Inside Yorktown CSD
Yorktown Schools Community Newsletter | February 2024
Welcome to Our Newsletter
Welcome to the February 2024 edition of “Inside Yorktown CSD.” 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.
Dates to Remember
March 4 – WESEF Practice Night Science Research
March 4 – Board of Education Meeting
March 8-9 – Spring Musical (Snow Date: March 10)
March 11 – Superintendent's Conference Day (No Students)
March 11 – Spring Sports Begin
March 12-15 – Mohansic PTA Spring Book Fair
March 12-15 – Crompond PTA Spring Book Fair
March 13 – Crompond PTA Book Fair Family Night
March 14 – Mohansic PTA Family Book Fair and ESTEAM Fair
March 16 – Mohansic PTA Lunch and Movie Event (at YHS Auditorium)
March 18 – Board of Education Meeting
March 20 – Brookside Grade 1 Concert
March 22-23 – MESMS Musical
March 25 – Board of Education Meeting
March 26 – Mohansic Kindergarten Concert
March 26 – YCSD String Festival
March 27 – YCSD Bandapalooza
March 29-April 5 – Schools Closed for Spring Recess
Athletic schedules can be found here.
Transportation Deadline Reminders
All 2024-25 private school request forms must be completed and submitted no later than April 1, 2024: Click Here
Save the Date
On Thursday, May 23, Dr. Steven Dewey will present “Understanding the Adolescent Brain.” A research professor at the NYU School of Medicine, Dr. Dewey will explore the science of understanding the neurological response of the adolescent brain to cellphones, video games, medications, vaping, drugs, and alcohol. This presentation empowers parents with the knowledge and confidence to guide their children through their adolescent and teen years.
This program is open to all K-12 parents/guardians. High school and middle school students may attend with a parent.
The presentation will begin at 7 p.m. in the Yorktown High School Auditorium.
Announcements
Capital Bond Project Results
We are honored and humbled to share that both propositions in our capital bond project passed last evening. Thank you for your overwhelming support of the capital bond project. The upgrades and additions resulting from the bond propositions will most assuredly enhance and enrich the learning experience of our students.
Proposition 1 passed with 85.74% approval, which is the highest recorded approval rate of any bond vote in the history of our district. Proposition 2 also passed with one of the highest recorded approval rates in the history of our district at 74.98%.
We are so deeply appreciative of this incredible school community. Thank you for your trust, support, and partnership. Always know that we will work tirelessly and relentlessly each day in service of the amazing children of Yorktown.
We will now enter an intensive design process to ensure that every detail is attended to in our planning. We look forward to engaging our staff, students, architects, and construction manager in this process. We will also be posting updates to our bond website so the community may continue to remain engaged and informed throughout the planning and construction process.
As always, we thank you for your incredible support of our excellent school district!
Welcoming Matt Curran to Crompond
We are proud to welcome Matt Curran as our interim assistant principal at Crompond. Mr. Curran spent 15 years as principal of the Kensico School in Valhalla before retiring at the end of the last school year. Before that, he spent nearly 12 years as a classroom teacher — nine in Valhalla and three in the Bronx.
MySchoolBucks Fee Increases
We were recently notified that MySchoolBucks is raising its program fees beginning March 7.
If you wish to avoid processing fees, you may send a check to school with your child that can be added to their lunch account.
The notice is pasted below:
Thank you for choosing to use MySchoolBucks to securely and conveniently pay for your student’s school meals this school year.
We’re updating the program fee you pay at checkout in MySchoolBucks when funding your student’s meal account to $3.25 for each credit/debit card payment beginning on March 7th. Please note that if your district accepts e-checks, the program fee when paying by electronic check will be $2.75 per meal payment on the same date.
Due to rising payment processing interchange fees and increased operational costs, this adjustment to our per-transaction program fee for school meals is necessary to continue providing you with the best and most secure online payment experience.
If you would like to make changes to your saved payment methods or automatic payment settings, please log into your MySchoolBucks account. For questions, please call our support team at 855-832-5226.
Thank you,
The MySchoolBucks Team
Pre-K Registration
We anticipate opening registration for our 2024-25 Pre-K program in late March. Please be on the lookout for a follow-up email.
‘Beauty and the Beast’ at Yorktown High School
Our spring musical is right around the corner. Be our guest on March 8th and 9th as our Yorktown High School Drama Club presents “Beauty and the Beast” live on stage. The link to purchase tickets will be posted to the District's website this Friday, so save the date(s) and be part of this terrific production.
