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 Kathy Gardner.

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 2!

At YES, we will be celebrating our annual Kids Heart Challenge sponsored by the American Heart Association on May 7 through May 14. The purpose of this activity is to focus on heart health and to think of others who need support. Students will engage in a variety of fitness challenges and have the opportunity to dedicate their efforts by making an optional money donation to the American Heart Association. Donations can be given either by cash, check, or online.  All students will receive a small gift for participating. This year, SEL, music, and physical education classes are teaming up to provide a fun learning opportunity for our students!  Yarmouth AHA Page.

On a related PE note, we would like to give a huge thank you shout-out to our PTO for supporting the efforts to have Shea Gunther come and deliver three weeks of ultimate frisbee instruction to all of the students at YES! 

Aside from the many physical benefits of playing ultimate, the game has inspirational practices as well. The students learned to manage the game from a place of integrity, honesty, and supportive team play in a short time. Coach Shea’s developmental approach and kid-friendly personality made everyone feel part of the action. It was certainly a highlight of the year! 

A thank you to our amazing PE teacher, Ms. Pachuta, for her leadership and dedication in facilitating these meaningful experiences for all of our students.

We invite you to join us in celebrating Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week at YES!

Our teachers and staff pour their hearts into inspiring, motivating, and shaping the future of every student who walks through our doors. Their dedication reaches far beyond the walls of the classroom — it touches lives, builds dreams, and creates a lasting impact.

From May 5–9, we will be honoring these individuals who make YES such a special place. We encourage you to take a moment during the week to express your gratitude to the educators and staff who work with your child each day. Whether it's a handwritten note, a small gesture, or a simple "thank you," your words of appreciation can mean more than you know.

Our teachers and staff are the heart of our school, and we are deeply grateful for everything they do — each lesson taught, each encouragement given, each extra mile walked for their students. Thank you for helping us celebrate them!

We can't wait for you to join us as we celebrate a year in music that has been filled with learning, growth, and fun! A huge shoutout to Mrs. Troy and Mrs. Witherall-Stebbins for their dedication, passion, and hard work in guiding our young singers and musicians on this amazing journey. Their talent and care have helped our students shine brighter than ever, and we are so excited to showcase it all with you!

On Friday, May 23, at 2:30 PM, Ms. Pachuta and Mrs. Ney will lead our entire student body and staff in an exciting ACES (All Children Exercise Simultaneously) experience! This schoolwide event, which we participated in last year to great success, brings everyone together for fun and energizing movement activities. The ACES Day project is part of a national initiative to promote physical activity, healthy habits, and the importance of an active lifestyle for kids. It’s a joyful way to celebrate community, wellness, and the power of moving together!

The Yarmouth Bike and Pedestrian Committee is developing a School Active Transportation Plan to provide safer walking and cycling conditions for our students.  We are looking to gather as much feedback as possible to gain a clear view of the improvements needed in order to make our community safe for active transportation.  This confidential survey should take no longer than 10 minutes. 

Note:  If you have multiple children, it is beneficial if you fill out one per child, especially if they attend different schools.  However, combining them into one response still provides us with very helpful data. 

Active Transportation Survey

Thank you so much for your help with this!  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Heather Miller, Yarmouth Bike and Pedestrian Committee

The May administration of the Maine Through Year state assessments will include Math, Reading (grades 3, 4, 5), and Science (grade 5 only). Grade 2 will take the spring administration of the NWEA Map for Primary Grades in Math and Reading. These will be administered during the weeks of May 5, 12, and 19.  Please keep these upcoming testing weeks in mind to avoid any scheduling conflicts. 

Testing will be held in the morning on the following days:

Tuesday, May 6- Reading Gr. 3 & 4

Wednesday, May 7- Reading Gr. 5

Tuesday, May 13 - Math Gr. 3 & 4

Wednesday, May 14- Math Gr. 5

Thursday, May 15- Science Gr. 5

Monday, May 19- Science Gr. 5

Tuesday, May 20- 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 on Powerschool 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

From February through April, YES partnered with World of Change for a school-wide fundraiser to support the local community. Through the collective efforts of our students, staff, and families, we turned small change into big impact—living out our core values of Caring and Citizenship every step of the way.

