April 1, 2019
Dear Rowe Families,
We hope this letter finds you winding down from the winter season and gearing up for new activities and warmer weather for spring! We have had an eventful month and are looking forward to more learning and special events for our final stretch of the year. Last week, we held our information night for our new kindergarten families.
Maine Author
As most of you know, Maine author Chris Van Dusen was here on March 21st. He collaborated with the children to create creatures based on real life animals such as an owl-pig-scorpion-rattlesnake-camel combination named Mercy Stinger. He created a different creature with each group. He drew the animals with parts from each one represented and helped the children think about how they would write a story about the character. Needless to say, he was a big hit with both grade levels! We are so grateful to our Yarmouth PTO for helping to fund this amazing experience for the children. Thanks also go out to our librarian, Mrs. Jones, for making the arrangements and organizing the purchase and signing of Mr. Van Dusen’s books.
March Community Meeting
Our March Community Meeting was hosted by Mrs. Uraneck’s, Ms. Lee’s and Ms. Berry’s first-grade classes. The hosting classes taught us a new song based on the well-known tune “Skip To My Lou,” taught us greetings in sign language and treated us to some amazing strumming on the ukelele.
Study of light in kindergarten
The kindergarten students just completed their study of light with their teachers and our district science consultant, Debbie Landry. The children made predictions and recorded their observations on the following questions: Does light travel through objects, bounce off objects, does it bend, and is it made up of a variety of colors? The light lab experiments were engaging and interesting. A big thanks go out to the K teaching team, Debbie Landry, the parent volunteers who were here to help and to the Yarmouth Education Foundation for funding this important learning experience for our youngest children.
Poetry
First graders recently finished up a narrative writing unit and will begin reading and writing poetry in the next few weeks. All six classes met with their teachers and I today to share a poem and talk about ways to get inspiration for writing poems. There will be a sharing of poems written by the children across first-grade classrooms at the end of the unit. Kindergarten students will also be studying poetry soon.
Outdoor clothing
Please continue to send your child to school with a warm coat, hat, and mittens or gloves. We are finding that our playground can get extremely windy and we want to be sure everyone is dressed warmly enough. Today was an example of a very cold but sunny day. If the weather warms up, they can always place unneeded items in their backpacks. Thanks in advance for your help!
Morning arrival
If you are dropping your child off from the parking lot, please be sure to walk him/her across the lot. There are a number of cars coming and going and we want to ensure the safety of all of our students. If you are dropping off from the car line near the sidewalk, feel free to let your child walk from there to the playground, but please do not leave until you see them enter the gate. Thanks again for the help!
Please remember Colors Week!!
It was great to see so many students and staff dressed in red today. Several children reported that the strawberries were very tasty.
Rowe school is celebrating a week of colors April 1-4!
This event is sponsored by the Food Services Department and is a fun way of focusing on healthy eating while also getting to join in on some community fun!
Each day of this week will have a color of the day.
Children are encouraged to wear the color of the day and there will be fruits and vegetables to match, offered as samples to every child during lunchtime.
Monday (RED): Strawberry
Tuesday: (ORANGE/YELLOW): Pineapple/orange slices
Wednesday: (GREEN): Snap Peas
Thursday: (BLUE): Blueberries & Vanilla Yogurt
Friday: (RAINBOW): Kale chips/Carrots/tomato
Rowe Show Reminders for first-grade families
When and Where?
Wednesday, April 10
Yarmouth Performing Arts Center (at YHS)
Performers will meet their teachers in the YHS music room at 6:15
Show starts at 6:30 and will last about 30 minutes
Park in the back parking lot for easiest access to YPAC and the music room
What should my first grader wear?
Look nice! This is a great opportunity to get some extra wear out of those fancy clothes.
How will I reconnect with my child after the performance?
I will call parents to the stage by class after the performance. Please be sure to check out with your child’s classroom teacher before leaving so we know everyone is back safely with family.
If you have any questions, please be in touch!
