YES Newsletter

Yarmouth Elementary School May 2024 Newsletter

May 2024

From the Principals

Dear YES Families,

It was so nice to see our students back in action at school this past week. It was also wonderful to see so many students riding their bicycles to school and beginning to engage in more activities outside. Spring is upon us!

It is hard to believe that we only have seven weeks of school left this year, but there are so many exciting and important learning experiences still to come for your children. As always, please reach out to us with any questions, or if we can do anything to support your child’s end-of-year learning experience at YES.

Best,

Ryan Gleason, YES Principal & Molly Kilpatrick, YES Assistant Principal

May 2024 News at YES

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May 3, School Cafeteria Workers "Hero Day"

Thank you to our kitchen staff for the amazing job that they do each and every day. Our YES "Lunch Ladies" play a very important role in the lives of our children. A shout-out to Kayti Anthony (Kitchen Manager), Cindy Davies, Kayla Ellenberger, and Sheryl Main. These staff members do a wonderful job making sure our students have nourishing meals that prepare them to learn. A smile and words of encouragement go a long way when kids go through the lunch line and we appreciate all that they do. We will be celebrating them on May 3!

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Kids Heart Challenge April 29- May 1

The Kids Heart Challenge began on Monday, April 29 and goes until May 1. The purpose of this event is for students to learn about heart health and participate together in cardio activities. The KHC is also a fundraiser for the American Heart Association. All students will receive a small gift for participating. Families choosing to donate can put money in an envelope and have their child deliver that to school or donations can be set up online. Yarmouth KHC

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May 6-10: Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week

We hope that you will also take a moment to celebrate "Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week" with us! Our teachers and staff at YES provide so much for our students—inspiration, motivation, and, ultimately, their futures. Our educator's work impacts and extends far beyond the boundaries of the classroom.

From May 6-10, we would like to show our thanks and gratitude to our fantastic staff. We hope that you will take the time to show your appreciation this week to the educators who work with your child. Often a simple note of thanks means the world to them.

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Tuesday, May 21: Grade 5 Chorus, Band, and Orff Ensemble Spring Performances 6:00 PM

Tuesday, May 22: Grade 4 Chorus, Band, and Orff Ensemble Spring Performances 6:00 PM

We look forward to you joining us for this celebration of learning, growth, and fun. Thank you to Mrs. Troy and Mrs. Witherall-Stebbins for all their hard work in supporting our young singers and musicians on this year-long journey.

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Congratulations to Mrs. Troy!

During the month of April, Mrs. Troy was named the Yarmouth Teacher of the Year! She will be recognized at the annual Yarmouth Education Association banquet on May 16. Congratulations to Mrs. Troy and thank you for everything that you do to make music such a wonderful experience for our students. We are so proud of you!

YES Bike Train on May 10th

Dear YES Families,

May is National Bike Month! National Bike to Work Week is May 13th-19th, and before that happens, Friday, May 10th is the YES Walk and Bike to School Day. This day is a great opportunity for those who might be thinking about walking or biking to school to try it out with support, while also celebrating the environmental and health benefits of walking and biking. Yarmouth's extensive network of sidewalks and paths provides safe routes for people of all ages to walk or bike.

On that day, we will be having our Eighth Annual Bike Train to YES.  What is a Bike Train?  A Bike Train is a group of students and adults all riding to YES together from a few meeting spots around Yarmouth.  We aren't able to meet everywhere in Yarmouth, so if your child would like to join us please find the most convenient meeting spot, then click on your spot to see what time we will be there. We would love to have you join us as an adult volunteer. 

Please make sure all riders come wearing helmets for safety! (This includes adults.) 

We will not be riding home together, please make your own plans for after school. Hope to see you there!

List of Meeting Spots and Departure Times:
7:45 AM - Parking Lot of baseline ES (Route 88 & Bayview)
8:00AM - Amvets Parking Lot
8:15 AM - Royal River Park Parking Lot
8:30 AM - Arrive at YES

The Yarmouth Bicycle & Pedestrian Committee has provided the following tips and resources for biking and walking to school:

  • Go in groups. It's easier, safer, and more fun to ride or walk to school in a group.  As noted, you may consider organizing a regular  Bike Train with other families in your neighborhood. 

