February 14, 2025 Newsletter

Dear Patriot Families,

Happy Valentine’s Day! We love all of our students, families, teachers and staff. A reminder that there is no school Monday as we observe the Presidents’ Day Holiday.  Wishing you a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend.

Dr. Kevin Clark, Principal

In this message: 

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

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT YORKTOWN

Visual Arts Students Earn Scholastic Art Contest Honors

Over three hundred YHS art students earned regional recognition for work submitted to the 2025 Regional Scholastic Art and Writing Competition! 115 students were awarded Gold Keys, 86 students were awarded Silver Keys and 151 students earned Honorable Mentions. Gold Key winning work will move on to the national competition.

Work that earned a gold key will be exhibited at the Syphax Center Gallery at 2110 Washington Blvd, Arlington, VA 22204 from March 3-27th. There will be an awards ceremony for student winners and their family and friends on Wednesday, March 5th at 6:30 pm at Kenmore Middle School, 200 S Carlin Springs Rd, Arlington, VA 22204. Congratulations Yorktown Visual Art Students! We are so proud of you and your accomplishments!

Your Voice Matters: The 2025 Survey is Coming

The 2025 Your Voice Matters (YVM) survey will be open from Feb. 12 – Mar. 14, 2025. Students will take the YVM during Patriot Period on Tuesday, February 25th. Parents, we encourage you to take this survey to inform our work here at Yorktown. Thanks for your feedback!

Reminder: Arise and Flourish Substance Use Presentations

On February 24-28, 2025, Arise and Flourish will present about substance abuse prevention to all 11th and 12th grade students during their English class. Evidence-based prevention programs can dramatically reduce rates of substance use and substance use disorder. Arise and Flourish, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that seeks to educate and raise awareness about the alcohol and drug addiction epidemic. If you would prefer that your student not attend the presentation, please complete the Opt out Letter for Arise and Flourish and return it to their English teacher. If you have additional questions, please contact the Yorktown Substance Abuse Counselor, Jenny Sexton at 703-228-2541 or [email protected]. More information about the Substance Abuse Counseling services can be found here.

COUNSELING CORNER

Online Course Request Process 2025-26

The course request selection window is now open for students, and will go through February 18th. This year, students will select courses in StudentVue and will not submit paper Course Request Forms (CRFs). CRFs have been distributed so that students have a list of courses from which to choose, and students watched this video for instructions on how to select their courses. Please help us to get all requests in by the 18th by reminding your student(s) to enter them.  Parents will have access to the selections on ParentVue beginning on February 19th.

Interested in Dual Enrollment (DE) Courses Through NOVA?

We’re thrilled to share some exciting opportunities happening this spring at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA)!

NOVA’s Dual Enrollment and Outreach & Recruitment team is hosting Discover NOVA – Open House events for prospective and current dual enrollment students and their families. These events will showcase academic programs, student support resources, and how to maximize dual enrollment credits—plus, attendees will get to tour the campuses!

Students can choose from any of the following campus events. Registration is now open: https://forms.gle/eHR2q5CnnN7AzKVy8.

•       Loudoun Campus — March 6, 4-7 PM
•       Alexandria Campus — March 13,  4-7 PM
•       Annandale Campus — March 27, 4-7 PM
•       Woodbridge Campus — April 3,  4-7 PM
•       Manassas Campus — April 24, 4-7 PM

Students who attend will be entered to win a $500 NOVA scholarship!(Nontransferable; must be used at NOVA in Fall 2025.)

Summer School 2025

Summer School: Summer School – Arlington Public Schools

• 9th-12th graders can retake a course that they failed during the school year; APS will offer EPF again this summer as a credit recovery course for those who failed it previously.
  • The registration window is March 3 to June 2.

 New Work for Credit Opportunities through APS: (information is on the summer school page linked above)

• Students can take Health & PE I, or Health & PE II, or Economics & Personal Finance through APS, with APS teachers.
• Health & PE courses meet in-person for the first 2 weeks of summer school and then are virtual for the last 2 weeks.
  • Summer H&PE II does not include Driver’s Ed
• The EPF course is 100% virtual and follows the same start/end date as summer school.
• These courses are at family expense ($350 full price/$87 reduced price)
• The registration window is March 3 to May 2

 New Work for Credit Opportunities through one of our Approved Vendors: Summer New Work for Credit Courses – Arlington Public Schools

• The website has the list of approved courses and what courses and how many courses students can take based on their grade level.
• The links will go live on March 3.
• Families may pay by check or money-order sent by mail or hand-delivered it to Syphax
• The cost varies by vendor and is included on the website.
• The registration window is March 3 to June 2. NOTE: This is a fixed deadline; as it says on the website, vendors may have later deadlines and/or no deadline, but this is the APS deadline. We will not enroll any student for a request that comes in after June 2.

