YSHS News & Notes

For those of you who have been associated with the high school for years, you'll notice our new look to the News & Notes. The News & Notes are meant to include brief highlights of upcoming events and important information about our school. If you have any questions about the content of the notes, please don't hesitate to reach out to the high school office at (717) 885-1270 or contact Dr. Ellis directly at bellis@yssd.org.

We will be hosting our traditional fall Family/Teacher Conferences on Monday, October 14 (7:00 AM - 4:00 PM) and Thursday, October 17 (5:00 PM - 8:00 PM). We will be using MyConferenceTime to schedule conferences, as we have done in prior years. Conference registration will open on Thursday, October 3 at 5:00 PM. More information about how to schedule conferences is available via this link.

We hope to see a great turnout for these valuable conversations about how to help your student to be successful this school year!

This school year, our district added a new role to support our students' planning for their future. The role is called the Career, College, and Workforce (CCW) Coordinator. Our new coordinator is Mr. Korbin Shearer, who many of you know as our former Applied Technology teacher, as well the Marching Band Director, musical Pit Director, and the list goes on!

Mr. Shearer is charged with helping develop meaningful programming to support students' career exploration. But he also is responsible for organizing and distributing information about all the career, college, and workforce opportunities that our students can take advantage of. These include college visits, guest speakers, career programs at local companies, as well as many other types of offerings.

He maintains and regularly updates a newsletter to keep students informed of opportunities. If you haven't checked it out, please do! If you have any questions about your students' future plans and/or college opportunities, don't hesitate to reach out to your students' counselor or Mr. Shearer. Their contact information is available at the bottom of this newsletter.

Earlier this week, the high school distributed Keystone Assessment and Act 158 Graduation information to most of our students. All juniors and seniors received a letter, and sophomores and freshman received a letter if they took Keystone exams previously in their school career. Please be sure to ask your student to see his/her copy to review the information provided. The letter includes a summary of the students' Keystone Assessment performance to this point in their career. For juniors and seniors, it also includes information about whether the student has met the state graduation requirements (Act 158) at this point in their career.

What is Act 158? - while everyone is familiar with state assessment reports since students have been taking PSSA's since 3rd grade, Act 158 only impacts high school students. Act 158 requires all students to pass all three Keystone Examinations to graduate high school. Students that do not pass all three Keystones have a series of other alternate options, or pathways, that they can use to graduate. You can learn more about those requirements starting on Page 2 of our graduation requirements document. If you have any questions regarding where your student stands for graduation, please don't hesitate to contact your student's counselor.

On our early dismissal day, October 25, most of our students will be engaging in testing opportunities. We will be administering 4 different assessments: the PSAT 8/9, the PSAT/NMSQT. the school-day SAT, and the ASVAB assessment. Each test serves a different purpose:

• PSAT 8/9 - this test will be administered to all 9th grade students. It is an opportunity for them to learn how the college board's online testing works, and it establishes a baseline of the skills and knowledge the students are entering the high school with. It also helps students project how they will do on a future SAT exam, which is a key factor in helping determine their programming for their high school career.
• PSAT/NMSQT - this test will be administered to all our college-bound sophomores and juniors (determined by taking CP or Honors English). The PSAT is commonly called the "Practice" SAT, but is technically called the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test. Students emerge from the PSAT with detailed information about their strengths and weaknesses, and they can use that information to study prior to their SAT later in their career. For juniors, this assessment also serves as the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (NMSQT).
• School-Day SAT - we now administer the SAT during a normal school-day, rather than the Saturday administrations parents would have participated in when they were in school. The test is the same as the weekend SAT; however, students often feel more comfortable in their normal school environment. This test is optional for seniors. If you would like more information on the school day SAT, please contact Jamie Britton, YSHS Counselor, at jbritton@yssd.org.
• ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) - this assessment is commonly known as the qualifying test for students interested in serving in the military; however, it also serves as the qualifying test for the state graduation requirements (Act 158), and it also provides detailed information on career skills and interest areas. Most juniors and seniors who have not yet met their Act 158 requirements will take the assessment, and any student interested in joining the military will also be able to elect to participate.

