets that they have been exposed to for this unique school year.
ART SHOWCASE REMINDER!
The Yarmouth Student Coronavirus Art Showcase has begun! Please remember that artwork will be collected through 5/22 and all participants will be entered into a raffle for gift cards to Island Treasure Toys, Royal River Books, Handy's and Otto's.
As always, please let me know if there is anything that I can do to support your child. Enjoy the warmer weather that is in the forecast for the end of this week. Let's all hope for a nice Memorial Day weekend!
Best,
Ryan Gleason, YES Principal