September 15, 2021
Dear YES Families,
The school year is off to a great start! As you know, we are in the midst of our first full five day week and students have settled nicely into school routines and expectations.
September is a busy month so we are sharing this "mid-month" update with you that includes some reminders and important new information.
OPEN HOUSE 2021: SEPTEMBER 20 (GR. 2) & SEPTEMBER 23 (GR. 3 & 4)
This year we have a "virtual" Open House with classroom teachers. Your child's classroom teacher will be sharing information with you this week about that meeting, including how to join at the scheduled time. At that meeting, you will have an opportunity to learn about your child's learning experiences at YES this year.
- Grade Two Open House: Monday, September 20th at 6:00 PM
- Grades Three and Four Open House: Thursday, September 23rd at 6:00 PM
In addition, the SHARE Unified Arts team will be creating a short video presentation that will provide you with an opportunity to meet them and see their learning spaces. We will be sending that out to you next week. Enjoy these opportunities to learn about all the exciting things that will be happening in school this year!
SCHOOL PICTURE DAY, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
School picture day is also next week! If you have not received order forms they should be coming home with your child this week. Those forms should come back to school on Thursday, September 23, the day that Geskus photography will be here to take pictures.
NO TACOS?
We have had a few questions about our lunch menu this fall. A reminder that we do not have an operational kitchen on site due to the construction process. That will not be completed until January. Obviously, that does impact what items that the kitchen can offer. However, our kitchen staff is doing a fantastic job adapting. The food is prepared at Rowe School and transported over to YES. There is a robust salad bar this year with lots of healthy offerings. Once the cafeteria/kitchen wing is completed you will see a shift to more of the traditional items that the kids are used to having.
GIFTED AND TALENTED INSTRUCTIONAL SUPPORT INFORMATION
Due to missing the spring comprehensive screening (MAPs, CogAT, teacher recommendations, and more) these last two years due to the pandemic, identification of students’ instructional support needs in grades four will be completed this fall. The MAP test will be administered to grade three and four students at the beginning of October and that will begin the screening process for those services. A reminder that Yarmouth provides GT instructional support pullout services for identified students beginning in grade 4. However, Charlotte Agell and Karen Jagolinzer, our Talents teachers, work in a consulting capacity with all grade levels.
SMARTWATCHES
We have seen an increase in students wearing Smartwatches to school. I know many parents have shared they want to keep track of their children coming home after school and want a way to communicate with them if they are biking or walking home. A reminder that students should put these in their backpacks for the day. Students should not be texting or communicating with parents during the day as it is disruptive to learning. Once school is over students can put these items on for the walk or bike ride home. Thank you for reviewing this expectation with them.
QUARANTINE INFORMATION
This spring we all hoped that quarantine conversations would be in the rearview mirror. As you are well aware, the Delta variant has not made that possible. If your child needs to quarantine here is the plan that we will be following K-4:
- Rowe and YES will support students who are quarantined by assigning asynchronous work on ipads and/or paper-based assignments.
- All assignments and/or student ipads will be provided for pickup as soon as practicable after notification of a necessary quarantine.
- Families may request the delivery of a device if they are unable to pick it up from the school.
- For students requiring a prolonged quarantine of more than 3 days, students can expect to connect with an educator during that time period.
POOLED TESTING UPDATE
We are currently processing consent data and establishing our classroom pools. Our goal is to begin pool testing as soon as practical. We will begin by testing a single classroom on 9/20/21 in a pilot before rolling out to the entire school. Families will be informed before testing begins schoolwide.
Below are additional facts and reminders on pooled testing:
- Pools will range consist of 5 to 15 students and or staff (five is the minimum count to establish a pool)
- Pooled testing is optional; your child will not be required to participate even if they are consented
- Testing will happen in the child's classroom
- Support will be available to educate and assist children - including hand-over-hand assistance, as needed
- Our goal is for children in the pool testing program to become independent and a self swab
- The swab is a small q-tip and is only interested into the nose 1/2 inch; you can practice using a q-tip with your children at home
- You may sign your student up for testing at any time, even after the program has started.
- For reference, the video link below provides an example of a child demonstrating how to swab his nose:
Please reach out to Alison Thomson, YES nurse, at any time with questions or concerns. You can reach her at 207-846-3391 or alison_thomson@yarmouthschools.org
YARMOUTH EDUCATION FOUNDATION (YEF) UPDATE
Looking for ways to volunteer to support our school community? The Yarmouth Education Foundation (YEF) is a nonprofit organization made up of parent and community volunteers. YEF has awarded nearly $500,000 in grants to Yarmouth schools for innovative projects -- such as outdoor classroom space, 3D printers, school weather stations, a community shellfish nursery project, an electric car building project, staff, and student mindfulness lessons, and hundreds of other projects. YEF is always looking for new volunteers. Click here to share your interest in volunteering. Visit www.yarmoutheducationfoundation.org to learn more.
GIRLS ON THE RUN
"Girls On The Run" has been running (no pun intended) in Yarmouth for the past several years. If interested here is the contact information on this program: Attachment
Thank you again for your continued support of your children and YES! As always, please reach out to us with any questions or concerns.
Best regards,
Ryan Gleason, YES Principal & Molly Kilpatrick, YES Assistant Principal
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