And, we're off!

Please remember that it is illegal - and dangerous - to pass a school bus with its red lights flashing. This is true regardless of which direction you are traveling. Whether you are following the bus or approaching it from the front, you must stop whenever the red lights are flashing. Please help us keep all students safe and look for the flashing lights as you approach a school bus.

Thanks to our Transportation Director, Chris Storer, Yarmouth's school buses are safer than ever. With the adoption of the BusRight tracking system and the FirstLight safety signage, we continue to put student safety and parent reassurance at the top of our transportation priority list. Read more about Yarmouth's adoption of this system in this month's School Transportation News.

If you missed how to sign up for our bus tracking system, you can read more about BusRight - and how to sign up - in our August newsletter.

Yarmouth Schools are fortunate to have an experienced and knowledgeable Director of Facilities in Bruce Bickford. Bruce has been with YSD for three decades, keeping our facilities among the best kept you will find anywhere in New England.

While working constantly to ensure the learning spaces in our schools are in top condition, this summer Bruce and his team worked internally and with various contractors to complete several important projects outside of the academic wings, including:

-increasing accessibility of playgrounds for students in wheelchairs

-increasing accessibility for fans with mobility limitations to the high school turf field

-repairing the high school gymnasium flooring, which has been damaged by water in recent years

-adding a restroom trailer (complete with running water and connection to the public sewer system) to the turf field complex at YHS, thereby reducing the need for portable toilets at most events.

Much of this work was supported by grants and donations - as well as insurance policies - and we are grateful to all who contributed!

Several years ago, an effort was underway to provide families in Yarmouth with learning opportunities on topics of importance through evening presentations and forums. While that effort stalled during the COVID pandemic, the desire to continue the programming did not. We are pleased to announce that we are rebooting that work this year, with plans to host four evening forums throughout the 2024-2025 school year.

The first presentation will occur on October 29 and will be focused on student technology access and the use of artificial intelligence in schools. These topics are tentative, as we are finalizing plans with a potential presenter at this time.

We are sharing this date so you can place it on your calendar; much more information - including the location and starting time - will be coming soon!