August 9, 2023 School Talk

Good Afternoon Patriot Families,

Welcome to the upcoming 2023-24 school year at Yorktown! I hope you have enjoyed a restful summer break. Our team is excited to welcome our new and returning Patriots on the first day of school, Monday, August 28th. We look forward to partnering with you to make this a successful school year. Below you will find important information about Yorktown, orientation and our upcoming school year.

First, please take a minute to view the Yorktown vision and mission that guides our work (more here).

Vision: At Yorktown, we achieve Equity, Excellence, and Empowerment.  

Mission: Empower students to cultivate knowledge, skills and passions; Support students by name, strength and need; Prepare students to thrive at Yorktown and in the future. 

This year, our focus will be on Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Yorktown has a long-standing tradition of excellent instructional practices with high levels of student achievement. To further support learning for all students, teachers and staff will be working with Dr. Daniel Willingham, a University of Virginia professor and author of several books, including Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning is Hard and How You Can Make it Easy. (See this New York Times Guest Essay for more information.) We also will be offering a student and parent virtual presentation from Dr. Willingham on Wednesday, September 27th. Sign-up information will be forthcoming.

We also continue to emphasize Equity, which we define as knowing students by name, strength and need; providing all students support and access to the best possible educational opportunities; and removing barriers to access and opportunity. Finally, Empowerment means ensuring students develop Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Skills including self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making (see CASEL SEL Framework). We also live by our school motto: Yorktown ROCS, demonstrating Respect for Others, the Community, and Self.

We look forward to making it a great school year for all of our Patriots!

Dr. Kevin Clark, Principal

In this message: 

• What’s Happening at Yorktown
• Counseling Corner
• Activities Updates
• Senior Updates
• Technology Corner
• Upcoming Dates
• 2023-24 PTA Information

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT YORKTOWN

New Student Orientations

Yorktown will offer several opportunities for students new to Yorktown, including our rising 9th graders and transfer students. Please join us and encourage your child to attend these informative and engaging opportunities to connect with the Yorktown community.

• Wednesday, August 16 @ 11:30 AM-12:30 PM (Door 1) – Optional Building Tours for New Students (guided 20-minute tours of the building; arrive any time during the hour – tours will be departing throughout the hour)
• Wednesday August 23 @ 6-7 PM – New Student Orientation Program & Activities Fair (for rising 9th graders and their parents, as well as transfer students and their parents) – Activities Fair will begin at the conclusion of the orientation program
• Thursday, August 24 @ 10-11:30 AM – Optional Open House for New Students (bring your schedule to walk the building on your own and meet some teachers). Counselors will be available in the Atrium. Schedules will be available the week before school starts.

First Week of School and Schedule

The first day of school, Monday, August 28th, will be a special schedule with two bus runs in the morning.  Ninth graders will meet the bus at the regular time.  Tenth through twelfth graders will meet their bus two hours later than usual.

The first day schedule:

• 8:20-10:20 – 9th graders only report to their Patriot Period Class (Welcome back assemblies and introduction to Advisory)
• 10:20 – 3:10 – Special 7 Period Schedule – all students report to 1st period by 10:20 am.
• Lunch: all students report to 3rd period first to find out which lunch they attend on the first day. 4th and 5th period teachers will notify students of lunch assignments for the rest of the year.
• Arlington Career Center (ACC) Students report to Patriot Hall (Room 144) during their ACC period.

First Week Schedule:

• Tuesday, August 29th – Odd Day, periods 1, 3, Patriot Period, 5, 7
• Wednesday, August 30th – Even Day, periods 2, 3, Patriot Period, 4, 6
• Thursday, August 31st  – Odd Day, periods 1, 3, Patriot Period, 5, 7
• Friday, September 1st- Monday, September 4th – No School – Labor Day Holiday

Back to School Night

We invite you to join your child’s teachers on Wednesday, September 20th at 7:00 pm at Yorktown High School for our Back to School Night. We will send more information closer to the date.

Welcome New Yorktown Staff

Welcome to new members of the Yorktown Team!

Staff in New Roles

Congratulations to individuals taking on new roles at Yorktown this year!

