From the Principals

Dear YES Families,

We hope that this message finds you well and enjoying this beautiful Maine summer. As we gear up for another exciting school year, we are pleased to extend a warm welcome to both our returning families and those who are joining our YES community for the first time. We apologize in advance for such a lengthy newsletter, but there is a great deal of important information to share!

The start of a new school year always brings a sense of anticipation and possibility. Our dedicated staff is hard at work preparing for the upcoming academic year, focusing on creating a safe, nurturing, and stimulating environment that fosters both academic success and personal growth.

Communication between school and home is vital for your child's success and we encourage an open and collaborative partnership. Please feel free to reach out to us whenever you have questions, concerns, or ideas to share. Working as a team, our goal is for your child's educational journey to be both fulfilling and enriching.

The start of every school year is a time of anticipation and we look forward to having our school community together in September. As of today, our enrollment is at 480 students. This includes 119 students in Gr. 2, 123 in Gr. 3, 100 in Gr. 4, and 138 in Gr. 5. There are six classrooms/teachers in each of our four grade levels. We are looking forward to a new school year and working together to see that your child’s learning experience at YES is a successful one.

We look forward to meeting new faces, revisiting familiar ones, as well as hearing all about everyone’s summer adventures! For those of you who do not know us yet:

Ryan Gleason, YES Principal: I have been a teacher and school administrator in Maine for the past thirty-two years. This will be my eighth year as the principal of YES. It has been and continues to be, an honor to lead such a wonderful school. I am excited about our work together as we make this another fabulous school year.

Molly Kilpatrick, YES Assistant Principal: I have been an educator in Maine for the last eighteen years, and this will be my twelfth year in Yarmouth and fourth as YES assistant principal. I am thrilled to help lead the students, staff, and school community at YES. We are going to have another great year together!

The spirit of community, curiosity, and camaraderie that defines YES is something truly special, and we are confident that together, we will celebrate the growth that your children will make this school year.

Warmest Regards,

Ryan Gleason, Principal & Molly Kilpatrick, Assistant Principal

August/September 2024 News at YES

NEW YES STAFF

In addition to our new families and students, we welcome several new staff members to the YES team.

Maria D’Andrea, School Nurse
Heather Young, Administrative Assistant
Erika Ouellette-Vigneault, Grade Two Teacher
Alison Roberts, Grade Two Teacher
Allyson Hobbs, Grade Four Teacher
Robin Seeker, Special Education Teacher
Julie Marsh, Multi-Language Learner Teacher
Julie Kirby, Instructional Strategist
Tyler Blatt, Instructional Support Ed. Tech
James Mills, Instructional Support Ed. Tech
Caroline Baker, Instructional Support Ed. Tech
Jake Morrill, Instructional Support Ed. Tech
Meredith Molloy, Instructional Support Ed. Tech
Kathy Gardner, School Nutrition

COMMUNICATION & OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Communication between home and school is an important priority at YES. Please review the YES 2024-25 Handbook that is posted on our website. This will provide you with detailed information on our policies and procedures.

After that, most of our correspondence will be through email. Throughout the year, Dani Carter and Heather Young, our administrative assistants, will send informational emails from the office.

We will also send out a monthly newsletter and encourage you to follow us on our school website news feed to keep up on all the learning, information, and fun that occurs throughout the school year. Please make sure that you check your child’s teacher page, website, or blog as this is the best way to stay informed.

DAILY SCHEDULE/ARRIVAL & DISMISSAL

Our official school hours are from 8:50 AM to 3:30 PM. For those students who are taking the bus, information on your bus line arrival to pick up and drop off is posted on the Yarmouth district website. There will be 10 buses in the elementary run this year. We identify each bus by a number (1 through 10). The number of the bus line is featured prominently on each school bus to make identification easier.

Children should not arrive before 8:30 AM as there is no supervision before then. School begins promptly at 8:50 AM. Please remind your bike riders/walkers of this! Students being dropped off by parents should be dropped off in the drop-off/pick-up loop in front of the main entrance. Prior to 8:50 AM students will transition into their classrooms or eat breakfast in the cafeteria.

In the afternoon, please try and plan your pick-up time for your child’s dismissal, use PikMyKid procedures (outlined below), and stay in your vehicle as your child will be directed to your car. Please have car tags displayed prominently.

We will begin a staggered dismissal process just after 3:25 PM. All students will be dismissed by 3:30 PM. Any parents picking up should be at school and waiting in the pick-up line by 3:30 PM and no later than 3:45 PM. As noted, we have a large increase in our student body enrollment this year so we greatly appreciate your patience, help, and cooperation as we work out any kinks in the system the first few days.

