From the Principals

Dear YES Families,

We hope this message finds you well and that you’re enjoying a wonderful summer break. As we gear up for another exciting school year, we’re thrilled to welcome both our returning families and those joining the YES community for the first time. We apologize for the length of this newsletter—but there’s a lot of important information to share!

The start of a new school year always brings a sense of anticipation and possibility. Our dedicated staff has been busy preparing a safe, nurturing, and engaging environment—one that supports both academic growth and personal development for every student.

Strong communication between school and home is essential to your child’s success. We encourage an open and collaborative partnership and invite you to reach out with questions, concerns, or ideas at any time. Working together, our goal is to make your child’s educational journey both fulfilling and inspiring.

As of today, our enrollment stands at 446 students: 102 in Grade 2, 122 in Grade 3, 123 in Grade 4, and 99 in Grade 5. Grades 2–4 each have six classrooms/teachers, and Grade 5 has five classrooms.

We’re looking forward to seeing familiar faces, meeting new ones, and hearing all about your summer adventures. For those who don’t know us yet…

Ryan Gleason, YES Principal: I have been a teacher and school administrator in Maine for the past thirty-three years. This will be my ninth 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 nineteen years, and this will be my thirteenth year in Yarmouth and fifth 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 year ahead promises to be one filled with discovery, growth, and shared accomplishments. We are grateful for the trust you place in us and proud to partner with you in supporting your child’s journey.

Warmest regards,

Ryan Gleason, Principal & Molly Kilpatrick, Assistant Principal

August/September 2025 News at YES

NEW YES STAFF

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

Jenna Block, Grade Five Teacher
Emily Shopland, Grade Five Teacher
Miranda Eisenhart, Grade Four Teacher
Naomi Couture, Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA)
Angela Thayer, Assistant Nurse
Karen Beaudoin, Instructional Support Ed. Tech
Katherine Fischer, Instructional Support Ed. Tech
Kaila Moore, Instructional Support Ed. Tech
Jonelle Gavett, Instructional Support Ed. Tech
Max Harvey, Instructional Support Ed. Tech
Emma Garschagen, Building Substitute Ed. Tech
Sarah Randall, Custodial Staff
Amanda Robson, GT ELA Instructional Support

COMMUNICATION & OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Communication between home and school is an important priority at YES. Please review the YES 2025-26 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.

CLASSROOM SUPPLIES

As returning families may recall, we no longer ask you to purchase classroom supplies for each student. All learning materials will be provided by the school. Students will need a backpack and a lunch box for snack/home lunch. Water bottles are also recommended. For families who need assistance with these items, please reach out to our school counselors or social worker: Laura Murray,laura_murray@yarmouthschools.org; Chelsea Beckett, chelsea_beckett@yarmouthschools.org, or Lindsey Lokken, lindsey_lokken@yarmouthschools.org

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 9 buses in the elementary run this year. We identify each bus by a number. The number of the bus line is featured prominently on each school bus to make identification easier. The bus numbers this year: 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 15

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 dismissal procedures (highlighted 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.

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 the main office, 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 PROCEDURES

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.

Beginning this year, we will no longer use PikMyKid for dismissal. We will, however, still use a Car Tag system. On the August 28 “drop-in day,” you will be bringing home three YES 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.

WHOEVER IS PICKING UP YOUR CHILD MUST HAVE A 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!

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 his/her 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.

Although electric mini-bikes have become popular with some students, it is illegal for elementary-school-aged students to ride these mini-bikes on roads or sidewalks. If students arrive at YES on electric mini-bikes, parents will be called for an alternative dismissal plan, and the bike will need to be picked up.

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 2025-2026 school year, regardless of household income. The free & reduced meal benefit applications does 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 breads, cereal, and bagels. To qualify as a breakfast meal, this must include a fruit item such as bananas, orange wedges, apples, 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, 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 option, 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 sunbutter & 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, a whole grain item, fruit, vegetables, and milk. However, students may prefer not to select all of them. ½ cup of fruit or a vegetable or a 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, free of charge for all students.

New for the 2025-2026 school year: If your child is bringing a lunch from home and would like milk from school, the milk is also free. If your child would like two milks, the cost of the second milk is 75 cents. As noted on our menus, only the first milk is free. If a student would like a free milk at breakfast, they must get a meal.

If your 5th-grade student would like to get a second lunch, they may request it; the cost is $3.50. 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 e,ven 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, but the account must be created in order for this information to be uploaded to PayPams.

We accept multiple forms of payment for 75-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 into 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 subs and 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. Convenient lunch-time hours, between 3 and 3.5 hours/day. $21.02 per hour.

Please contact us for more information: blair_currier@yarmouthschools.org
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

SCHOOL NURSE NOTES

Hello friends! My name is Maria D'Andrea, and I am the school nurse here at YES. I am hoping for a healthy, balanced, and fun school year. 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, an uncontrolled stuffy nose or cough, an unexplained rash, or being unable to tolerate their school day.
If your student needs to take medication at school, all medicines are administered in accordance with the Yarmouth School Department’s Medication Policy, which 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.

Welcome back to school, and I look forward to seeing you soon!

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

As our students prepare to board buses and hop on bikes, we're busy gearing up for another exciting year of PTO programming. Are you curious about the Yarmouth PTO? Here's a quick overview of what we do:

Our mission is to support and enhance the school experience for students, families, and teachers by providing financial and educational support for quality programming and enrichment. That means we wear a lot of hats—often we’re fundraising, organizing events like the Glow Run to help raise money for things like field trips (such as the 5th grade trip to Boston!), author visits, and supplemental supplies.

Other times, we’re FUNraising, building a strong sense of community by connecting parents, teachers, and students through exciting and meaningful activities like Make-It Take-It, the Ice Cream Social, welcome playdates, and more.

All of this work is done entirely by volunteers who collaborate with school administrators and community members to make the Yarmouth school community a welcoming, joyful place to learn and grow. On average, the PTO spends $50 per student throughout the course of the year. Will you help kick off the year with a donation to the PTO? Thank you!

Welcome Playdates

The Yarmouth PTO Welcome Committee is excited to host pop-up playdates for Grades Pre-K through 2! These casual gatherings will give incoming students a chance to meet some of their future classmates and make new friends before the school year begins.

Rowe School Playgrounds:

Wednesday, 8/27 3:00-4:30 Grade 1 play date

Thursday, 8/28 3:00-4:30 PreK and K play date

YES Playground:

Wednesday, 8/27 3:00-4:30 Grade 2 play date

First PTO Meeting of the Year

Please join us for our first PTO meeting of the year on Thursday, September 18th, in the YES library. Our meetings are open to everyone, and we encourage you to attend. We look forward to seeing you!

PTO Gather & Greet

The Yarmouth PTO would like to trial hosting an informal, regularly-scheduled drop-in coffee hour (Gather & Greet) at a local cafe for parents and community members hoping to learn more about the organization. (It's also a nice opportunity just to chat with other parents!) We're targeting Wednesdays after drop-off (9 am) or lunchtime (noon) and are seeking input about which time would be preferable. Please let us know which might work better for you here.

Thanks for all of your support of the PTO! We're looking forward to a great year, and we hope you enjoy these last couple weeks of summer!

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 28. 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 2: First Day of School!

September 9: Grade 2 & UA Open House at 6:00 PM

September 10: Grade 3 & 4 Open House 6:00 PM

September 10: Band Information Night 6:30 PM

September 16: Grade 5 Open House 6:00 PM

September 18: K-4 PTO Meeting (YES Library)4:00 PM

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.

Also on Wednesday, September 10, 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.

Yarmouth Elementary School Opening Newsletter 2025-26