October 5, 2018
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Our students have enjoyed getting out into the community during the last several weeks. They have taken a walking tour of Main Street, visited Reid State Park for the coastal cleanup, started this year’s work at the Yarmouth Shellfish Nursery, and traveled to Mt. Apatite to study geology. We will continue to engage with our community in ways that enable our students to make authentic connections to their learning!
In-Service Learning: Our educators spent time today learning about student empowerment from educator A.J. Juliani. He is the co-author of Empower: What Happens When Students Own Their Learning. "In Empower, A.J. Juliani and John Spencer provide teachers, coaches and administrators with a roadmap that will inspire innovation, authentic learning experiences, and practical ways to empower students to pursue their passions in school." We are looking forward to sharing ideas about student empowerment and what this looks like and feels like in our classrooms, as we move through the year.
HMS/Rotary Student Recognition Program: We are pleased to partner with Sarah McGillivray, of the Yarmouth Rotary Club, for the second year of the HMS/Rotary Student Recognition Program. The program invites teachers to recommend one student from each grade level, and one Unified Arts student per grade level, to be recognized by the Rotary twice a year, from October through May. Student recognition is based on the effort/grit/perseverance students demonstrate throughout the year. This is a wonderful fit with our work on growth mindset and risk-taking with learning.
An Important Message From Casco Bay CAN: October is National Substance Use Prevention Month and Casco Bay region schools are uniting to promote the health and well-being of youth in our communities. As school leaders we feel that it is important to work together in preventing and reducing youth substance use in our schools and communities. The Talk Early, Talk Often, and Keep Talking campaign supports our shared vision to encourage positive youth development. Please see the attached letter for more information about this important topic.
Middle school students attending YHS athletic events: Thank you for attending these events with your middle school children. This will ensure that our students have the supervision necessary to make appropriate decisions regarding their safety.
PTO UPDATE for Close Buy (online ordering only):
-Visit www.closebuycatalog.com and click SHOP
-Click SHOP NOW
-In the Seller ID window, enter 1083489 to ensure Yarmouth Schools will be the beneficiary of your purchase**
-Orders will be delivered to our school at no charge unless you choose home shipping. Home shipping is free for online orders of $79 or higher.
*The only change to the directions is the Seller ID number. We received the updated number from Close Buy, so please use this number given above. Please email your Close Buy reps with any questions or concerns. Thank you for your continued support!
Jen MacDonald, jenmacd2008@gmail.com
Sarah Day, sarahcday@gmail.com
DATES TO REMEMBER:
Columbus Day-October 8-NO SCHOOL
HMS Flu clinic-October 11-from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM-This information has been sent home by email.
PTO Meeting-October 18-from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM, in the YES library
HMS Picture Day-October 23-from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM-MORE INFORMATION COMING SOON
Wishing you and yours a wonderful, long weekend.
Joan Adler and Tom McDowell
HMS Administrative Team