Sincerely,
Michelle Mullane
Rowe music teacher
Yarmouth Education Foundation Fundraiser
Mark your calendars for Wednesday, April 24, for a Yarmouth Education Foundation fundraiser! Brickyard Hollow will donate 5% of its sales that evening to YEF. It’s an exciting time of year for YEF as the organization is getting ready to award another round of grants to our schools. Winners will be announced later this month!
PTO event On Friday, April 26th
“Big Kids Helping Babies” Rowe School Movie Night
Date: Friday April 26
Doors Open: 5:30
Movie begins at 5:45
Location: Harrison Middle School cafeteria
Rowe School families are invited to enjoy a movie night with pizza $2 and popcorn $1. Families are welcome, but not required, to bring diapers and/or wipes which will be collected for the Yarmouth Food Pantry. Children are encouraged to bring a pillow and sleeping bag or something to lounge with to watch the movie. There will be tables set up for eating.
***Families are asked to bring their own water bottles to the event.
The movie of choice was voted on by Rowe School’s very own kindergarten and first graders and the winner was Storks!
PLEASE NOTE: This event is for parents/caregivers to enjoy with their children. Children must be supervised in and around the middle school at all times.
PTO NEWS
Hannaford Gift Cards – Due Wed, April 10 at noon.
Silver Graphics – PLEASE NOTE: You can choose from over 40 keepsakes that feature YOUR child’s artwork! These make wonderful gifts for parents and grandparents. The sale begins March 28. *Paper forms are due April 8; online forms are due April 10. Products will be available to pick up from the YES library on May 7 (Tues) and May 8 (Wed), 3:30-6pm – right before Mother’s Day!
Volunteering for Next School Year – If you want the chance to connect in new ways with the schools and work with a fun group of people, just click the link below to fill out our 1 to 2-minute PTO survey. We have positions for all levels of time commitments and interests. Filling out the form does not obligate you but does give us a chance to learn about your interests and how you might like to help. http://bit.ly/PTOVolunteerSurv...
Rowe School Movie Night – Rowe students are invited to a movie night at HMS gym on Friday, April 26. Student votes are in, and the movie selected is Storks! Doors open at 5:30 pm; movie begins at 5:45 pm. Moviegoers are invited to bring baby wipes and/or diapers for the Yarmouth Food Pantry. Pizza and popcorn will be available for $1.
Raise Craze-Wave of Kindness - WOW! Our students performed over 750 Acts of Kindness, collected 78 reusable shopping bags for Yarmouth Food Pantry, kept 7 lbs of markers out of the landfill, added over 15 pounds of plastic caps towards a community bench, and raised over $200 for the YCAN Lunch Crunch program. Our 3 events were a wonderful way to meet new friends and participate in kindness activities together. Over $4,000 was raised, which will go to fund student enrichment this year. Thank you to all who participated! The ripple of our Kindness Wave will be felt all spring!
PTO Meeting – Please join us April 25 at 4 pm in the YES library.
Thank You! – Our generous parents are as amazing as this list of PTO-funded enrichments. Please contact Heather or Christy with comments/questions. (christinehayashida@hotmail.com or info@yarmouthpto.org).
Message from YHS Global Action Club
The Yarmouth High School Global Action Club is sponsoring a clothing drive to support refugees in the greater Portland area! People coming to Maine often have very few belongings, especially winter clothing. This clothing drive will help their transition to our Maine communities.
Please help support this cause by bringing in clothing (especially winter clothing -- coats, hats, gloves, boots, pants, shirts, etc.) and any extra bags or backpacks!
We will have a blue bin in the Rowe School main office where you can place your donations, or you can deliver the items to the main office at YES, or HMS or YHS. We will be accepting donations through April 10!
Important Dates
Friday, April 5th YGT Encore show at YES, students dismissed from YES, except for Clipper Care
Wednesday, April 10th Rowe Show for first graders, Yarmouth High School Performing Arts Center (refer to the details in this newsletter)
Friday, April 12th- Friday April 19th Spring Vacation No School
Monday, April 22nd - Children return to school
Thursday, April 25th 4:00 pm YES library
Friday, April 26th 5:30 pm PTO Movie night in HMS Cafeteria
Sincerely,
Susan Lobel
Rowe School Principal