Yarmouth Elementary School
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Dear YES Families,
Despite winter’s best efforts to hang on a little longer, spring has officially arrived and with it comes a renewed sense of energy and possibility as we head into the final three months of the school year.
It continues to be a wonderful year of learning, growth, and connection at YES. March was a busy and meaningful parent-teacher conference month, and we want to extend our sincere thanks for your partnership. The time you take to connect with teachers, celebrate your child’s progress, and set goals together makes a real difference. These conversations are a powerful reminder that when school and home work together, students thrive.
As we look ahead, classrooms will be filled with engaging projects, deeper learning experiences, and opportunities for students to demonstrate their growth and independence. Spring is always a special time in an elementary school full of moments worth celebrating. We’re excited for all that lies ahead and for the continued partnership that supports each child’s success.
Thank you, as always, for your support and connection to our school community.
With gratitude,
Ryan Gleason, YES Principal & Molly Kilpatrick, YES Assistant Principal
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April Autism Acceptance Month |
In April, the YES community is proud to celebrate Autism Acceptance Month. Here in the United States, more than 5.4 million adults are autistic, and 1 in every 44 children has been diagnosed with autism.
This month we celebrate the achievements of neurodiverse people everywhere and champion the equal rights and dignity of all those living on the autism spectrum.
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From April 6-10, YES will celebrate our annual "Kindness Week". Our annual kindness initiative is our World of Change fundraiser. We will finish our fundraiser on April 16.
Each day of the week will also feature a "Kindness Challenge" issued at announcements each morning. They include:
Monday: BE KIND TO YOURSELF Tuesday: BE KIND TO FAMILY MEMBERS Wednesday: BE KIND TO CLASSMATES Thursday: BE KIND TO FRIENDS Friday: BE KIND TO NEIGHBORS
On Thursday, April 16th World of Change will bring their change truck to YES, and classroom representatives will help load all of the change we have raised into the truck. When we return from April break we will learn how much money our school has raised for several local worthy causes.
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STEAM Family Night - April 8 |
We are thrilled to invite you and your family to our 3rd annual YES STEAM Night on Wednesday, April 8th, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM! This evening is a wonderful opportunity for you to dive into the world of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math alongside your child. It is designed as a collaborative experience where you can explore hands-on activities together and see firsthand how our students use various technologies in their learning.
Event Details:
When: Wednesday, April 8th
Time: 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Activities: Please see the attached flyer for more information.
Website: Scan the QR code on the flyer to visit our event website, where you can find a full list of activities and their locations.
To make the most of the evening, we encourage you to navigate the stations with your YES student. While our wonderful teacher volunteers are there to facilitate the fun, they are not necessarily experts in every specific STEAM activity or piece of technology.
If you find yourself having difficulty with a particular station, we find that the best "experts" are often the students themselves! If you are trying an activity and run into a challenge, please jump in and work through it with your child—they love showing off what they know, and it’s a great way to learn together.
We truly appreciate your support in making this a positive and engaging night for our school community. We can’t wait to see you there!
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Yarmouth's Got Talent 2026 |
As you are likely aware, YGT 2025 was held this weekend! We had several students participating and there were many more who auditioned. We are so proud of all our students for putting themselves out there to share their talent, creativity, and imagination. |
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Spanish: Mr. Profenno
2nd and 3rd Graders
Our second graders continue to practice simple sentence formation. In the past months we have focused on food, body parts and wild animals for vocabulary. Second graders have been beginning each class by practicing the time and talking about the day's weather. Third graders have begun to learn verbs and how they are necessary to form a sentence. There are twenty-five common verbs that we are presently learning and which will be expanded on in the future. We enjoyed a visit from our high school Spanish students who came down to YES to read and do activities with our third grade learners! Check out the pictures of their visit below.
4th and 5th Graders
In the past few weeks, fourth and fifth grade students have been studying clothing. Students are able to describe what they and others are wearing using the verb to wear, along with an article of clothing and its color. This topic wrapped up with a fashion show in which one student would walk down an improvised runway and another student would describe what they were wearing to the class. Before that, we were focused on the house, its rooms and furniture. We wrote Spanish “House For Sale" flyers which contained a paragraph describing the house along with a picture.
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Physical Education: Mrs Ney
Physical Education classes continue to be filled with movement, collaboration, and new skill development!
Second graders are learning to navigate scooters safely in the open gym space. They are also practicing soccer skills and basketball skills, working on control in each. In soccer, foot skills emphasizing dribbling and control, as well as passing, are highlighted. Gaining comfort with the basketball with finger taps, dribbling routines, bouncing and catching, and shooting are reinforced. Low tumbling, balance centers, and opportunities to practice different travel pathways in creative movement routines are other areas of focus. Ultimate frisbee catching, throwing, and the rules of the game are our recent focus in PE class!
Third graders are taking their knowledge of soccer and basketball to new levels. They are working on dribbling with feet and hands, respectively, in open space while also changing direction during cardio dribbling tag games. Students are also learning to have control of the soccer ball by juggling, partner passing, and shooting. With basketball, bounce passes, chest passes, team-style shooting games, and defensive strategies are frequent parts of our exploration. Low tumbling and opportunities to incorporate balance and different travel pathways in creative movement routines are other areas of focus. Ultimate frisbee catching, throwing, and playing the game are our recent focus in PE class!
Fourth graders are integrating speed, change in direction, control, and soft touches with soccer. Small-sided games built upon teamwork and dribbling, in combination with passing, receiving, and shooting, are key areas of focus. With basketball, emphasis is on passing, proper shooting technique, and dribbling with the preferred and nonpreferred hand to gain comfort and skill. 3v3 and 4v4 games allow students to incorporate basketball skills in a fun and inclusive way. Students are also designing creative movement routines that demonstrate a variety of movement sequences to show freedom and fun, while moving safely and skillfully. Ultimate frisbee catching, throwing, and the rules of the game are our recent focus in PE class!
Fifth graders continue to show strong leadership in the PE setting. Team games with soccer and basketball are highlights. Small-sided soccer games built upon teamwork and dribbling, in combination with passing, receiving, and shooting, are key areas of focus. Seeing openings for passes and movement off the ball are also practiced. With basketball, students are extending their skills of dribbling, passing, and shooting to game-play situations that involve respectfully following the rules of the game. Positive and respectful communication between classmates is an important area of focus in each class. Students are also designing creative movement routines that demonstrate a variety of sequences to show freedom and fun, while moving safely and skillfully. Ultimate frisbee catching, throwing, and playing the game with integrity are our recent focus in PE class!
Check out the pictures of physical education in action!
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Weeks of May 4, 11, & 18: NWEA & Maine Through Year State Assessments
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The May administration of the NWEA assessments will include Math (grades 2-5), Reading (grades 3-5) and Science (grade 5 only). These will be administered during the weeks of May 4, 11, and 18. Please keep these upcoming testing weeks in mind to avoid any scheduling conflicts. |
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Pre-K-5 Parent Teacher Organization
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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!
Glow Run Success!
Thank you SO MUCH for helping make this event an enormous success again this year! With your help, the community smashed our $25,000 goal and brought in over $38,000! This supports so much of the PTO's programming throughout the year, and we're so grateful. Thank you to YES, HMS, students, and families for helping organize, battling with silly string, soliciting pledges, and bringing absolutely fantastic energy to the big day!
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.
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Please remember that the last day of school before vacation is scheduled to be Thursday, April 16. Spring vacation begins on Friday, April 17 and students will return to school on Monday, April 27. Enjoy the break! |
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