Please make every effort to confirm plans for after school before your children leave in the morning. If plans should change during the day, please call us and we will notify your child of new plans at the end of the day. Teachers do not always have time to check email during the day; therefore, calling the office is the safest way to notify us of a change.

PARENT DROP OFF/PICK UP & “PIK MY KID”

If you are dropping off your child at school, you will use the parent drop-off loop by the main office. Please have your child exit the passenger side of your vehicle toward the sidewalk. At the end of the day, please wait in your vehicle in the traffic circle line and we will direct vehicles to the loading area by the main entryway.

We will continue to use the PikMyKid Dismissal Application for car pickups after school. For families who were at Rowe or YES last year, you will recall that this app allows you to be in full control of your child’s dismissal and it gives us, the school, complete information regarding dismissal and the ability to acknowledge changes.

If you are a returning Rowe or YES family and you downloaded this app last year you are all set. If you are a new family to YES you will need to download the app.

Whether you have an Android phone or an iPhone, at your convenience, visit the appropriate app store and download the PikMyKid app for free. Once downloaded, the registration process is very simple. On the August 29 “drop-in day” you will be bringing home three PikMyKid Car Tags. If you are unable to make this event we will send the tags home with your child on the first day of school. As you register in the App, please use this number on the tag.

You will be the Primary Parent for your child and in control of their dismissal. You can delegate alternate individuals, but they should have the App also as it will send a matching number to the phone for us to validate the correct person is picking up the proper child. If you are part of a carpool, each child’s number will be sent to the phone for validation. You will be asked for the necessary information (Child Name, Grade, Teacher, Dismissal Mode, & Car Tag Number) upon registration. Please make sure that you have downloaded the app for the start of school.

WHOEVER IS PICKING UP YOUR CHILD MUST HAVE A CAR TAG OR A PHONE THAT DISPLAYS THE CAR TAG. That means if your child is a pickup you should:

Pull up to the pick-up loop and make sure that your Car Tag is prominently displayed on the right-hand side of your car. An adult on duty will need to see it in order to verify who you are picking up.
Pull up to an open space on the bus loop next to the sidewalk.
The supervising adults will call your child from the line, and they will load up on the right-hand side. Please stay in your car. After students load- and staff will help if needed- off you go!

To Learn a little more on your own you can view this link PikMyKid Parent FAQ and/or video: Parent Video. This is a comprehensive video of all the possible features that PikMyKid has. Please don’t be overwhelmed by all the information and keep in mind we will be using it for car pick-up dismissals only.

BIKING/WALKING TO SCHOOL

If your child plans to ride a bike to school, please remind them that the bike racks are located in two different places. One bike rack area is directly in front of the main entrance to the school. The other bike rack area is just off McCartney St. in front of the playground area.

A student is permitted to ride a bicycle or walk to school with written permission from their parent or guardian. Please send a note with your child to give to their teacher. Students are responsible for securing their bicycles to the bicycle rack and open spaces in that area. Please remember that helmets are required in Maine for all children under age 15.

ATTENDANCE PLANNING

Please remember to call us when your child will be absent or late. For your child’s protection, if you do not telephone the office by 9:15 AM, we will call you first at home and by cell phone, and, if not successful, at work. If you have a change of address and/or telephone, it is extremely important that you inform the school office so that this information can be recorded. Should an emergency arise, it is necessary for us to know where to contact you.

When your child is tardy, they must sign in with the office secretary before going to the classroom. It is very important to be on time. Students arriving late miss part of the routine and academics of their morning and require special attention, which takes extra time that could be used otherwise. They may also feel social pressure from peers.

If a child will be dismissed during the day, please send a note/email to the classroom teacher with the specific information.

When arriving late, parents need to press the call box at the main entrance to speak with office staff who will let students into the building. For safety concerns, students must wait inside the school building to be signed out.

We know that the school year has not yet begun but we are going to ask for your help. The state of Maine defines “chronically absent” as a student who misses 10% or more of the school year, excused or unexcused.

We recognize that there are days when students cannot be in school due to sickness, medical appointments, etc. However, if possible, we urge you to schedule extended family trips during school vacations. Please keep in mind that when a student misses school, they miss instruction and that learning experience cannot be replicated through makeup work.

Additionally, it is not a reasonable expectation for teachers to provide all missed work before a student leaves on a family vacation. It is also important that parents and students understand that it is the student’s responsibility to make up for missed work.

We appreciate your support in helping your child maintain strong attendance this school year.

CELL PHONE AND SMARTWATCH EXPECTATIONS

Cell phones and smart watches that are brought to school need to remain in backpacks and lockers/cubbies during the school day and are not to be used from arrival until dismissal.