First, some exciting facts:

• Total weight of change collected: 170.2 lbs

• Total number of coins collected: 20,889 (including pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half-dollar coins, and dollar coins)

• Cash bills collected: $155

Total Raised by Focus Area:

• Education: $237.92

• Animals & Nature: $369.08

• Housing: $403.87

• Food: $344.09

• Health: $300.56

• Play: $188.82

💰 Grand Total Raised: $1,844.34 — Great job, YES!

This effort was more than just a fundraiser—it was a living example of Caring, as students showed empathy and took action to help others, and Citizenship, as they contributed meaningfully to their community through participation and responsibility.

We are deeply grateful to every student, teacher, and family who supported this project. Thank you for your continued partnership and for making YES a place where positive change begins.

NEWS FROM THE YARMOUTH PTO

2025-2026 PTO ROLES

Are you looking to get more involved with the PTO during the next school year? Our annual elections are coming up, and we're actively seeking board members, committee chairs, and volunteers! Board members are elected positions, and elections will be held at the PTO meeting on May 15th at 7 pm in the YES library.

We're still looking for people who might be interested in the following roles: 

• Treasurer

  • Duties include: Monthly reconciliation of accounts and bookkeeping; Yearly tax filing (or preparations as directed by a CPA); Yearly annual report filing; Provide a cash box with change for all PTO events; Reconciling and depositing fundraising money in a timely manner after events; Reimbursements to other PTO members for event supplies, etc.

  • If desired, there may be an opportunity to shadow our current treasurer, who has implemented an incredibly efficient system, with an eye toward taking over as treasurer for the following school year ('26-'27).

• Digital Media Coordinator

  • Duties include: Compile and send monthly News to use our email distribution list; Maintain all relevant login credentials and MFA tokens (Apps or phone numbers to receive codes); Create fliers for events; Manage social media profiles and Linktree account with upcoming events and meetings, etc.

If either of these roles interests you, please reach out! If you're a caretaker of a student in the Yarmouth school system, you're automatically a part of the PTO and eligible to run for any seat. There is no deadline for nominations; you may decide to run at any time up until the moment of voting at our board meeting on May 15th. Any Yarmouth resident can vote, and all are welcome and encouraged to attend! 

Committee membership is another great way to be involved in the community. We're seeking chairs (or co-leadership) for the Glow Run committee and the Staff Appreciation committee, as well as committee members for any and all events and fundraisers.

If you're interested in any capacity, from leadership roles to one-time event volunteering, please fill out this form, and we will be in touch. We hope you'll join us!

If you have further questions about PTO involvement, please don't hesitate to reach out directly at yarmouthpto04096@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

STAFF APPRECIATION WEEK: MAY 5TH-9TH

Please mark your calendars for Teacher Appreciation Week, May 5- 9th! There are so many ways to show our gratitude this week with kind words, with student-made art, or by checking off items on teacher wish lists. The PTO will be hosting a staff lunch on Wednesday, May 7th, at YES! Another way to show your appreciation is to sign up to bring a food item to this lunch. You can sign up on this link:

YES Staff Luncheon Sign Up

The PTO thinks the teachers and staff at Yarmouth schools are truly the best around and are so grateful for all they do for our kids! The businesses in Yarmouth agree, and during the week of Teacher Appreciation, Teachers and Staff can stop in for some extra discounts! Here is the growing list of participating places so you can help spread the word!

• Attic & Eaves 15% off and a free gift, May 5-9

• Fiore Home 15% (non-sale items) Wednesday-Saturday, Monday & Tuesday by appointment

• Owl & Elm Pub 15% May 5-9

• Royal River Books 20% May 5-9

• Magno Terra Cafe 15% May 5-9

• Brickyard Hollow 15% coupon to be used once

• Maggie Mae's 20% on food, May 7th

• Fox & Fiddle 20% May 5-9

• Cozy Nails & Spa 15% May 5-9

• Sea Love in Freeport 15% May 4-10

• Town Pride 20% May 5-9

YES FIELD DAY

YES Field Day is on Friday, June 6th, with a rain date of Monday, June 9th. We need parent volunteers to make this fun event happen! Please sign up to help here. 

