February 21, 2025 Newsletter

Dear Patriot Families,

APS has launched this year’s Your Voice Matters (YVM) Survey and we are asking families to please provide your feedback. We use YVM data to inform our work to build strong partnerships with students and their families and review school goals related to parental partnerships and engagement. Thank you in advance for your feedback and engagement.

We also have been enjoying post-season activities for our winter athletics and are gearing up for spring sports, with tryouts starting Monday, February 24th. More information on these activities below. Go Patriots!

Have a great 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

Your Voice Matters Survey

The 2025 Your Voice Matters (YVM) survey is open! 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.

Athletics Postseason Tournament Action 

Good luck to all the individuals and teams participating in the ongoing district, regional and state tournaments.  Both boys and girls basketball will participate in the region tournament with games on Tuesday, February 25.  State gymnastics is Saturday, March 1, while state swim/dive and state wrestling are tentatively scheduled for the weekend of March 1-2.  State track is March 3-4.  Yorktown has representatives in each of these tournaments.

COUNSELING CORNER

Online Course Request Process 2025-26

Parents/guardians, you may now view your student(s)’ course requests for the ’25-’26 school year through ParentVue.  Once you open the app, please click course requests to see the list.  If you would like to request a change to one or more courses, please use this form.

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 25th

• All students will complete the Your Voice Matters survey

Thursday, February 27th

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

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION CORNER

Culture & Climate Listening Sessions

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will be conducting listening sessions with students and staff at Yorktown beginning in March.  The purpose of the sessions is to get a sense of the culture and climate at YHS from the perspective of these stakeholders.  Participation is voluntary and staff and students may share as much or as little as they like.  Identifying information, if provided, will not be shared. Students may indicate their interest to participate here (they will be provided with passes for a specific 15-30 minute block of time).

Please direct any questions or concerns to DEI Coordinator Ackesha Patrick at [email protected].

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: World Cuisine Club

The World Cuisine Club purpose is to share their interest in world cuisine. The club will educate and have fun learning about different cuisines. They will have a variety of slideshows, videos, and foods to help educate the student body of Yorktown about cuisines throughout the world and the importance of different foods and cultures throughout the world. See Mr. Catotti or Mr. Bridwell for more information.

Spring Sports Tryout Schedule – February 24

Most spring sports will begin Monday, February 24.  A detailed tryout schedule can be found here  (One late change – JV baseball will now be at Barcroft arriving at 6:45 pm, not at Yorktown after school). 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.

Students and parents are encouraged to sign up for Team App for all sports they are interested in to find sport-specific information.

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

Looking 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 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!

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.

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