• Alesandra Bakaj – AP Coordinator & ILT
• Teresa Cordova – English Learner Teacher
• Danielle Dessaso – College & Career Counselor
• Jeannine Devlin – Counselor
• Jessica Reeve – Intervention Counselor
• Leah Ruffner – The Learning Center Assistant
• Vanessa Sanchez – Sp. Ed. Assistant

Administrative Team & Contacts

Dr. Kevin Clark – Principal – Kevin.Clark@apsva.us

Ms. Danielle Harrell – 9th Grade Assistant Principal – Danielle.Harrell@apsva.us

Mr. Emmet Conroy – 10th Grade Assistant Principal – Emmet.Conroy@apsva.us

Ms. Laura Porter – 11th Grade Assistant Principal – Laura.Porter@apsva.us

Ms. Suzanne Evans – 12th Grade Assistant Principal – Suzanne.Evans@apsva.us

Ms. Johanna Boyers – Director of Counseling – Johanna.Boyers@apsva.us

Mr. Michael Krulfeld – Director of Student Activities – Michael.Krulfeld@apsva.us

Ms. Cheryl Stotler – Assistant Director of Student Activities – Cheryl.Stotler@apsva.us

Ms. Juanice Jenkins – Dean of Students – Juanice.Jenkins@apsva.us

Attendance Updates

We encourage parents to report full-day absences via the ParentVUE website or ParentVUE mobile app. The attendance reporting feature appears as a blue button titled “Report Absence” on the ParentVUE main page.  The ParentVUE- Report Absences link will show you step-by-step how to report full-day absences in this manner.  If you have questions regarding your ParentVUE account, see the ParentVUE website.

If you are unable to submit an absence via ParentVue or your child is checking in late or leaving early, you can send in a note with your student, leave a voicemail or email one of our Attendance Administrative Assistants:

Ms. Campana – 703-228-5411  Constance.Campana@apsva.us

Ms. Perez – 703-228-5410  Anai.Perez@apsva.us

School Messenger Transitioning to ParentSquare

Starting next week, APS will be using the ParentSquare platform for School Talk messages to unify division, school and one-to-one parent-teacher communication. With ParentSquare, families will be able to:

• Receive messages from school via email, text or mobile app.
• Choose to receive information as it comes (Instant) or all at once at around 6:00 pm (daily digest).
• Communicate in your preferred language.
• Two-way texting with automated translation between staff and families.
• Receive attendance notifications with the option to send in a digital note to excuse your student’s absence.
• Sign up for parent-teacher conferences.
• Sign permission slips and more all from your computer or mobile device.
• This replaces School Messenger and Talking Points as the primary communication method. It does NOT replace ParentVUE. ParentVUE remains the APS platform for updating student and family information, accessing transportation information and receiving student academic progress reports.

COUNSELING CORNER

Student Schedule Update

Student schedules will be available on August 21st at 6pm. Updates will continue to be made to rooms and teacher assignments, so students will want to periodically check their schedules for possible changes. Any schedules found on 3rd party applications (such as Talking Points, NoRedInk, Clever, etc) are not official, and all schedules are subject to change before the 21st.  If your student identifies an incorrect course (ex. French 3 instead of Latin 3) or has an incomplete schedule, have them contact their counselor directly (10th – 12th), or one of our Counseling Administrative Assistants, Ms. Falbo or Ms. Wade (rising 9th-grade students and students new to Yorktown). Preference changes (ex. wanting a different elective) must be made no later than the end of the second week of school, September 8th.  Dropping a level of a course must happen by the midway point of the 1st quarter, September 29th.

Counseling Team & Grade Assignments

We have had some changes in our counseling department this summer and are finalizing changes.  Some counselors have moved into other positions within the building, while others have moved on to pursue new opportunities.  We are working diligently to ensure that all students will remain fully supported academically and social-emotionally.  The following is a list of counselors’ email addresses (specific assignments will be shared once they’re finalized):

ACTIVITIES UPDATES

Student Activities Fairs

There will be two Activities Fairs for students to familiarize themselves with the clubs and activities available at Yorktown.  New students and their families will have the opportunity to attend an Activities Fair as part of the August 23 New Student Orientation. The other activities fair will be held during lunches on Wednesday, September 13.