ART TO REMEMBER

We are partnering with Art to Remember to celebrate your children's art and raise funds for field trips, classroom enrichment, and special events! You may have known this fundraiser as Silver Graphics in the past, but as they have closed, we're now working with Art to Remember. 

You should have received personalized order forms with information about product options, including journals, magnets, ceramic mugs, canvas totes, ornaments, and more! The online site is open, and all orders must be in by 5/8/25. Items will ship directly to your home.

SAVE THE DATE FOR THE BIKE SWAP: MAY 10TH

Soon after we all return from April break, it will be time for our annual used bike sale with an expanded outdoor family event focused on bike safety education from the Bicycle Coalition of Maine. If you have outgrown bikes hanging around, donate or consign them to sell at the bike swap! (Consignment breakdown is 75% of the sale price for the seller and 25% for the PTO.)

-Drop-off for used bikes and gear to sell is FRIDAY, MAY 9TH, from 5:30 to 8 pm at Rowe

-Buy a bike & join the fun on SATURDAY, MAY 10TH from 9 am to 12 pm at Rowe

Click here if you'd like to sign up to volunteer at the event!

LAST CALL FOR PRINTED DIRECTORIES

Get ready for summer playdates and camp carpooling by picking up a copy of the PTO directory! It's the fastest way to find the contact info for your child's classmate or playground buddy. The directory is always available electronically through Membership Toolkit, but we're offering one final print run of the year if you prefer a hard copy. Click here to place an order by 5/2. 

JOIN US AT THE MAY PTO MEETING

It will be held on Thursday, May 15th, at 7 pm in the YES library. Yearly elections will take place at this meeting, and all are welcome and encouraged to attend! 

WANT TO KEEP IN TOUCH?

Click here, scroll down to “Join Our Email List" on the right-hand side, fill out your information, and never miss a piece of PTO news!

As we shared in April, after many distinguished years at YES, we have four staff members who will be retiring at the end of this school year.

Rich Smith, Grade 5 Teacher, Gina Rollins, Grade 5 Teacher, Meg Pachuta, PE Teacher, and Nancy Jones, Speech Teacher, will be retiring in June. Additionally, Renee Rhoads, Grade 4 Teacher, will be taking a one-year leave of absence and returning in 2026-27.

Again, 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.

To fill these positions, we do have some staff members who will be shifting over to new roles next year:

• Karin Ney, a third-grade teacher at YES for many years, will be our new Physical Education teacher.

• Katie Pride, a current fourth-grade teacher, will be shifting to third grade.

• Breanna Bullard, a fifth-grade teacher this year, will be returning to the fourth-grade teaching team.

The remaining positions to fill are two fifth-grade teachers and a one-year-only fourth-grade teacher. We are in the midst of hiring for these positions and look forward to updating you on our new additions in the June newsletter.

We also want to share an update regarding the structure of our fifth-grade classes for the 2025–26 school year. Due to a smaller student enrollment in this grade, we will have five fifth-grade teachers next year.

• Mrs. Greely and Mrs. Conley will each partner with one of our two new teachers to form two instructional teams, where students will rotate between classrooms for different subjects.

• Mrs. Smith will have a self-contained classroom, where students will remain with her throughout the day and receive instruction in all core subjects.

In total, there will be:

• Four classrooms following a team-teaching model with subject-area rotations

• One classroom with a single teacher providing all core instruction

Looking ahead, we anticipate returning to our traditional model of six fifth-grade teachers and three teams for the 2026–27 school year based on that projected class size.

As always, student placement is a thoughtful and careful process that considers many factors to support the success of each child. We appreciate your understanding that we are not able to accommodate requests for either the team-teaching or self-contained model for fifth grade next year.

Thank you for your continued support!