Dear HMS parents, guardians, and caregivers,
Greetings and happy Friday! We have some exciting and helpful details to share in this update. On Wednesday of this week, we celebrated Coach Rich Smith before the final home game of his coaching career. Coach Smith has coached for 37 years and is retiring from coaching at the end of this middle school season. During his career as a Varsity Girls Soccer Coach at YHS, Coach Smith won 245 games, earning his place as the 12th most winningest soccer coach of all time in Maine. Members of Coach Smith’s first teams (pictured above) joined us for the celebration. Cathy Flanagan, an HMS ed tech, has also just finished her last season coaching. Coach Smith and Coach Flanagan (pictured below) have been coaching together in both high school and middle school for 30 years. When combined together, the two of them represent 67 years of coaching female athletes for the Yarmouth Schools. What an honor it is to have them both as educators with us here at HMS!
In this update, you will find information about the following topics:
Bike Safety
Health and Safety Reminders
Substitutes
Winter Athletics - Basketball
Winter Athletics - Coaches
HMS Drama Advisor
Parent/Guardian/Teacher Conferences
Dates to Remember
HMS Update #7 will be sent on November 5, 2021. Please continue to reach out with any questions.
With gratitude,
Mandy Lewis and Tom McDowell
HMS Administrative Team
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Bike Safety
We are thrilled to see so many students biking to and from school! We consistently have over 100 students biking to and from school each day. Along with this increase in ridership, we have received several concerning reports about unsafe behavior by students who bike to and from school. These reports include students riding on the street against the flow of traffic and darting into traffic without warning. If your child bikes to school, please review the rules of the road for bicyclists, with a focus on using sidewalks for riding near our schools, riding with the flow of traffic while on the street, and staying on the sidewalk or in the bike lane. Thank you!
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Health and Safety Reminders
Thank you for the many ways you help keep our school community safe. During the announcements at the end of the week, we shared this with students: Mask wearing reminder: let's all do our part to keep our school community safe! Be sure that your mask covers your mouth and nose at all times, unless you are actively eating or drinking. Wearing your mask appropriately touches on two important core values: responsibility and respect. Thank you for being responsible and respectful members of our school community! Please take a moment to review this expectation with your child at home as well.
As of this week, pooled testing has been fully implemented at HMS! If you have not yet registered your child, we encourage all parents and guardians to consider enrolling them. You may use the following information to do so:
1. Make note of the following organization code, specific to your child’s school:
Yarmouthrowe (for Rowe School students)
Yarmouthelementary (for Yarmouth Elementary School students)
Yarmouthharrison (for Harrison Middle School students)
Yarmouthhigh (for Yarmouth High School students)
2. Log into the Concentric by Ginko consent form at the following link: https://testcenter.concentricbyginkgo.com/minor-consent/
3. Complete the form and submit it for review.
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Substitutes
HMS is a great place to engage in learning. Similar to many schools in Maine, we are currently experiencing a shortage of substitute teachers. If you or someone you know enjoys supporting students as they engage in their learning, we hope you consider becoming a substitute teacher. More information is available on this page of our school department website.
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Winter Athletics - Basketball
On October 25, all 7th and 8th grade students interested in playing basketball and their parents will meet virtually with Athletic Director Gary Groves and coaches at 6pm. All other winter sports teams will meet later this fall for Winter Sports Information Night.
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Winter Athletics - Coaches
We are still looking for basketball coaches for this winter season, and if you are interested, please reach out directly to Gary Groves using this email: gary_groves@yarmouthschools.org. You may also view the posting and apply here.
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HMS Drama Advisor
We have had several students ask us for an update regarding our drama program. Our plan is to provide students with an opportunity to perform in plays as soon as we have an adult who is able to support the program. If you are interested, or if you know of someone who is interested, the posting may be viewed here.
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Parent/Guardian/Teacher Conferences
It is the time of year when our teachers provide individual opportunities to meet with them about your child’s academic, social, and emotional development. Your child’s subteam will be in touch with you directly about dates and times for these virtual conferences. We hope that many of you will take advantage of this time and connect with your child’s teachers.
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Dates to Remember
Monday, October 25th - Sports Information Night for 7/8 grade basketball - 6 PM
Thursday, November 11th and Friday, November 12th - Veterans Day break - No School
Tuesday, November 16th - School Photo retakes
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