  • Plan your routes. Stick to sidewalks, quiet streets, and pathways whenever possible even if it adds a couple of extra minutes.

  • Be safe! If you are driving always yield for children in the crosswalk, slow down, and give people on bikes plenty of space. The Bicycle Coalition of Maine has some great educational materials on bike safety basics. There are additional safety tips on the town's website here.

A shout-out to Mr. Abbott for his continued leadership of the annual YES Bike To School events!

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Weeks of May 6, 13, and 20: Maine Through Year State Assessments - Grades 3, 4, & 5

The May administration of the state assessments will include Math, Reading (grades 3, 4, 5), and Science (grade 5 only). These will be administered during the weeks of May 6,13 and 20.  Please keep these upcoming testing weeks in mind to avoid any scheduling conflicts. 

The spring administration of the Maine Through Year Assessment and Gr. 5 MEA Science will be held in the morning on the following days:

Tuesday, May 7- Reading Gr. 3 & 4

Wednesday, May 8- Reading Gr. 5

Tuesday, May 14 - Math Gr. 3 & 4

Wednesday, May 15- Math Gr. 5

Thursday, May 16- Science Gr. 5

Monday, May 20- Science Gr. 5

Tuesday, May 21- Science Gr. 5

Each assessment lasts about an hour and all students have extra time to complete if needed. We will share the results of the Reading and Math assessments with you by the end of the school year. We appreciate your efforts to make sure that students are well-rested and at school on time each day to sit for these important end-of-the-year assessments

Young Authors Camp

Do you have a budding writer who cannot seem to put the pen down? Well, this camp is a perfect fit!

Young Author Camps are an incredible opportunity for young writers. Dynamic, engaging writing experiences, facilitated by experienced, passionate teachers. Students explore a wide array of genres and develop their skills through playful exploration, guided practice, and even some art to enhance the writing experience. Our Young Author Camps provide students a place to write in a relaxed, comfortable, and creative environment where they can bring their love of writing to life.

Yarmouth's YAC is in its 11th year.                                                                          5 hours a day for 5 days.                                                          Cost $222 (scholarships will be considered).

Registration for Yarmouth camp is OPEN. There is an additional camp in Freeport in mid-July. Here are the details:

YARMOUTH YOUNG AUTHORS CAMP                                            (6/17-6/21/2024) – current 4th-8th graders at YHS

Information and non-electronic registration form
Online Registration Link

FREEPORT YOUNG AUTHORS CAMP                                              (7/15-7/19/2024) – current 3rd-7th graders at Wolfe's Neck Center

Information and non-electronic registration form          Online Registration Link 

yac

Pre-K-5 Parent Teacher Organization

PTO

Rowe:

SAVE THE DATE! May 29th - our ever-popular Rowe Ice Cream Social returns! Please see the attached fliers - the P.T.O. needs your help! Please see the signup opportunities in the attached fliers! Thanks to all our wonderful parents who help make this a big success!

SAVE the Date! Rowe Field Day is returning on June 5th (rain date June 4th) More information to follow! me important dates coming up:

Our SilverGraphics Online Art Shop is still open for late orders!
Your child's art makes the best gifts ever!

Go to www.silvergraphics.com/shop and enter Access Code: YS24Art
Order from art already in the online shop and Upload New Art and Favorite Family
Photos. SilverGraphics will print it on totes, mugs, tiles, jewelry, and other beautiful mementos. Your items will ship to the address you enter at Checkout.
To prepare your art for uploading, follow these easy instructions on how to scan/photograph your art.
The Online Shop closes on June 30
If you would like to place a phone order, please call SilverGraphics at 866-366-5700.

