February 25, 2019
Dear Parents and Guardians,
We have begun our work on the placement process for the upcoming school year. We are committed to creating balanced classroom communities, which are integral to positive learning environments and equal opportunities for all students. With this goal in mind, we carefully consider the needs of each student as an individual and a learner.
We go through several different steps of this process, which ensures input from staff members who work with our students. Given the complex nature of the placement process, and the number of variables we consider, we are unable to honor specific requests for teaching teams and/or placing students with friends.
Recognizing that placement for the coming year can bring up some anxious feelings for children and parents, we have developed a variety of Step-Up Day activities to support this transition. These activities provide all students with a chance to spend time with their grade level teams for the coming school year. We will share more information about this in the coming months.
We also recognize that students’ and/or parents’ thoughts about the best fit for placement may differ from the placement assigned. We strive to teach our students about the power of growth mindset and resiliency, and developing coping strategies they can use when things turn out differently than they hope or imagine. Supporting our children to learn from these opportunities will make them stronger and more confident moving forward.
We appreciate your partnership with this essential work and we thank you for your support.
Joan Adler and Tom McDowell
HMS Administrative Team
220 McCartney Street * Yarmouth, ME * 04096 * 207.846.2499