Dear YES Families,
As we begin these last four months of the school year I want to thank you for your participation in parent-teacher conferences. Many conferences have already been held with several more scheduled for this month. Our hope is that this is an opportunity for you to celebrate your child's progress and learn more about their next steps in growing as learners. With the many challenges that we have all faced this year, please know that your partnership and support continue to be valued and appreciated by our staff.
YES MARCH DATES/EVENTS
YES SPIRIT MONTH!
Our annual "YES Spirit Week" has always been a nice way for students to have some fun during these last days of winter. This year we have decided to spread the fun out for the entire month! The main feature of spirit month will be our dress-up days. These will be held each week with a different theme:
- March 4 & 5: Pajama Days
- March 11 & 12: Favorite Color Days
- March 18 & 19: Clipper Days (Wear your Yarmouth gear and/or the colors blue and white)
- March 25 & 26: Hat Days
- April 1 & 2:: Wacky Hair and Clothes Days
We will be sending home flyers with students on Monday and Tuesday to post as a reminder. Participation in dress-up days is completely optional but we hope many students and staff will choose to join in the fun.
MARCH 1-5: READ ACROSS AMERICA WEEK
Each year, National Read Across America Day is celebrated on March 2. The annual event is part of Read Across America, an initiative by the National Education Association. This holiday calls all children and youth in every community across the United States to celebrate reading. It encourages them to read where ever they are!
To celebrate at YES we are excited to share the following events for next week:
- Wednesday, March 3, There will be a special “Read Across America” activity pushed out on Seesaw by Mrs. Moreno, our school librarian.
- On Thursday, March 4, and Friday, March 5 the whole school will read at the same time on Thursday and Friday at the end of each day.
- Later on this month, Kevin Hawkes will return to YES for a “virtual presentation” with each grade level. Mr. Hawkes is an author/illustrator of over 50 acclaimed picture and chapter books including some New York Times bestsellers. His vibrant colors, unusual perspectives, and sense of humor are hallmarks of his work.
A shout out to Mrs. Moreno for her work organizing our Read Across America events. We also want to give a huge thank you to our PTO for sponsoring Mr. Hawkes virtual visit.
SUNDAY, MARCH 14: DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME
We look forward to the time when our days start getting longer. Don't forget to set the clocks one hour ahead!
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, ST PATRICK'S DAY
Feel free to wear something green for the morning meeting on this all remote day!
KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION AT ROWE FOR 2021-22
From Rowe School: If you have a child who will be five on or before October 15, 2021, please call Rowe School (846-3771) beginning on March 1st to register your child for Kindergarten for the fall of 2021. If you have friends or neighbors who have a potential 2021-2022 kindergartener, please remind them to give us a call, too! Thanks for the help!
SCHOOL COUNSELOR CORNER
Dear Families,
We hear and understand how challenging parenting is right now. To that end, I have included a webinar support series from Stanford Medicine entitled Positive Parenting During Covid-19. Free and tapped for your convenience. I hope that you will find these resources to be helpful.
https://med.stanford.edu/childpsychiatry/clinical/parenting/webinars.html
Laura Spellman School Counselor Yarmouth Elementary School
NURSE NEWS
March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. Much like the weather, our students at YES are beginning to show signs of change getting taller and learning new things. And, much like students outgrow their sneakers and t-shirts, your students may have outgrown their daily face covering.
Mask fit is important for the mask to offer the best protection. A mask should cover your student's nose and mouth and not slip off when he or she is speaking. Test out a face covering with a conversation before sending it to school with your student. It should also be comfortable and not have large gaps at the sides.
Additionally, after months of wearing masks, just like a good pair of mittens, the fabric tends to wear out. Inspect your students' masks for signs of wear at the straps and along the seams. Also, during the winter months when students go outside to play their face coverings get wet and it can be difficult to breathe. Please remember to send an extra mask or two to school with your student so they have a clean and dry one available that is sure to fit. HERE is a great website on how to properly select, wear, and care for a mask.
Please reach out with any questions about COVID-19 or any of your student’s health concerns. HERE is a wonderful resource for COVID-19.
Alison Thomson, RN BSN alison_thomson@yarmouthschools.org
YES SOCK DRIVE
Once again, our second-grade teachers led the annual YES Sock Drive. Even in the midst of a pandemic, our school donated 831 socks to the Preble Street Shelter in Portland! This is the exact same number of socks that were donated last year! What are the chances of that? This was a nice opportunity for YES students to live our core values of caring and citizenship. Thank you to our second-grade teachers for leading this important event.
YHS INTERACT CLUB FOOD DRIVE
A message from the YHS Interact Club: We would like to thank Yarmouth Elementary for all your work in helping us with our recent food drive. It was a success as we collected many donations that were appreciated by the food pantry. We would like to extend a thank you to the families in our town that helped make this a success. Here are our final collection tallies:
- 945 Items
- 2,052 lbs of food
- $2,105 donated
Again, thank you so much for your help and cooperation, we couldn't have done it without your help.
GIRLS ON THE RUN- SPRING 2021
Girls On The Run is planning to be back this spring! Girls on the Run is an after-school program designed to inspire girls of all abilities to recognize and embrace their inner strength. Lessons emphasize the important connection between physical and emotional health. At the end of the program, girls complete a 5K, which provides a tangible sense of accomplishment, setting a confident and goal-oriented mindset into motion.
In Yarmouth, an 8 week season will begin on April 6 at Royal River Park. The group will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:15- 4:45 pm. You can register at https://www.girlsontherunmaine.org/
As always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions, concerns, or feedback you would like to share. Thanks for all that you do!
Respectfully,
Ryan Gleason, YES Principal