Happy Spring, Rowe Families!

Our school year continues to fly by. Hopefully our weather trajectory continues to look up and the sunshine continues. It's been so wonderful to hear the celebrations and collaborations stemming from the spring conferences. All of our young learners are working so hard and we couldn't be more proud of them. 

We have just a few celebrations from March and updates as we look ahead to another new month. 

As always, thank you for your partnership!

Kelli 

A group of Rowe School Leaders decided they wanted to support their community by raising money to support the Yarmouth Food Pantry! They decided to design water bottle stickers that they could sell to our friends at Yarmouth High School. This awesome group visited YHS during the lunch blocks, telling high school students and staff about their project, selling their stickers for donations, and walked away raising $468 for the food pantry!

Another group of Rowe leaders learned about the Maine Needs organization and decided they wanted to help them in helping others. This group decided they wanted to do a donation drive at Rowe School, collecting diapers, wipes, children's books, children's toiletries, and gift cards. Due to their leadership and efforts, we were able to provide Maine Needs with all of these donations! Thank you to the very generous Rowe Families in helping these little leaders meet their goal. 

Another group of leaders have started to notice some trash on the ground as the snow has started to melt away. This group decided they wanted to write to our Town Manager, Scott LaFlamme and share their idea for a litter clean up. Pictured here, you can see our Rowe leaders with Mr. LaFlamme during their litter clean up. 

This week, we were so happy to welcome Stephen Costanza back to Rowe School! Mr. Costanza engaged learners throughout our school in learning about how his stories are created, his process for illustrating, and also adding his musical talents throughout his presentation. This enrichment experience was made possible by the support of our incredible Parent Teacher Organization volunteers and the proceeds from our school book fair last year. 

You can learn more about this engaging author and his publications HERE. 

Rowe School has been gearing up to add a new and innovative element to our main playground! Thank you to the support of the Yarmouth Education Foundation, we were able to obtain loose parts playground equipment for our playground! This week, Rowe learners learned about the new equipment and had the opportunity to try it out with their class during their PE classes. We are excited to see all the great creations our students come up with once we are able to transfer these great new learning tools outside!

4/6-4/10: Scholastic Book Fair at Rowe School 

4/6-4/10: School Nutrition Week (See info below)

4/17: No School (April Break begins)

4/20-4/24: No School ~ April Break 

5/1: 6:00-7:00 Kindergarten Color Dance!! More info to come soon!

Rowe School is celebrating a week of colors April 6-10!  

This event is sponsored by the Nutrition Department and is a fun way of focusing on healthy eating while also getting to join in on some community fun!  

Each day of the week will have a color of the day.  

Children are encouraged to wear the color of the day and there will be fruits and vegetables to match, offered as samples to every child during lunchtime.  

Monday (RED): Strawberries

Tuesday (ORANGE/YELLOW):  Pineapple/Orange slices

Wednesday (GREEN): Snap Peas

Thursday (BLUE):  Blueberries

Friday (RAINBOW):  Kale chips/Carrots/Tomato

Update from the Unified Arts Team!

Click HERE to learn more about the great learning happening in music, art, library, PE, and Spanish!

Update from the Health Clinic

Cold and Flu season is among us! As a reminder from the health office, please keep your child home for 24 hours from any fever, vomiting or diarrhea to help reduce the spread of infection. It is also a good idea to keep your child home if they are having a severe, nonstop cough as this is a significant disruption to the student's learning so will likely end up with a call home for pick up. If your child has a fever above 100.4 for over 3 days, it is recommended to reach out to their primary care provider for further guidance. Please don't hesitate to reach out to the Rowe school nurse, Pamela Christensen, with any questions or if your child has been diagnosed with a contagious illness.

This month, we discussed anxiety in childhood. Click HERE if you are interested in knowing more about this session and the strategies we discussed! 

Our final Points With The Principal event will be held on Monday, May 18 and will focus on Building Classroom Communities: The Practice of Placement. If this is a topic you are interested in learning more about, we hope you can join us! Please RSVP HERE. 

Bike Swap on April 11th

Join us to celebrate the return of bike season on Saturday, April 11th at the PTO's annual Bike Swap/Sale and Student Bike Fair! 

