York Public Schools is having a very productive summer and we hope you are as well. There is always lots to do to wrap up the past school year and feverishly prepare for the coming year.
Some Selected Highlights of our Summer
• Numerous teachers have been working on curriculum alignment, professional development, and/or specialized instructional methods
• Driver’s Education has been in full gear
• Our BOOST and ALL-STARS programs at YES and YMS have been enjoying their six weeks of free academic and enrichment programming that runs daily and is supported by grant funds
• The Free Breakfast and Lunch program at YES has served an average of over 150 meals daily
• Our Enrichment Center will move from behind the 16th Street Car Wash into the old Sports Shop east of the Courthouse in July
• YES is receiving new entry way doors and bathroom flooring
• The district office is working on mandatory state reporting as we wrap up the 2015-16 school year and prepare for 2016-17
• We’re excited about our “Entrepreneurship Academy” that will run from July 11th-16th in conjunction with the York Chamber, YCDC, and Extension Office as students from YPS, Emmanuel-Faith, and St. Joseph’s will learn about entrepreneurism, design products, and sell them at the York Sidewalk Sales on Saturday, July 16th
• The 2016-17 budget is beginning to take shape as we will have opportunities for patrons to come and learn more about our budget on August 8th, August 22nd, and/or September 12th
School Starts Thursday, August 11th
No doubt, we’ll begin to hear over the next few weeks that “school starts too early.” This happens each July as folks begin to realize their summer is winding down. Below are some “school calendar” issues that we always try to address.
• First off, we shoot for 179 days of school for YHS with YMS and YHS having a few less due to different parent-teacher conference formats
• This allows us to provide two “free” snow days for students and staff before we would need to begin adding days back at the end of school in May
• Since we offer so many semester-long courses at YHS, we try to ensure that 1st and 2nd semester are about the same number of days so each course is able to cover the same curriculum regardless of whether or not a student takes it in the fall or spring semester
• We’ve also heard from a lot of students and staff over the years that they truly prefer that 1st semester finals take place by Christmas Break
• We also have heard from lots of families and staff that they prefer Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday being taken off at Thanksgiving and our 3-day Spring Break as well
• Graduation has moved off of Memorial Day weekend, to the delight of many, and has shortened the amount of school day choices we have in May
When you factor in all of these issues, we begin school a little earlier than what we used to. We still have 179 student days like we’ve had for a long, long time; it just looks a little different.
Back to School Celebration and Community Pep Rally
Mark your calendars for Tuesday, August 16th as we will have our “Back to School Celebration” and Community Pep Rally at East Hill Park. The Celebration will begin at 5:30 with vendors, inflatables, etc. The Pep Rally will begin at 7:30. We will once again involve St. Joseph’s Catholic, Emmanuel Faith-Lutheran, York County Head Start, and all YPS buildings. Any vendors that are interested in attending can contact Mike Lucas at mike.lucas@yorkdukes.org.
Homecoming, Alumni Weekend, and Yorkfest
We are excited to work with the Chamber of Commerce to have YHS Homecoming and Alumni Weekend in conjunction with Yorkfest this September 8th-11th. We will have an “alumni tailgate” dinner at our September 9th YHS Homecoming football game at East Hill Park as well as a halftime recognition. We will also offer school tours for our alumni to see how things have changed. Look for more details to come out in August. Please let any alumni know that this would be a wonderful time to come back and show their “Duke Pride” while taking advantage of all the wonderful Yorkfest activities as well as YHS offerings.
Thankful Reflection
As we begin full throttle preparations for another school year, my 8th here in York, I simply want to sincerely thank all of our students, staff, parents, and patrons for your support of York Public Schools. We are proud of the important work we do and know that we must continue to push hard to get better and better. This community deserves the best!
We’d also like to thank the York News-Times for the tremendous job they do. We are so fortunate to have a newspaper that is committed to excellence. York is an outstanding place full of wonderful people. We feel honored to be a part of it.
Go Dukes!
Mike Lucas
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