February 20,2026 Newsletter

Dear Patriot Families,

Thank you for your continued partnership and support. A reminder that Quarter 2 report cards are available to view in ParentVue. If there are any questions, please feel free to contact your students’ teachers or counselor.

We continue to support students with course selection for next school year. Students have been meeting with counselors the past 3 weeks, but for students who have not yet met with their counselor expect counselors to pull them in the coming weeks.  The deadline for selecting courses in SchooLinks is March 2nd. More information below.

A reminder that the Your Voice Matters Survey is now open, and we invite every member of our community to participate. Families can access the anonymous family survey here. Thank you for your feedback!

Have a great weekend.

Sincerely,

Dr. Kevin Clark

Principal

In this message: 

• What’s Happening at Yorktown
• Counseling Corner
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• Activities Updates
• Senior Updates
• Technology Corner
• Upcoming Dates

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT YORKTOWN

Course Planning for Next Year

Students have been meeting individually with their counselors the past few weeks to develop a course plan in SchooLinks that covers the next 1-3 years.  The plan will be reviewed each year and can be adjusted as needed.  The courses that they added in their plan for next school year will be uploaded into our student information system (Synergy) as their 2026-26 course requests. Follow these directions to learn more about course plans and to view and acknowledge your student’s plan.

Good Luck State Qualifiers

Yorktown has representatives in four state tournaments over the next ten days.  Gymnastics competes in Virginia Beach on Friday and Saturday, February 20-21, while swim takes to the pool in Stafford on Saturday, February 21.  Jenna will represent our wrestling team at the girls state championships on February 24-25 in Henrico, VA.  Track heads to Virginia Beach on March 3 for their State Tournament – good luck to Theo, Molly and Kaiya.  Meanwhile the basketball teams continue in the region tournament next week as spring sports start up.  Good luck to all.

Congratulations Students Honored in the Scholastic Art Show 

Congratulations to all of the Yorktown students who were awarded Scholastic Art Awards. There will be an art show honoring Gold Medal recipients from March 2 – 26th at the Syphax Center at 2110 Washington Blvd, Arlington, VA 22204.

The Scholastic Art Awards Ceremony will be held on Wednesday,  March 4th at 6:30 pm at Kenmore Middle School. Congratulations to each and every one of you!! We are so proud of your participation, effort and outstanding accomplishment. Winning Student entries 

Congratulations to the Yorktown Big Band jazz ensemble 

Yorktown Big Band jazz ensemble on a terrific performance at the George Mason Jazz Festival! Senior guitar player Silas Frickert was recognized as an outstanding performer, and Yorktown’s trumpets were recognized as the best trumpet section at the festival.

Congratulations FBLA

Yorktown recently competed in the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Regional Competition, and our students delivered an outstanding performance. We are proud to share that 25 students competed,  and we medaled in 15 different events, earning multiple first-, second-, and third-place finishes across a wide range of business and technology categories. Several of our top performers will now advance to the state competition, representing Yorktown at the next level. We congratulate all of our student competitors for their hard work and dedication—if you see them, please join us in celebrating their tremendous achievement.

First Place:

Walter Shiu – Agribusiness

Damon Maher – Banking and Financial Systems

Duarte Faria, Faris Kiamie, and Walter Shiu – Business Ethics

Clara Amundson – Networking Infrastructures

Second Place:

Nathan Stavish and Dimitrios Kollias – Coding and Programming

Truman Becknell – Data Science & AI

Max Yoon – Human Resource Management

Liam Quinn and Evan Reilly – Management Information Systems

Third Place:

Molly Levy – Advertising

Nathan Stavish – Computer Problem Solving

Daniel Phelan and Freddy Vellucci – Intro to Business Presentation

Rahil Menta – Intro to Supply Chain Management

Duarte Faria – Organizational Leadership

Harrison Walker – Real Estate

Frankie Dimina and Rahil Menta – Supply Chain Management

Your Voice Matters Survey is now open!

The Your Voice Matters Survey is now open, and we invite every member of our APS community to participate. This annual survey runs through March 6 and helps guide decisions on priorities such as safety, health, well-being and engagement.

• Families can access the anonymous family survey here.
• Staff will receive a one-time survey link in their APS work email from [email protected].
• Students in grades four and above will complete the survey during class time.

Participation is voluntary and responses are confidential. Your feedback helps us better understand the experiences of our community and shapes the actions we take moving forward. Learn more about the survey

COUNSELING CORNER

Advisory Information

Tuesday, February 24th: All students will complete the Your Voice Matters Survey. Students who have been opted out will not be able to access the survey.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

Black History Month Guest Speaker Series

Throughout the month of February (and into the beginning of March), we will host several guest speakers who will share their experiences as Black professionals, including their personal journeys, educational and career paths, challenges they have navigated, and insights from their current or retired professional lives. The goal is to provide all students with meaningful exposure to a wide range of professional fields while also highlighting the voices, stories, and contributions of Black individuals.

