November 9, 2023
Dear HMS Parents and Guardians,
We hope this message finds you enjoying the start to the month of November. Pictured here are five of our Student Leadership Team members. These five students joined hundreds of others from across the state at a conference hosted at the Hyde School. Our students engaged in a variety of activities that continued to develop their leadership skills, and HMS is fortunate to have many students involved in our Student Leadership Team! On Saturday, we celebrate Veterans Day, when we honor our military veterans. Veteran’s Day has been a federal holiday since 1938. Tomorrow, we will have no school in honor of our veterans.
In this update you will find information about the following topics:
Attendance Nugget
Ski Swap
Cellphone/Smartwatch Policy
PTO Update
School Picture Retakes
Lost and Found
6th Grade Play (reminder)
Thanksgiving Baskets (reminder)
Dates to Date
Our next HMS Update will be sent on December 1, 2023. We encourage you to please reach out with any questions you may have. Thank you for your partnership.
With Gratitude,
Mandy Lewis and Tom McDowell
HMS Administrative Team
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Attendance Nugget
As the holiday season approaches and families may be making plans, we wanted to draw attention to the importance of school attendance. The graphic below shares a snapshot of a student’s attendance over the course of the year and the impact of even one or two days absent a month. Thank you for helping your student establish a pattern of regular attendance.
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Ski Swap
The annual Yarmouth Ski Swap is being held on November 18th at Rowe School. There is no better and cheaper way to get our town out to enjoy the wonderful winter around us. Details are on our website link at https://www.yarmouthskiclub.org/events/ski-swap.
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Cellphone/Smartwatch Policy
At HMS, student cellphones are stored in lockers, backpacks, or laptop cases from 8 AM to 2:45 PM. Smartwatches are turned off and not used for communication purposes from 8 AM to 2:45 PM. Students use a landline phone in the office if they need to call a parent/guardian/caregiver. If you need to get a message to your child during the school day, please call the main office at 846-2499, and we will deliver the message. Thank you for your cooperation in this and your support of a cellphone/smartwatch-free school day for our students.
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PTO Update
Jessica Raimy - PTO Volunteer Coordinator
The PTO is currently looking for one or two people to lead the Glow Run at HMS! This fundraiser is loads of fun - students in grades 5 - 8 walk, run, and dance through a glowing track, gather pledges, and earn fun incentives such as silly stringing a teacher and playground equipment. The lead(s) would be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the Glow Run including communications with school staff and vendors, management of prizes/incentives, some advertising (prepping social media posts of incentive photos and totals updates to create excitement), and overseeing and attending the day of the actual event. The Glow Run is scheduled to run January 12th - January 24th, with the actual event on the 24th and some prep work before these dates. The past lead of Glow Run will be available for guidance, some assistance, and any questions you might have. If you are interested or would like more information on this opportunity, please email Lenora and Katie at yarmouthpto04096@gmail.com.
Make it- Take it-Madeline Backman
The PTO is looking for volunteers for this year's Make-It & Take-It event on Sunday, December 3rd from 11-2 pm at YES. Love to craft? Table Leader is the perfect role for you! If you sign up to be a table leader we will connect with you in the next few weeks to get you supplies, and instructions and give you information about any prep work needed before the event. Want to help but don't want to lead a table? No problem! We have plenty of other roles to fill and we would love to have your help. Please take a look at the SignUpGenius for all the available roles including table leaders, table helpers, bakers, ticket sales, setup, and cleanup. View the flyer for more information.
PTO Directory Information - view link here for directory information.
Hannaford Gift Card Upcoming Load will be November 15 - view link here for more information.
The Next Public PTO Meeting will be held November 16th at 7:00-8:30 pm at the Yarmouth Elementary School library. All are welcome!
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School Picture Retakes
Picture Retake Day will be held at HMS on Tuesday, November 14th. Retake Day is for new students, transfer students, anyone who may have missed the initial picture day, or anyone who was unhappy with their original picture and would like to give it another try. If a student would like the retake photo to replace the original photo, please have the student return the original picture package to the photographer on picture day. Geskus will replace the original package at no additional cost.
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Lost and Found
The HMS Lost and Found continues to grow! Please encourage your student to take a look in our Lost and Found to see if any of the items belong to them. All unclaimed items will be donated on November 21, 2023.
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6th Grade Play (reminder)
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Fifth Period
Playscripts describes our 6th-grade play in the following way: "To win his freedom from school bully Bugs, smart aleck Tommy offers to help him get a date to the prom with popular actress Stephanie Mezaluna. But the only way to get her attention is to convince her that Bugs is a famous actor in hiding, and as one cover-up leads to another, it's not long before a jock, Steve, is parading as Bug's slick New York agent, 4and Tommy is stuck trying to get Steve's sister a date to the prom. Of course, prom tickets are only on sale until fifth period -- so Tommy has to act fast and try to control the chaos in this wild high school hallway farce." You are invited to see our 6th graders perform in one of two performances: November 11 at 1pm or 5pm. These performances are free to the public!
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Thanksgiving Baskets (reminder)
For families in need of assistance with their Thanksgiving meal, please review this flyer. Completed forms may be turned into me at the middle school: Catherine_Nein@yarmouthschools.org.
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Dates to Date
November 10: No school - Veterans Day
November 11: 6th Grade Play - 1pm and 5pm
November 14: School Picture Retake Day
November 16: PTO meeting at 7pm at YES
December 3: PTO Make It, Take It Event - 11-2pm at YES