Employment Opportunities
Board of Education
Unless noted otherwise, all Board of Education meetings will be held in the middle school cafeteria. You can find agendas and upcoming meeting dates by visiting the following link: BOE Agendas
Please know that all meetings will be uploaded to our YouTube channel the day following the meeting.
Budget Information
On February 12, the District presented the first in a series of budget presentation for the 2024-25 school year. All presentations will be published to the District's website at the following link: Budget Information
Latest News and Headlines
YHS Dance Company Presents ‘An Evening of Dance’
The Yorktown High School Dance Company's annual showcase, "An Evening of Dance," returned with three incredible performances on February 2 and 3. Please click here to see more photos!
Mohansic Grade 3 Concert
What a terrific Grade 3 concert on February 6 at Mohansic! Great job by the students and musical director Mrs. Peters. The full concert video is available on the District's YouTube page. You can also see more photos on the District's website.
Brookside Grade 3 Musical
The February 7 musical at Brookside was “pawsitively” outstanding!
Our talented third graders took center stage to perform “The Unity Tree.” 🐱🐶 The story unfolds in Catburg and Dogville, where longstanding animosity between cats and dogs is questioned by the friendship of Puppy and Kitten. The story concludes with a poignant message of choosing friendship, symbolized by the removal of a divider and a celebration under the newly named “Unity Tree.”
Amazing job by the students and musical director Mrs. Berger!
Check out photos and videos by clicking the links below:
High School Musicians Embark on ‘World Tour’ of Yorktown Schools
On February 7, our high school Chamber Orchestra and Jazz Band embarked on a “World Tour” of all Yorktown schools. Thank you for sharing your musical talents with our younger students! More photos are available on the District's website.
Crompond Fifth Graders Enter the ‘Shark Tank’
On February 8, Mrs. Brennan's fifth-grade class brought their creativity to life with their own version of Shark Tank. Teachers and administrators played the role of “sharks,” eager to evaluate the ingenious ESTEAM prototypes.
From the Cozy Classroom to the Clean Cubby, these young inventors presented their projects with enthusiasm, supplementing their pitches with videos and brochures. Working collaboratively in groups, the students developed prototypes that fostered responsibility, compassion, and mindfulness while addressing issues such as mental health in the classroom, maintaining cleanliness in cubbies and classrooms, and providing support for English and foreign language learning.
Thank you to District tech specialist Mrs. Burns for guiding the students through this amazing learning experience!
Kindergartners Celebrate 100 Days of School
Happy 100 days!
On February 15, Brookside kindergartners celebrated their 100th day of school with some special crafts and activities. They drew a $100 bill, counted to 100, and made a chain with 100 pieces of construction paper — all while wearing custom-made shirts to celebrate the occasion!
At Mohansic, kindergartners took to the runway and modeled their custom-made outfits, which included 100 of their favorite things.
Brookside Third Graders Showcase Writing Talent
Kudos to the young authors in Mrs. Herbe and Mrs. Collier's third-grade class at Brookside. On February 15, they celebrated the completion of their persuasive writing pieces with a Publishing Party! It was wonderful to see the students take turns reading their stories with parents and family members in attendance. More photos are available on the District's website.
Brookside Launches ‘One School One Book’ Campaign
Brookside students had a howling good time at their “One School One Book” kickoff assembly on February 28!
Every K-3 student in the entire school will read “The Secret Explorers and the Desert Disappearance,” in which a team of explorers set off into the Mexican desert to rescue a pack of wolf cubs.
But the fun doesn’t stop once they have finished reading!
Brookside will continue their exploration of Mexican wolves and the Chihuahuan Desert with fun activities, where students will learn about the importance of protecting wolves. The school has even adopted Trumpet, a 7-year-old Mexican gray wolf who resides at the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem. Classrooms will be able to check in on Trumpet through live webcams. Third graders will visit the center later this year.
The “One School One Book” campaign also includes a “Save the Wolves” fundraiser, with magnets being sold to benefit the Wolf Conservation Center.
A special thank you to the Brookside PTA for their support of the “One School One Book” program!
You can visit the District's Communications website to keep up with the latest news and to read archived stories.
Stay Connected
You can read more District highlights by visiting our website and social media pages, which are updated regularly with stories, photos, and announcements.
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