We ask that you and your child do not call, text, or email each other during the school day. As noted, if there is information that must be communicated to your child during the day please contact the main office. We will make sure they get that information. We appreciate your help and support with this!

ACCIDENT INSURANCE INFORMATION

The school district does not provide any type of health or accident insurance for injuries incurred by your child at school. As a service to students and their families, our school is making available a student accident insurance plan for your child at a very nominal cost. The district offers this program because of trends in rising family health and dental insurance costs, increased deductibles, co-payments, or lack of health or dental insurance coverage. For more information please see the following: Student Accident Insurance YSD & Multi - State Student Insurance Brochure

SCHOOL NUTRITION UPDATE

The Yarmouth School Nutrition Program is committed to providing the students and staff of Yarmouth Elementary School with fun, great-tasting, and healthy breakfasts and lunches every day. YSNP participates in a national program and our menus follow the latest scientific research in nutrition published every five years as the “Dietary Guidelines for Americans.” We strive to go above and beyond by connecting the cafeteria to the classroom and community. We also source as much as we can from nearby Maine farms. Details can be found on our menus posted each month in the News section of the school web page.

School meals are available to all enrolled students at no charge for the 2024-2025 school year, regardless of household income. The free & reduced meal benefit applications do not need to be filled out to get these meals.

At the start of every school day, we offer a delicious breakfast featuring whole grain muffins, breakfast bread, cereal, and bagels. To qualify as a breakfast meal, this must include a fruit item such as bananas, orange wedges, apples, craisins, raisins, and orange juice. Low-fat or skim milk is included, but optional. Students select their breakfast choices and eat in the cafeteria before the start of school. Breakfast meals are complimentary and free of charge for all students.

Our lunch menu offers three meal choices for students to choose from every day and we always have at least one vegetarian option. Along with our hot meal options, we have a rotation of bento-type meals featuring hummus, cheddar cheese, tuna, baked beans, and even guacamole, all served with a whole grain item. Every day we have our popular sun butter & jelly sandwich with string cheese. Sunbutter is a peanut-free spread, very similar to peanut butter, and made from sunflower seeds.

A school lunch is considered a “Meal Deal” in that five components are offered every day; either meat or vegetarian protein, whole grain items, fruit, vegetables, and milk. However, students may prefer not to select all of them. A ½ cup of fruit or vegetable or combination of the two is required along with at least two other options. Students are not required to take the milk option. Like breakfast, all lunch meals are complimentary and free of charge for all students.

If your child is bringing a lunch from home and would like milk from school the cost is 50 cents. If your 5th grade student would like to get a second lunch they may request it, the cost is $3.25. Second meals are only available to 5th-grade students. If your student is making these purchases it is very important that they have funds in their nutrition account to pay for this. The school department is not staffed to send out payment reminders to parents.

*We strongly suggest that all parents activate their PayPams.com account even if you do not plan to make credit card payments. This will allow you to monitor whether your student gets a meal, any charges they make, as well as any deposits made. Setting the low-balance email reminder will provide you with an automatic notification as well. There is no fee for using PayPams to monitor your child’s account or to get email reminders.

We accept multiple forms of payment for 50-cent milk and 5th-grade second meals. We prefer the use of credit cards online at PayPams.com, which incurs a service fee of $2.95 per online deposit and requires a $10 minimum, but to reduce these charges you can put as much money as you would like on your student’s meal account or even multiple student accounts. School nutrition account funds also carry over from school year to school year. We still accept checks made out to “Yarmouth School Nutrition Program” and these can be dropped off at the school office or mailed to Yarmouth Elementary School, Attn: Yarmouth School Nutrition Program, 121 McCartney Street, Yarmouth, ME 04096. We are not responsible for money sent to school with your child.

We continually strive to improve our service of providing fun, healthy and affordable meals. Please contact us with any questions and/or feedback that you may have about our program. Research continues to support that students who eat nutritious meals perform better academically. We take our job very seriously so that students are prepared for the high level of learning that happens in the classroom. Thank you for trusting us with your child’s nutrition!

Kaytlin Anthony Blair Currier, SNS

Manager, YES Cafeteria Director of School Nutrition

846-0579 846-2323

P.S. We are currently hiring and need your help providing meals for kids. We are looking for friendly and positive individuals with a willingness to learn, no experience necessary. Work entails a variety of kitchen-related jobs in a fast-paced environment on school calendar days. That means weekends, school vacations, holidays, and snow days off. Working as a substitute provides even more flexibility. Convenient lunchtime hours, between 3 and 3.5 hours/day. $19.83 per hour, $20.31 after 6 months.

