HMS staff members spell the word together during one of the August in-services days
June 11, 2021
Dear HMS Students and Families,
We end this unusual school year the same way we began, sharing the photo of “Together” created by the HMS staff. We have felt your strength with us all year, and we are beyond grateful for your ongoing support. Tom and I are in awe of everything that your children and the HMS staff have accomplished together. The growth, discovery, and understanding of community that your children have demonstrated since last March is truly remarkable.
This is the last parent newsletter of the school year and the last newsletter that I will share with you given my upcoming retirement. It has been a privilege to work in Yarmouth the last 19 years. My time here is a memory that I will hold dear as I move on to other adventures. I am excited to hear about what lies ahead for this incredible school and district, and I know that your children will be in exceptional hands with our new principal, Mandy Lewis, Tom McDowell, and the HMS staff!
We are pleased to share the following information about the step-up experience that we will provide for students on June 14, along with our recent adventures in learning.
With gratitude and best wishes,
Joan Adler and Tom McDowell
HMS Administrative Team
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Step-Up on June 14
The goal of step-up day this year is for students to meet their teachers and see the peers in their homeroom. Students in grades 5, 6, and 7 will have the opportunity to do this, briefly, on Monday afternoon, June 14, when they step up to next year’s homeroom. Students’ full schedules will be shared on the parent PowerSchool portal, as they always are, sometime at the start of July. We will let you know when the schedules are available.
Our current 8th grade students will spend that afternoon at Yarmouth High School for their step-up experience. Our teachers will walk the students to YHS at 11:45 am. Eighth-grade students will be dismissed from the high school at 2:00 pm on Monday.
HMS Yearbook
Some members of the HMS Yearbook Team with advisor Holly Allen
Congratulations to this year’s remarkable yearbook team and wonderful advisor, Holly Allen! The yearbook provides a beautiful compilation of memories from this unprecedented time. The team includes Eli Snow, Caleb Ferrell, Camden Billings, Aubrey Favreau, Haley Doan, Cassidy Chambers, Abby Heselton, Leah Carroll, and Caroline Gerber. We still have some 2021 HMS yearbooks! They will be available until they run out. The cost is $30.00 - payable by cash or a check made out to HMS.
Thanks to our PTO!
The Civil Rights Team and their advisors, Charlotte Agell and Steph Hill, along with staff members who support the CRT, want to thank the PTO for funding their wonderful end of the year activity! The students and staff enjoyed a delightful afternoon tie dying team t-shirts, which represent their essential work for our school. Many thanks! CRT members at work and play:
Congratulations to Ollie Brown!
Ollie receives an award from State Representative Art Bell for his amazing accomplishment as the winner of the Maine State Spelling Bee!
Laptops were collected this afternoon from our students who receive in-person instruction. We will collect laptops from our students who have participated in the fully remote model on Thursday, June 17, from 8:00 am to 10:00 am and 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Students and/or parents can drop laptops and school supplies off at HMS during these times. They can also pick up their yearbooks. We sent a separate email about the plan for this collection.
HMS Welcome Mural, brought to us by ArtX and CRT Students
Our ArtX and Civil Rights Team working on the Welcome Mural
We are excited to share the beautiful HMS Welcome Mural, based on a design by Leah Carroll (7th grade student), and painted with the help of the following students: Leah Carroll, Sophie Onyera, Bakota Bolese, Will Lachance, Sebastian Silver, Camden-May Billings, Jay Duncan, Emi Runge, Maya Faulstich, Maddie Fleming, Clara Herman, Anna Tati Pambou, Spencer Parker, Josh Webber, Cassie Chambers, Lara Cakmakci, Katya Chambers, and Aubrey Favreau. Special thanks to the ArtXAdvisor, Ms. Agell, and to staff members who helped with this special project: Mustafa Rashid, Janice Medenica, Mike Hickey, Stephanie Hill, and Laura Mike!
We are hugely grateful to Brandie Burrows, HMS Librarian, for connecting with our students through the wonderful virtual book clubs she ran this year! Brandie shared the following about this unique experience:
“Our first meeting was in October and over the past 8 months we have met virtually every Wednesday to discuss books from the Maine Student Book Award nominee list. During that time we read seven books (1,930 pages!) and had amazing, hilarious, and insightful discussions about each book. Meeting with these students to discuss the chapters we had read was one of the highlights of my week!”
Brandie and HMS Virtual Book Club Members:
In other library news - please take some time to review these exciting resources with your children:
A final word from the HMS Library:
All books have to be returned to the HMS library as soon as possible as the deadline for returning books was June 1. We still have over 200 books that need to be returned. Please check to make sure your child has returned any HMS books to our library. Thank you very much for your help with this!
Legenda
Legenda advisor, Charlotte Agell, and the 8th grade Legenda staff members are so pleased to share this news: The 25th issue of Legenda is now live on our school and district sites. Thank you to all who submitted!
Important Dates To Remember
- Tuesday, June 15, Last Day of School - Students will be dismissed at 11:00 AM
Have a happy, healthy summer!