Inside Yorktown CSD
September 2022
Welcome to Our Newsletter
Welcome to the first edition of “Inside Yorktown CSD.” As its name indicates, this newsletter will take you inside our schools by sharing photos, stories, announcements, upcoming events, and more — all with the goal of creating a more connected school community.
Upcoming District Events
- Sept. 9 – Crompond PTA Back-to-School Event
- Sept. 9 – Varsity Football First Responders Game
- Sept. 10 – Varsity Boys Soccer Tournament
- Sept. 10 – Varsity Field Hockey Tournament
- Sept. 10 – Varsity Girls Soccer Tournament
- Sept. 12 – Board of Education Meeting
- Sept. 13 – Brookside Back-to-School Night (Grades K-1)
- Sept. 13 – Mohansic Back-to-School Night (Grades K-1)
- Sept. 14 – Brookside Back-to-School Night (Grades 2-3)
- Sept. 14 – Mohansic Back-to-School Night (Grades 2-3)
- Sept. 15 – MESMS School Photos
- Sept. 15 – YHS Back-to-School Night
- Sept. 16 – Brookside PTA Back-to-School Celebration
- Sept. 16 – Mohansic PTA Back-to-School Celebration
- Sept. 17 – Varsity Girls Volleyball Tournament
- Sept. 21 – YHS Dance Company General Interest Meeting
- Sept. 21 – MESMS Back-to-School Night
- Sept. 22 – Crompond Back-to-School Night (Grade 4)
- Sept. 29 – Crompond Back-to-School Night (Grade 5)
First Responders Night
At 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 9, Yorktown High School’s varsity football team will host Fox Lane High School.
In a special pre-game ceremony, the Yorktown Central School District is honored to recognize the brave men and women of the Yorktown Police Department, the Yorktown Volunteer Fire Department, the Yorktown Volunteer Ambulance Corps, and veterans of the United States Armed Forces. The pre-game ceremony begins at 6:45 p.m. We hope to see you there!
Announcements
Opening Day
Our schools welcomed back our incredible students earlier this week. It was wonderful to see the excitement of a new school year fill the air, as students embark on what promises to be another wonderful school year in the Yorktown CSD. We look forward to working closely with you throughout the course of the school year, and we look forward to inviting you into our schools at various points during the school year to celebrate your children and the wonderful teaching and learning that is happening.
If you have any first day of school pictures of your child that you would like to share with us, please send them to communications@yorktown.org. Some of the photos will be featured on our social media pages or in a future district newsletter.
Transportation
COVID Protocols
Based on the latest NYS Department of Health (NYSDoH) guidance provided to school districts, nearly all COVID restrictions have been discontinued. However, as per the NYSDoH, anyone who tests positive for COVID must remain out of school from Day 0 through Day 5, with Day 0 being either the date when the individual tested positive or the day on which the symptoms began. The individual may return on Day 6, provided they are fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications with improving symptoms. Upon return, the individual must wear a face covering for Days 6-10 unless they have tested negative on two consecutive antigen tests spaced 48 hours apart. For additional information, you may contact your child’s school nurse or visit the YCSD Nurses webpage. For your convenience, we have enclosed links to the latest NYSDoH guidance.
School Lunch Update
The federal waivers that provided free meals for all students have expired. If you think your family qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, kindly fill out an application.
Free & Reduced Lunch Parent Letter (English)
Free & Reduced Lunch Application (English)
Free & Reduced Lunch Parent Letter (Spanish)
Free & Reduced Lunch Application (Spanish)
Board of Education Meeting
Return to the Middle School
Unless noted otherwise, all Board of Education meetings will return to the middle school cafeteria, where they had been held prior to the pandemic. Last year, BOE meetings were moved to Yorktown High School's auditorium to facilitate social distancing. We are delighted to return to the middle school and a more pre-pandemic environment.
Please know that all meetings will be uploaded to our YouTube channel the day following the meeting. The latest video is enclosed for your viewing.
Facility Update
It was a busy summer for our school district with various construction projects taking shape throughout the District. It is so rewarding to see all of the construction projects that our Board of Education Steering Committee envisioned, planned, and designed come to fruition.
As a result of this summer's work, all gymnasiums and cafeterias in our district will be air-conditioned and will have high-rated air filtration as part of the new HVAC systems.