Got bikes and wheeled gear laying around collecting dust? Don't sell them on FB Marketplace, sell them at our event and get that cash while donating to a good cause! Here are the details:

-Sales are on consignment, with 75% of sale price to seller and 25% to the PTO

-OR, you can donate the bike to the PTO outright for us to sell

-Set your own price or let us help you price it to move

-Drop off bikes or other gently-used wheeled gear on Friday, April 10th between 5:30 and 8 pm at the Rowe School gym

If you're in the market for a new ride after the long winter, come check out the inventory! Bikes will be available to purchase and it's a great opportunity to pick up a bike for yourself or your growing child at a discount. You do not need to bring a bike to buy a bike. 

We'll be joined by the Bicycle Coalition of Maine and the Yarmouth Bike and Pedestrian Committee and there will be lots of activities going on. Even if you're not looking for a new bike or new gear, take the opportunity to dust off your riding legs with a ride to Rowe and then pick up a delicious snack at the best-ever Bake Sale, take a lap in the Bike Rodeo, or bling out your bike! 

Finally, we need volunteers! Whether it's helping at the bike sale, reviewing road safety and home bike repair for young riders, or baking something delicious to contribute to the kids-on-the-go bake sale, there is a role for everyone! And don't worry if you're not sure you know your stuff-- staff and volunteers from the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, Portland Gear Hub, and the Yarmouth Bike/Pedestrian Committee will be on hand to help.

Please sign up for a slot here! Then, make sure you have filled out your 2025/2026 Yarmouth Schools volunteer form. Not sure if you have? Please email Emily Bates, our PTO volunteer coordinator, at emilyopoole@gmail.com to check!

Art to Remember Fundraiser

We are partnering with Art to Remember again this year to celebrate your children's art and raise funds that benefit our students including field trips, classroom enrichment, and special events! (You may remember this as Silver Graphics.)

Your Rowe & YES children worked hard on a creative and colorful art project in their art classes which will be used to customize products! Personalized order forms will go home in early April with ordering information and product options including journals, magnets, ceramic mugs, canvas totes, ornaments and more! The online site will open soon (here's the link, but please note that this year's art has not yet populated). The deadline for guaranteed delivery by Mother's Day will be Thursday, 4/15/25 with a late ordering window until 4/30/25. All shipping will be direct to your homes.

As in the past, you also have the opportunity to upload your own art or photographs to customize products by selecting "upload" near the bottom of the page and following the directions from there. 

Are you a family with older students interested in continuing your collection and ordering these products? You can! Visit the website at www.arttoremember.com and select "Shop" at the top. A banner in the center will prompt you to add a piece of artwork for custom products. From there you can upload the file containing the (edited) artwork. Once you have placed your order please email our representative hollyb@arttoremember.com with your order confirmation code and let her know your order is to benefit the Yarmouth Elementary School fundraiser!

Minted Graduation Announcements, Party Invitations, etc.!

Minted may be well known for their holiday and New Year's cards, but they have a wide breadth of offerings for occasions throughout the year, from graduations, birthdays, birth announcements, and more. Keep them in mind for your stationery needs and support the PTO when you place your order by using code FUNDRAISEYARMOUTH at checkout. You'll receive a 20% discount on your order and Minted will donate 10% of the sales earned using the code back to us-- a win-win! 

PTO Gather & Greet 

Join us on Tuesday, April 7th for our monthly casual coffee hour at Fox & the Fiddle (inside 317 Main) any time after 8:45 am. If you're hoping to learn more about the organization or would just like to chat with some other parents and community members, we hope you'll join us. It's also almost time for PTO elections and committee formations, so it's a great time to learn about some of the open positions and ways you can get involved. Drop in, grab a coffee from the cafe, and pull up a chair! 

Gather & Greet is a recurring event on the first Tuesday of each month, so even if you can't make it this month, we hope to see you in May!

April PTO Meeting

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, April 9th at 4 PM in the YES library. Our meetings are open to everyone, and we'd love to see you there! 

Volunteer with the PTO!

We're always looking to welcome new volunteers, and we'd love to hear from you! Please fill out the PTO-specific volunteer interest form, or reach out directly at yarmouthpto04096@gmail.com.