Hello Dolphin Community,

Today across the district staff are engaged in a wide-range of professional learning opportunities. This includes staff that are learning about our new K-12 curriculum that supports social development, newly adopted English curriculum, guidelines for assessing threats in schools, supporting multi-lingual learners, as well as a variety of offerings tailored for specific staff and their unique roles within the district. This day of learning is part of a commitment to our Core Value of Excellence, specifically, our behavioral description of excellence that states, "We empower students to take accountability for their learning and equip educators to master their craft using evidence-based and innovative models for instruction and classroom management."

During last week's School Committee meeting, our Chairman, Tomas Tolentino, announced that one of the Committee members, Joe Glynn, contacted the chair to resign his position from the School Committee. First, we want to thank Mr. Glynn for his service and dedication to the School Committee. Second, according to our regional agreement a resignation in the middle of a Committee member's term is filled by the respective town's select board. The Town of Yarmouth is looking for interested individuals to fill the remainder of Mr. Glynn's term to contact them this month. The regional agreement requires that they appoint a replacement within 30 days, so they are on a tight timeline. Anyone interested in serving their school community in this way, please see section below entitled School Committee Vacancy for more information from the Town of Yarmouth. If anyone has any questions about the role and responsibilities of a School Committee member and would like to ask a few questions, please feel free to contact me at my office.

Now that we are already over a month into the school year, school and classroom routines are well established and student learning is in high gear. I have been out visiting classrooms with principals over the past few weeks, and it has been so great to see how quickly students and staff have established new learning communities as well as moved right into rigorous content. Families can support this at home in two important ways. First, as mentioned in the last message, it is critical to support learning by helping students be in school as many days as physically possible. Second, families can support academic growth by establishing learning routines at home like a set time for homework/practice, a designated spot for homework/practice, minimizing distractions when students are working at home on school work, and staying in regular communication with your child's teacher with any concerns.

Thank you for your ongoing support and enjoy the long weekend,

Marc J. Smith, Ed. D.

The Select Board of the Town of Yarmouth is seeking an interested local resident to serve an interim vacant term as the Yarmouth representative to the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School Committee. This term will run until the annual Town election in May, 2026, when this position will be elected. The interim appointee may run to fill the elected seat. A letter of interest outlining your background and experience is requested and will be accepted until the deadline of October 28, 2025.

Letters of interest should be addressed to Pamela Barnes c/o Town Administrator's Office, Yarmouth Town Hall, 146 Route 28 South Yarmouth MA 02664. The Select Board will review candidates' submissions and conduct an interview process at their meeting on Tuesday, November 4, 2025.

Interested candidates are required to be available for interview on November 4th. The successful candidate will serve until the annual spring election.

Families please take a few minutes to complete the Annual Student Information Verification Form. This form replaces the old process of paper forms that used to be sent home by the school previously. It is important for families to complete this process so that we have the most up to date contact, safety, and health information for your child.

UPDATE: This week turf installers began putting down the "pad" and "carpet" on the upper field. This followed drainage testing of the sub base material that occurred over the previous weekend. Following the turf install, the paving of the track around the upper track will be finalized along with the reinstallation of the fencing.

If you are looking to stay up to date on the DYIMS field project, please visit our web page dedicated to this specific project.

For any families with an uncertain immigration status and that may be concerned about the care and custody of their children in the event of a sudden detention or deportation by immigration officials, please see this resource created by the Office of the Attorney General that provides guides and legal options. The guides are provided in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Haitian Creole.