Please contact us for more information

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

SCHOOL NURSE NOTES

Hello friends! My name is Maria D'Andrea and I am the school nurse joining the Yarmouth community this year. I come from a busy and diverse school district and am excited to bring my skills and love of school nursing to Yarmouth. I am hoping for a healthy, balanced, and fun school year, and look forward to getting to know all of you. I have an open-door policy, feel free to drop an email or give me a call to discuss anything at any time.

Here are a few housekeeping items I would like all families to be aware of:

Please feel free to contact me at any time at 207-846-3391 or maria_d'andrea@yarmouthschools.org.
The district-based school nurse webpage can be found HERE and includes information for all four Yarmouth schools.
Please continue to health screen your children prior to sending them to school and let the school know if they are not feeling well. Some examples include vomiting or diarrhea in the last 24 hours, fever of 100.4 or higher in the last 24 hours, uncontrolled stuffy nose or cough, unexplained rash, or unable to tolerate their school day.
There will be an in-school-based flu clinic. Be on the lookout for an electronic sign-up. If you need a paper form, please let me or your child's teacher know and we will send one home. More details to come!
If your student needs to take medication at school, all medicines are administered in accordance with the Yarmouth School Department’s Medication Policy, and it can be read: HERE
1. Any prescription medication given on school grounds must have a permission form signed by parents and the physician and that form can be accessed: HERE
For medical concerns for your student, please reach out to me at any time. I will be available by email and in person (by appointment) to meet with any parent or guardian who would like to review their student's medical plan and/or drop off medications before the start of the school year. Please reach out to me with any concerns.

Again, welcome back to school and I look forward to meeting all of you!

School Nurse Maria D'Andrea

SCHOOL COUNSELOR'S CORNER

The start of school can bring about a wide array of emotions from excitement to worry. We have linked two articles below that may be helpful in getting ready for the new school year!

Back to school routines Back to school anxiety

If you have any questions or would like to discuss any other concerns you can contact Laura Murray via email at laura_murray@yarmouthschools.org or Chelsea Beckett at chelsea_beckett@yarmouthschools.org

We hope you have a restful end of the summer and we look forward to a wonderful school year!

Laura Murray & Chelsea Beckett, YES School Counselors

PARENT TEACHER ORGANIZATION (PTO) NEWS

The Yarmouth PTO is looking for volunteers at all levels! Please visit our quick volunteer survey and indicate any areas of interest. We can't wait to have you join us!

If you're new to Yarmouth or are just looking for an update on what's new for families around town, please check out our online welcome packet-- an amazing, comprehensive, live document compiled by our Welcome Committee with info about local and state events, attractions, resources, and much more!

MEET & GREET DROP-IN

Our opening day is just around the corner. We look forward to seeing you at our informal drop-in “Meet and Greet” on Thursday, August 29. Please note that the times for each grade level are staggered to help with parking. If you have children in more than one grade level, times are staggered so that you can plan your visit accordingly.

Grade 2: 9:45- 10:30 AM

Grade 3: 10:00- 10:45 AM

Grade 4: 10:15- 11:00 AM

Grade 5: 10:30- 11:15 AM

Please note that the classroom visits are designed to be brief. This is an opportunity for you and your children to meet their teachers, visit their classroom space, and then visit/explore other spaces in the building.

IMPORTANT DATES IN SEPTEMBER

Please keep the following early fall dates and events in mind as you plan:

September 3, Tuesday First Day of School! 8:50 AM

September 10, Tuesday Grade 2 Open House 6:00 PM

September 17, Tuesday Grade 3 & 4 Open House 6:00 PM

September 14, Tuesday Band Information Night. 6:30 PM

September 19, Thursday K-4 PTO Meeting 4:00 PM

September 24, Tuesday Grade 5 Open House 6:00 PM

October 1, Tuesday School Picture Day

At the second grade Open House we will begin in the cafeteria at 6:00 PM for a brief meeting. We will provide an introduction and you will also have an opportunity to meet with our unified arts team before spending the rest of the evening with your child’s classroom teacher.

At grade three, four, and five Open House events, please proceed directly to your child’s classroom/homeroom, where presentations will begin promptly at 6:00 PM. At these events, you will have the opportunity to visit your child’s classroom, begin to form a relationship with the classroom teachers, as well as learn about that grade-level experience and how you can support your children and the school.

Please note that Open House is for parents only.

Also on Tuesday, September 17, there will be a “Band Information Session” for parents beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria. We offer grade four and five band instruction for our students. Mrs. Witherall-Stebbins will be available to share information about the band this year as well as answer any questions that people may have. Interested grade four families can transition from their child’s classroom to the cafeteria that evening and grade five parents are also welcome to attend this evening.

From the Principals