Foods of the Diaspora Event

On Thursday February 26, we will host a Foods of the Diaspora event in the cafeteria during Patriot Period.

ACTIVITIES UPDATES

Spring 2026 Detailed Tryout Information 

Spring sports will begin on Monday, February 23 with outdoor track starting Monday, March 2.  All students must be registered with a valid VHSL physical uploaded into the registration system prior to participating in tryouts or practices.  Physicals are valid for 14 months and families are responsible for maintaining a current, valid physical in the registration system at all times.

It is highly recommended that the Sport registration should be completed by Thursday,  February 19th, so that any issues can be resolved prior to tryouts on Monday, February 23rd or this could delay the student from participating in tryouts on Monday.

Due to the renovation of Yorktown’s turf field, tryouts for all sports which use the turf stadium field will NOT be held at Yorktown as the renovation will not be finished until March.

Tryout information is currently available at this link.  Please note several teams are utilizing off-site locations with buses offered for those outside walking distance.

Detailed information for each sport will also be posted on Team App so students are encouraged to download and signup for each sport using the naming convention “YHS – ABCD” where ABCD is the sport name.  For example, softball can be found under YHS – Softball

Winter Sports – Spectator Information

Most sports are in the playoffs.  A schedule of events is available on www.yorktownsports.org Games held in the gym are available online on www.nfhs.com Tickets for events in the gym are available online at www.gofan.co Playoff games are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Backpacks, as well as outside food or drinks, are not permitted.  Students in middle school or below need to be accompanied by their parent/guardian for admission to sporting events.

Club of the Week- Chinese Language & Culture Club

The YHS Club of the Week is The Chinese Culture and Language Club The purpose of the Chinese Language and Culture Club is to connect students to learn more about the language and culture of China. See Ms. Lord for more information.Upcoming Home Events

Where to find Athletics Information

Athletic Website – www.yorktownsports.org

Athletic Twitter – @yhssports

Athletic Instagram – @yhssports

Athletic Specific Sport Information – www.teamapp.com

Athletic Registration – https://yorktownhs-ar.rschooltoday.com/

Looking Ahead – Fall 2026 Sports

Fall 2026 sports will begin on Monday, August 3 for cheer, volleyball, field hockey and JV/V football.  Freshmen football and cross country will likely begin Monday, August 10.  Dance team tryouts will be May 19.  The start date for golf (no earlier than July 30) and girls flag football (no earlier than August 17) have not yet been finalized.

SENIOR UPDATES

Be sure to bookmark the Seniors website which is linked on the Yorktown HS home page under Quicklinks and loaded with information for senior year.

Senior Experience

Students wishing to participate in Senior Experience (May 18-June 8) will need to access the Senior Experience Canvas page and submit the application. Please take your time to review all information and materials on the page, and take the quiz!

A few dates to note:

– Student Application Due by 3/13

– Mentor Application Due by 3/13

– Parent Authorization Due by 3/13

– Senior Experience Kick Off Meeting on 5/15

– Senior Experience from 5/18 to 6/8

– Senior Experience Seminar on 6/9

Senior Dues

Senior class dues have increased to $85.00 beginning January 1, 2026. Senior families can pay their class dues using this link. All students are expected to contribute to class dues. Students will be unable to participate in Senior activities such as Senior Experience, prom, Senior Picnic, and graduation.

Graduation

Looking ahead for graduation planning – Yorktown’s graduation will take place at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, June 10th at 3:00 PM. Each student will receive 5 guest tickets to be distributed with the caps and gowns at graduation rehearsal.  Families anticipating needing more tickets should contact peers as we do not anticipate having additional tickets due to the size of the senior class.

Graduation Announcements

Graduation announcement cards are typically sent to extended family and close friends to share the exciting news of your upcoming graduation (they are not an invitation to attend). If you wish to order graduation announcements, or any other senior memorabilia please visit the Herff Jones Virginia website and search for Yorktown High School.

TECHNOLOGY CORNER

LightSpeed Parent Opt-In

With a variety of instructional tools and learning methods available to your student, your active engagement in your student’s learning is more important than ever. To help keep you informed about your student’s use of internet resources, APS has partnered with Lightspeed Systems to give you visibility into your student’s internet usage while using APS-issued devices, and more control of their use at home and after-school hours.

There are two types of reports you can receive: the Weekly Online Student Activity Report and the detailed Parent Portal dashboard.  All the information in the Weekly Report and on the Parent Portal can be viewed and enabled on desktop or mobile devices. Instructions on how to opt-in to the Weekly Online Student Activity Report are here.

Laptop Reminder

Please remind students to shut down and fully charge their laptops each night so they arrive at school ready to learn. A fully charged device helps ensure students can participate in class activities without interruption. Thank you for your support!

UPCOMING DATES

See YHS Calendar or the APS Calendar for more information

• Friday, March 20, 2026 – No School For Students – Eid al Fitr