 Paying for Classes:

• All credit recovery, ESY, Pathways to Progress, Intro to Advanced Course, AP Summer Bridge classes are at no cost to families.
• APS Hybrid Health & PE and virtual EPF: families can pay through My School Bucks or by bringing a check or money order to Syphax.
• Virtual Virginia: Families can pay online through VVA or by bringing a check or money order to Syphax.
  • If paying by check or money order, we will not enroll the student in the course until payment is received.
• All other Virtual Vendors: Families must pay by check or money order, mailed or hand delivered to Syphax.
  • We will not enroll the student in the course until payment is received.
• Scholarships are very limited this year and handled on an individual basis.  Please reach out to your child’s counselor for more information.

Advisory Information

Tuesday, February 18th

• Students in 9th grade will be in the auditorium for an assembly where they will review code of conduct expectations as we begin the second semester. Students in grades 10-12 will watch a video version in their Patriot Period class.

Thursday, February 20th

• Academic check-ins or students may leave with a pass to visit another teacher

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION CORNER

(click on each of the words above to learn more!)

Black History Month Activities @YHS

Taste of the Diaspora | Friday, February 28 | Atrium | Patriot Period

• A tasting event featuring food from the Caribbean (Jamaica), Africa (Ethiopia) and the American South
• In addition to food, there will be music and displays with artifacts from these countries and others

ACTIVITIES UPDATES

Club of the Week: Minority Men United

The YHS Club of the Week is Yorktown’s Minority Men United.  Minority Men United (MMU) promotes academic and social responsibility, focusing on African American and Hispanic males. MMU encourages integrity, resilience, respect, and hard work among its members. MMU holds quarterly meetings during the school day on a rotating basis. Meetings are planned and led by the MMU Leaders. Meetings take a variety of forms, including (but not limited to) motivational speakers, information about academic advancement, alumni panels, and team-building activities. All African American and Hispanic males at Yorktown, and others who are interested, are invited to become members of MMU. See : Ms. Patrick,  or Ms. Sadauskas for further information.

Winter Sports – Spectator Information

With winter sports competition beginning this week, a schedule of events is available on www.yorktownsports.org. Many gym events are available online at www.nfhs.com Tickets for gym events are available online at www.gofan.co. Discounted student-priced tickets are $5 cash only at the gate.  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.

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/

Home Events Next Week

Spring Sports Tryout Schedule – February 24

For planning purposes, most spring sports will begin Monday, February 24.  A detailed tryout schedule can be found here

Students must register online in order to participate and the signed doctor’s page must be dated after May 1, 2024 to participate in fall sports tryouts.  Please register before February 20 so your information can be processed.

Many sports are currently participating in off-season, optional workouts which are most often publicized on Team App. Students and parents are encouraged to sign up for Team App for all sports they are interested in to find sport-specific information.

Looking Way Ahead – Fall 2025 Sports

For planning purposes, Fall sports will begin as early as July 31 with most beginning on August 4. Check Team App or the website for more information.

Please note, that playing a high school fall sport requires a commitment to be present for the duration of tryouts and daily practices thereafter. Families are advised that vacations planned after the start of fall sports will not be considered favorably during the tryout process because there is limited practice time to build a team prior to the start of scrimmages and games in mid to late August.

SENIOR UPDATES

Senior Panorama Photo

The Senior Panorama photo was taken on Wednesday, February 5th. Text the access code to 6817SENIORS25 to 90738 to receive access and learn how to order or visit https://my.photoday.com/g/68617SENIORS25 on your phone or computer.

Be sure to bookmark the Seniors website, which is linked on the Yorktown HS homepage under Quicklinks and contains essential information for senior year. Find answers to your questions about these and more:

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

Senior Dues

Senior dues are $80. Senior dues cover the cost of cap and gown, diploma, diploma covers, as well as other senior activities. Senior dues can be paid at https://arlingtonva.schoolcashonline.com/ or by cash, money order, or check (made out to Yorktown High School) and given to Sabrina Ashby in the main office.

Senior Experience

The Senior Experience Application is now open! All required documents can be found on The Senior Experience Canvas page and must be submitted by March 14th!

Save the Date 

Class of 2025 Graduation – 7 p.m., Wednesday, June 4, at DAR Constitution Hall.

UPCOMING DATES

For more details, refer to the YHS or APS calendar.

• Monday, February 17 – Presidents’ Day – No School
• Wednesday, March 5 – Early Release
• Friday, March 14 – No School for Students, Professional Learning
• Monday, March 31 – No School, Holiday – Eid al-Fitr