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/

Fall Athletics Update

Most fall sports are underway and started August 1 and 7.  However, students who are interested in participating can still join cross country or ultimate frisbee.  Cross country will accept new students as late as August 28; however, students will find the most benefit if they participate in summer workouts which are held daily at 3:30 pm starting August 14. Ultimate frisbee begins on September 11.  In order to try out or participate in any sport, with the exception of ultimate frisbee and after-school weight lifting, students must register online prior to attending.  The registration process includes uploading a VHSL doctor’s physical page. Hard copies of physical forms are no longer accepted as all registration is done online.  If you have an 8th-grade student who wishes to register, please email Maryann.Mahan@apsva.us first with the student ID number so the student can be entered into the system, allowing you to register them.

Winter and Spring Sports

For your planning purposes, winter sports (basketball, gymnastics, swim/dive, wrestling, cheerleading, rifle, indoor track and crew winter training) begin on November 6th; and spring sports (baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse, tennis, outdoor track, crew) begin on February 19th.  Please note tryouts and practices will be held on school holidays such as Grade Preparation Day (Nov. 7th), Veterans Day (Nov. 10th) and Presidents’ Day (February 19th).  Students can join www.teamapp.com for specific off-season and tryout information on winter and spring sports, which will be posted as it becomes available.  Please make sure to register on the new athletic registration site before attending any off-season activities or tryouts (see information above).

Homecoming is October 13th Weekend!

The Homecoming football game will be October 13th at 7 pm against Langley with the dance on Saturday night, October 14th.

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. Find answers to your questions about these and more:

• Announcements and Rings
• Caps & Gowns
• Class Dues
• Graduation
• Graduation After-Party
• Off Campus Lunch Privilege
• Prom
• Senior Experience
• Senior Portraits
• Yearbooks

Senior Portraits

Appointments will be available for Senior Portrait retakes at school September 26-29 and November 30-December 1. After the final Senior Makeup session on-site, Seniors may then schedule an appointment at one of the Studio locations in Hanover or Rockville.

Senior Parking

This notice is to inform you that we are still accepting applications for parking permits for the 2023-2024 school year. If you wish to apply for a parking permit, please submit this google form application no later than Friday, September 1st. Senior Parking Information is also available on the Yorktown High School website.  The on-campus parking fee is $200 and is non-refundable. For questions, please contact Emmet Conroy (emmet.conroy@apsva.us).

Save the Date

Class of 2024 Graduation – 3:30 p.m., Thursday, June 13, at DAR Constitution Hall.

TECHNOLOGY CORNER

Welcome to our new Instructional Technology Coordinator (ITC), Ms. Alicia Cordero!

New students in APS must participate in an APS Technology and AUP Review Session before picking up their APS issued MacBook for the 23-24 school year. Please use this form to sign up for an APS Technology & AUP Review Session in Patriot Hall (room 144). 9th-grade students will need to return their iPads before being issued a new device. Please see the distribution dates below:

• Wed Aug 16 – 12:30-3:30 pm
• Friday Aug 18 – 9am-12pm
• Thursday Aug 24 – 11:30am-3:30pm
• Friday Aug 25 – 9am-12pm

For more information on AUP, please visit the YHS AUP page. Please reach out with questions to Alicia.Cordero@apsva.us.

UPCOMING DATES

See YHS Calendar for more information

• August 16 @ 11:30 AM-12:30 PM – Optional Building Tours for New Students
• August 23 @ 6-7 PM – New Student (9th and Transfer) Orientation Program (parents and students)
• August 24 @ 10-11:30 AM –  Optional Open House for New Students
• August 28 – First Day of School K-12
• September 1 & 4 – Holiday – Labor Day
• September 25 – Holiday – Yom Kippur

2023-24 PTA INFORMATION

Below, see ways to connect with the Yorktown PTA this school year:

• The PTA invites all families to subscribe to our email list to receive weekly PTA updates and occasional email communications regarding important YHS/PTA/APS activities, events, and resources. PTA membership is not required to receive the newsletter. Please share with families you know through social media, neighborhood listservs, etc.
• Visit the PTA’s website for news, info, and resources for parents/guardians and families.

All are welcome and valued; all ideas, thoughts, and concerns are important; and together, we’ll do our best to support our kids and our YHS community!  Questions can be directed to Katrina Brubaker at president@yhspta.org.