The New England League of Middle Schools (NELMS) has named Mandy Lewis, Principal of Frank Harrison Middle School in Yarmouth, as their A+ Administrator for 2026. NELMS recognizes school leaders who understand how young adolescents learn, champion middle level education, build community support, and encourage professional development of their staff.

Yarmouth Superintendent of Schools Andrew Dolloff said, “To describe Mandy as a leader in a few words, I would have to choose empathetic, student-centered, and principled. Her work with families and staff to ensure that every child is seen, feels valued, and is provided with equitable opportunities for academic, extra-curricular, and social-emotional growth is relentless, on target, and thoughtful.”

Ms. Lewis is in her fifth year as the principal at HMS, leading a talented team of educators who enthusiastically engage Yarmouth’s middle school students in a wide range of academic and extra-curricular pursuits each day, resulting in academic performance that places HMS students at the very top of Maine’s middle schools.

Prior to leading HMS, Ms. Lewis was a Language Arts teacher and field hockey coach at Yarmouth High School before moving into administrative positions in two nearby school districts, returning to Yarmouth in 2021.

Superintendent Dolloff added, “A+ Administrator is the perfect name for an award being presented to Mandy Lewis. She is an outstanding school administrator, and Yarmouth is lucky to have her as part of our leadership team.”

Ms. Lewis will be honored at the NELMS Awards Recognition Reception on Thursday, March 19 at the Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel in Springfield, Massachusetts.

YHS senior Morgan Goodrich has won two awards presented by the Maine College of Art and Design. Morgan will have her work exhibited during March at MCOAD, as they are the regional hosts for the Scholastic art awards.  

Morgan won a Gold key for her textile heart . . . 

and a Silver Key for her heart tile.

Congratulations to the many HMS instrumentalists and vocalists who auditioned for the District II Honors Band and Honors Chorus last fall. The following students were accepted and performed at the Honors festivals this past January.

8th Grade Instrumentalists

Lexi Favreau - Clarinet 

Georgia Felmly - Flute 

Tavah Martinez - Baritone Saxophone 

Finn Miller - Trumpet

Alexis Ting - Trumpet

7th Grade Instrumentalists

Lydi Debiegun - Flute

Eli King - Alto Saxophone

Rasmus Kjeldgaard - Clarinet

Nathan Patstone - Flute

Hazel Thompson - Bass Clarinet

8th Grade Vocalists

Emmett Keller - Baritone

Mateo Velazquez - Baritone

Joel Kiander - Baritone

Henry Patrick - Baritone

Henry Stanton - Baritone

Michael Gillan - Baritone

Patrick Dillon - Baritone

Finn Miller - Baritone 

Tavah Martinez - Soprano

Reese Friedel - Soprano

Isla Southard - Soprano

Amelia Newell - Alto

Maia Ellenberger - Alto

Claire Getchell - Alto

7th Grade Vocalists

Leanna Deterding - Soprano

Hazel Thompson - Soprano

Drew Reed - Baritone

Alex Anton - Baritone

Oliver Pearce - Baritone

Eli King - Baritone

Silas Monk - Baritone

Rasmus Kjeldgaard - Baritone

The Yarmouth Education Foundation (YEF) is a local non-profit that was founded in 2010 to support innovation in the Yarmouth Schools. Since that time, YEF has awarded more than $700,000 in grants - with the vast majority going directly to classroom projects proposed by Yarmouth's teachers and administrators.

In 2024-2025, YEF received a record number of proposals, leading to an increased number of grants to schools, impacting classroom instruction from PreK through Grade 12. The signature project for the past year was a grant of approximately $60,000 to install a solar-powered greenhouse on the grounds of Yarmouth High School.

YEF produces an Annual Report each year, highlighting the grants awarded and thanking the many donors who make the grants possible. To read the 2024-2025 Annual Report, click here.

The 2025-2026 winter sports season has produced yet another slate of state championship teams at Yarmouth High School.

The Girls' Ice Hockey team kicked off the run with their first ever state championship in a 1-0 overtime thriller over three-time defending champion Cheverus. Freshman Avery Guyer scored the winning goal after goalie Lydia Costa shut out the top-ranked Stags for more than three periods to keep the Clippers within striking distance.

On Thursday, February 17, the Boys' Nordic Ski Team captured its second consecutive Class B State Championship at Fort Kent. Yarmouth swept the top four places in the Class B freestyle pursuit, led by Alexander Gordon (also the individual state champion), Leif Hellstedt, Jackie Chalmers, and Eli Chalmers.

The YHS Indoor Track Team had its share of shining stars in 2026 as well. Most notably, the following student-athletes won individual state championships as noted:

4 x 200 meter relay: Abby Noble, Ava Hoffman, Lilah Pernal, Miah Jacobs

55 meter dash - Miah Jacobs

2 mile run - Bowen Mitchell

The YHS Girls' Alpine Ski Team added to the trophy case by bringing home the Class B State Championship on February 25. The team was led by Logan MacLeod (4th place in Giant Slalom and 2nd place in Slalom) and Gwen Zimmerman (5th place in Giant Slalom).