Thankfully, despite the supply chain issues that we experienced in acquiring the units and the chips to operate the software for the programmable thermostats, we are pleased to be in the final phases of completion. As we calibrate the thermostats of each unit and integrate the automated controls into our HVAC system, we recognize that there will be variability in gym and cafeteria temperatures. We appreciate your patience as we fine-tune each unit to an optimal temperature for the location.
The cafeterias at Yorktown High School and Crompond Elementary School have been renovated. Additionally, the guidance suite has been renovated at Yorktown High School.
Thus far, our students have been so overwhelmingly pleased with the enhancement made to their school.
Kudos to the Custodians
We want to give well-deserved recognition to our custodians and Operations & Maintenance staff. Under the leadership of our Director of Facilities, Dennis Verboys, they spent many hot days this summer working tirelessly to make sure the buildings and grounds were ready when our students returned.
They are a phenomenal team, and we thank them for everything they do to support teaching and learning in Yorktown.
Welcome to the Team!
We welcomed 22 new teachers with an orientation on Monday, Aug. 29. Special thanks to the administrative teams in each school and our Human Resources department, which worked tirelessly this summer to onboard our new staff. After personally meeting with each and every candidate prior to their hiring, regardless of their role, I confidently state that we hired some of the most talented educators in the region.
Open Positions
The District is still looking to hire certified teaching assistants, teacher aides, cleaners, and substitute employees. You may apply by visiting this link.
Website Upgrades
A New SRO at Crompond
Building upon our already successful partnership with the Yorktown Police Department, we are excited to welcome a school resource officer to Crompond Elementary School. It will be our third SRO in the District, with the other two serving at Yorktown High School and Mildred E. Strang Middle School. Officer Brian Mundy, a veteran school resource officer in the district, has been assigned to Crompond. He will also have responsibilities every day at Brookside and Mohansic elementary schools. Officer Rob Doerr will return to the high school and Officer Greg Palladino will serve as the SRO in the middle school.
In addition to maintaining a safe environment and responding to emergencies, school resource officers have become integral members of their respective school communities. Our SROs have coached athletic teams, attended off-campus school events, and advised student clubs. Our Law Enforcement Club, advised by SRO Doerr, is perhaps the most well-attended club in the high school.
Commuter Lot Update
In another safety-oriented action, we have agreed to lease the commuter lot next to the high school, allowing the District to provide greater oversight of the town-owned property where many students, staff, and invited guests park their cars. Parking permits will be issued for the commuter lot this fall, which will be randomly monitored by school security from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on school days. New parking lines and directional arrows have been painted and left turns out of the lot will be prohibited.
This summer, we also worked to create 25 additional parking spaces by clearing an area on the east side of the high school/middle school campus. Thank you to our Operations & Maintenance staff for their hard work.
‘Better Than Normal’
When thinking about the 2022-23 school year, it’s easy to want a return to normalcy. But at the Yorktown Central School District, we don’t believe “normal” is good enough. After two-plus years of remote learning, quarantines, and other COVID-related challenges, this year needs to be better than normal for our students. For that to happen, we must be at our best.
To provide some extra motivation before the school year begins, we welcomed back Gian Paul Gonzalez, whose inspirational “all in” message helped propel the New York Giants to a Super Bowl win in 2012. Gian Paul serves as Chaplain for the New York Football Giants. He previously visited the District in 2018 and 2019, delivering his powerful message of empathy, unity, and resiliency to hundreds of educators, administrators, and student-athletes. This year, he spoke during a Superintendent’s Conference Day on Aug. 30.
Later in the day, our student-athletes were invited to the auditorium, where Gian Paul reiterated his “all in” message and led several team-building exercises.
You can read the full story here.
Social Media Bytes
@YHS-NY Guidance (YHS Guidance Department)
@YCSDAthletics (Athletic Director Rob Barrett)
@YorktownCSD (District's Main Account)
@MsKluga (YHS Band Director Emily Kluga)
Latest News & Headlines
Yorktown Central School District
Website: www.yorktown.org
Location: 2725 Crompond Road, Yorktown Heights, NY, USA
Phone: 914-243-8000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YorktownCSD/
Twitter: @YorktownCSD