Gearing Up for 2024-2025

It has been a busy and productive summer in the Yarmouth Schools. We have hired numerous new teachers and support personnel at each school, completed several significant facilities projects, provided professional learning and curriculum development opportunities for staff, and responded to changes in legislation that will impact policies and practices in the coming year.

While many teachers have already been preparing their classrooms, all instructional staff will return to work on Tuesday, August 27, through Thursday, August 29, for three days of professional development.

All students in grades 1-12 will report for their first day on Tuesday, September 3, while Kindergarteners and Pre-K students will report by appointment on September 3 and 4.

The academic calendar for the 2024-2025 school year may be found on our district website, and is included below for your convenience.

Each family in the district has the opportunity to access their child's Student Information through our database software provider, Powerschool. It is vital that the information in each child's Powerschool file is updated and accurate. Please take a few moments to log in to your child's digital file to ensure we have correct information for their emergency contacts, addresses, etc. Your cooperation and attention to these details will allow us to provide the safest environment for your child in the most efficient manner possible.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has eased considerably, we must be aware that respiratory disease is still among us and is easily spread. It is important that we remain vigilant while going about our daily work to provide the best and safest opportunities for all students. This includes monitoring the health of each child and staff member each day, keeping them home when sick, and testing for COVID-19 if symptoms suggest. Our plan for keeping students and staff healthy include:

1.      Continue to focus on personal hygiene (frequent hand-washing, minimal sharing of supplies, proper sneeze and cough etiquette).

2.      Maintain the expectation of daily self-checks for symptoms or possible exposure to positive cases by staff members and families of students.

3.      Ongoing use of improved air filtration systems to remove particles and contaminants from indoor air.

4.      Continue to promote vaccines for students in approved age groups, with potential for vaccination clinics throughout the fall.

5. Follow US CDC guidance for People with COVID-19.

When you may have a respiratory virus...‎

Stay home and away from others (including people you live with who are not sick) if you have respiratory virus symptoms that aren't better explained by another cause. These symptoms can include fever, chills, fatigue, cough, runny nose, and headache, among others.*

You can go back to your normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, both are true:

• Your symptoms are getting better overall, and

• You have not had a fever (and are not using fever-reducing medication).

When you go back to your normal activities, take added precaution over the next 5 days, such as taking additional steps for cleaner air, hygiene, masks, physical distancing, and/or testing when you will be around other people indoors.