Staff Appreciation

During National Teacher Appreciation Week May 6-10, we hope everyone will show love and gratitude for the amazing people who work in our schools. One way to show some appreciation is to help out the PTO with staff lunches at Rowe, YES, and HMS. The PTO will be providing sandwich platters and we are asking the community to bring in a store-bought or homemade item if you can. Please see the sign-ups below for more information about what can be brought. 

Rowe Lunch Tuesday, May 7th https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0949A4AE2BA6FCC61-48816212-rowe#/

YES, Lunch Wednesday, May 8th https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0949A4AE2BA6FCC61-48817421-yesstaff#/

HMS Lunch Thursday, May 9th https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0949A4AE2BA6FCC61-48962280-hmsstaff#/

We appreciate your help in making these lunches feel extra special! 

YES Field Day 2024 PTO Sign Ups

YES Field Day is on Friday, June 7th, with a rain date of Monday, June 10th. We need parent volunteers to make this super fun event happen! (If possible, please try to clear your schedule for our rain date too, and cross your fingers for sun.)

Volunteer sign-ups are first come, first serve, and volunteers will be assigned to activity stations. You may volunteer for more than one grade if their times don't overlap. The PTO will notify volunteers of their station assignments during the week leading up to the event.

Please note that the times listed below may change slightly as the school plans the final details. Watch your email! We're so excited for this special day!

* All volunteers must complete a volunteer registration form for the Yarmouth School Department. After choosing your volunteer time slot, please fill out the form using the link below: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050D4DABAC2EA64-49362801-yesfield

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Spring Transition - Step Up Day in June

On Thursday, June 13 we will hold our annual “Step Up Day” for all grades. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to meet their teacher, learn who will be in their class next year, and hopefully help with any anxiety that students may have about moving onward and upward. More details will follow in our June end-of-year newsletter. The last day of school is a half day on Friday, June 14.

If you are moving or anticipate that your child will not be attending YES next year, please reach out to us in the main office to help with our planning for student placement.

Of course, we have not listed all the other wonderful classroom-based events occurring this spring! Your child's teachers will be communicating all of those with you.

june
news

Retirement and Hiring News

After many distinguished years at YES, we have four staff members who will be retiring at the end of this school year.

Stephanie Gautreau, Second Grade Teacher; Rachel Clark, Lead Math Teacher; Marti-Jo Shaw, Fifth Grade Teacher; and Lisa Bianchini, Administrative Assistant, will be retiring in June.

It is always bittersweet to see such skilled, dedicated, and caring people like this retire. We are happy for them but they will be greatly missed at YES. We wish them the best of luck as they move on to new adventures in their lives and appreciate all that they have done for the students and staff at YES.

We are pleased to announce that we have hired replacements for almost all of those positions.

We have a couple of staff members who will be shifting over to new roles next year:

  • Kim Spencer, a long-time second-grade teacher, will become our new Math Lead Teacher. 

  • Breanna Bullard, a fourth-grade teacher for the past several years, will be moving up to fifth grade and team teaching with Mrs. Greely. 

Three new teachers will join our staff in the fall:

  • Erika Ouellette-Vigneault will be a new second-grade teacher. Mrs. Ouellete-Vigneault has several years of experience working as a special education teacher, instructional strategist, and, most recently, elementary school grade one teacher at Mabel I. Wilson School in Cumberland.

  • Alison Roberts will also be a new second-grade teacher. Mrs. Roberts has worked as an elementary teacher for several years in the Anchorage, Alaska, and Gray-NG school districts including the Dunn School in New Gloucester and Memorial School in Gray.

  • Allyson Hobbs will join the fourth-grade teaching team. Ms. Hobbs has been teaching fourth grade for the past several years at Acton Elementary School here in Maine.

We are pleased to welcome all of these new educators to YES!

In other bittersweet hiring news, Alison Thomson, our nurse at YES, will be stepping down at the end of this school year to pursue other opportunities. Again, we are so appreciative of the work that she has done during her time here at the school. 

We have begun the process of hiring a school nurse and administrative assistant and hope to have those individuals in place by the end of the month.