And as February comes to a close, we have two more teams vying for the gold. The Boys' Ice Hockey team enters the playoffs as the #2 seed, playing Lake Region at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday (2/28) at Travis Roy Arena.

The Boys' Basketball team captured the Southern Maine Class B Championship and will play for the State Championship against Gardiner Area High School TONIGHT at 7:45 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

This is a reminder that families may access bag lunches for their school-aged children on remote learning days. If you would like to add your name to the list of recipients, please email our Director of School Nutrition, Mr. Blair Currier, at blair_currier@yarmouthschools.org and let him know the names of each child for whom you are requesting meals.

When we have a remote learning day, meals may be picked up between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. at Yarmouth High School. Please come to door #2, which is located to the left of the main entrance on the Portland Street side of the building (off the large parking lot).

While we encourage you to provide us with prior notice by emailing Mr. Currier, we will have lunches on hand to meet the needs of any child, and we will remind you of this process each time we call for a remote learning day.

If you couldn't tell from the first few articles in this month's newsletter, Yarmouth does, indeed, have talent! To show off some of our more artistically-inclined students, we invite you to enjoy the 2026 version of Yarmouth's Got Talent!

YGT is open to students with any kind of talent: music, dance, arts, magic, comedy or any other creative endeavor that will win over the audience!

Auditions will take place as follows:

Monday, March 23 (Snow date Tuesday, March 24)

Starting times:

YHS - 3:00

HMS - 3:15

YES - 3:45

Rowe - 3:50

Show Date and Times are as follows:

Friday, March 27, 4pm and 7pm (Snow date Saturday, March 28)

Cash prizes based on audience vote. A first and second prize will be awarded for each age group. 

View official rules at YarmouthsGotTalent.org

Entry Forms: Click here for the YGT 2026 Entry Form or use the following QR code. Entry forms must be submitted by Thursday, March 19.

Each year, the School Committee adopts the academic calendar for the coming year. This calendar must align with that of 6 other school districts whose high school students may attend Portland Arts & Technology High School for career and technical education programming.

The School Committee reviewed the proposed calendar in February and will make a final decision on March 12.

With the lateness of Labor Day (September 7), 2026 will be one of the rare years when students start school prior to the holiday (September 1).

The full calendar is shown here and will be posted to the district website upon approval.

Thank you to everyone in the Yarmouth community who contributed their time, perspectives, and insights throughout the January 2026 community engagement process. Please refer to Zeal Education Group’s letter to the community for a summary of themes. On February 5, 2026, Zeal presented the Leadership Profile to the School Committee. Your voices shaped this Leadership Profile and will help inform the School Committee in selecting the next Superintendent of Schools. Upcoming key dates include:

February - March 2026: National Recruitment led by Zeal Education Group

March 5, 2026: Application Deadline

March 2026: Application Review and Semi-Finalist Interviews with Search Committee

April 2026: Finalist Interviews with School Committee

The goal of the Yarmouth School Committee is to appoint the new Superintendent in April 2026, with a start date of July 1, 2026. Please reach out to Christina Patrick, or any members of the School Committee, with questions. 

The full community engagement calendar can be found here. 

We want to thank all of you who have been participating in or observing the Budget Workshops. Superintendent Dolloff has presented a budget to the School Committee with a 4.57% increase over the current year. As shown above in the "budget pyramid," a "roll forward" budget would result in a larger increase than is being proposed, as the district's leadership team has worked diligently to ensure the budget is right-sized for the school population and needs.

To read more about the proposed budget, please view the district's Finance Page.

Remaining meetings in the public review process include: 

Thursday, March 12               

School Committee second reading – 7:00 p.m., Log Cabin

Thursday, March 19               

Budget Presentation to Town Council – 7:00 p.m., Log Cabin

Thursday, April 2                   

Town Council – Public hearing/first reading – 7:00 p.m., Log Cabin

Thursday, May 7                    

Town Council – Public hearing/second reading – 7:00 p.m., Log Cabin

Tuesday, June 2                      

Town Meeting – 7:00 p.m., YHS Auditorium (YPAC)

Tuesday, June 9                      

Budget Referendum – 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., YHS Gym

Radon mitigation systems will be installed at Rowe School, Yarmouth Elementary School, and Yarmouth High School this spring and summer. The first round of installations will begin during the April vacation week at Rowe School, where test samples most consistently demonstrated the need for mitigation. While awaiting installation, we will continue to run air exchangers at increased settings around the clock to lower levels of radon in each space. While the measurements at YHS and YES were only high in isolated spaces, we will install the necessary systems as required at those schools to ensure excellent air quality is provided throughout each building.