As you may have seen on the school calendar, our first Collaboration Day of 2024-25 is Tuesday, October 15, after the students' five-day weekend. Our upperclassmen are familiar with Collaboration Days, but for our freshman and new students, they are new. Collaboration Days will happen four times this year. Collaboration Days are effectively a one-hour delay, but our buses still run on time. First period starts at 8:50 rather than 7:50 and students can come to school an hour late if they can arrange alternative transportation. The extra hour is set aside for students to make up or catch-up on course work and for teachers to engage in professional learning and collaborative activities. The students have a “study hall” to start the day, but they do not have to be in school. If students do come at the normal times (7:30-7:50), they’ll report to special rooms around the building for a supervised study hall.

We are lucky to have school nurse, Mrs. Karla Coffman, at the high school full-time this year. She will have a regular spot in our News & Notes to share important updates about what is happening in the Nurse's Office at the high school.

• At the beginning of the school year, all parents were asked to complete a Health History form in Infinite Campus. This form includes critical information about your student's health history, as well as considerations for emergency medical care should it become necessary for your child. It also includes relative routine pieces, such as giving permission for basic Over-the-Counter medication like Tylenol. A large portion of the high school students do NOT currently have a parent-completed history form. If you do not recall completing the form, please go onto the IC portal and complete it. Information about how to do so is available here.
• Dental Care - If you are looking for a dentist for your children and have not already enrolled in the school dental program, please contact Mrs. Coffman at kcoffman@yssd.org. The district offers a dental clinic in partnership with Family First Health. Dental health is an indicator of overall health and may prevent many chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. The next dental visit will happen on November 25, 2024.

October 10, 11, & 14

• No School for Students

Monday, October 14

• Family/Teacher Conferences (7:00 AM - 4:00 PM) Learn More

Tuesday, October 15

• Collaboration Day & Junior Achievement STEM Summit (Sophomores) Learn More

Thursday, October 17

• Family/Teacher Conferences (5:00 PM - 8:00 PM) Learn More
• Fall "Rock-tober" Music Concert (7:00 - 8:30 PM)

Thursday, October 24

• First Quarterly Benchmark (formerly called End of Marking Period)
• Trojan Theater Production: Much Ado About Nothing (7:00 PM) Tickets

Friday, October 25

• Early Dismissal Day for Students (12:10 PM)
• College Board (PSAT/SAT) & ASVAB Testing Day
• Trojan Theater Production: Much Ado About Nothing (7:00 PM) Tickets

Saturday, October 26

• Trojan Theater Production: Much Ado About Nothing (7:00 PM) Tickets

You can always find upcoming YSHS events on the HS Google Calendar: Click Here

For a calendar of upcoming sporting events, check out YSTrojans.org.

The school calendar is available on the district website.

If you have questions related directly to your student, you can contact one of the following individuals:

Ninth Grade

• Counselor: Tina Howe - thowe@yssd.org
• Assistant Principal: Jackie Fuentes-Gillespie - jfuentes-gillespie@yssd.org
• Social Worker: Miranda Jenkins - mjenkins@yssd.org

Tenth - Twelfth Grade

• Counselor (last names starting A-G) - Jamie Britton - jbritton@yssd.org
• Counselor (H-O) - Angie Adams - aadams@yssd.org
• Counselor (P-Z) - Taylor Glowaski - tglowaski@yssd.org
• Assistant Principal - Chris Adams - cadams@yssd.org
• Social Worker: Miranda Jenkins - mjenkins@yssd.org

Other Important Contacts

• YSHS Principal - Brian Ellis - bellis@yssd.org
• Athletic Director - Ron Coursey - rcoursey@yssd.org
• Career, College, & Workforce Coordinator - Korbin Shearer - kshearer@yssd.org
• School Nurse - Karla Coffman - kcoffman@yssd.org

As the year continues, we'll post links to the prior newsletters.

• September - https://secure.smore.com/n/mjgxk
• Back to School Information - Information Document