Joseph DeGennaro, Principal
Joseph J. Cassarini, Assistant Principal
Deborah M. Brand, Assistant Principal
John P. Gollisz, Assistant Principal
2727 Crompond Road
Yorktown Heights, New York 10598
914-243-8050 Fax: 914-245-0546
August 2013
Dear Parent/Guardian:
Welcome to the 2013/2014 academic year! I am honored and excited to be the principal of our wonderful high
school and am very much looking forward to working with all of you. Freshmen will begin on Tuesday, September
3, at 7:15 a.m. and the sophomores, juniors and seniors will begin on Wednesday, September 4, at 7:15 a.m. I
am confident the first week will kick off a great year for everyone connected with the high school. There are many
opportunities for a terrific education here; we have a wonderful staff, a remarkable comprehensive program, and a
community supportive of education. The accomplishments of last year’s graduating seniors are evidence that
Yorktown High School provides a quality educational experience for those willing to work hard and take advantage
of those opportunities.
INCOMING NINTH GRADERS AND BIG BUDDIES
Another very special welcome is extended to our incoming ninth graders (Class of 2017) and their parents. In a
separate document is an opening day schedule and information regarding our Big Buddies program. A separate
start date for ninth graders combined with the assistance and guidance of our Big Buddies continues to ease the
transition to high school. One of the surest means of success for any student at the high school is for him/her to
make positive connections with the adults who teach, coach or advise here. I strongly urge your child to consider
trying a sport, joining a club, and/or becoming involved in the music program. The more involved a student is, the
greater his/her chances for success. An extracurricular presentation is scheduled for Friday, September 13, 2013,
period 2 in the auditorium.
DAILY SCHEDULE
The schedule for your child was posted on the Parent Portal on August 24. If you need to see a counselor, please
call the Guidance Center to set up an appointment. As in the past, requests for particular teachers will not be
accepted. The only acceptable changes will be for successfully completed summer courses and/or academic
classes omitted from the academic program.
NEW FACULTY/STAFF
Welcome to our new Assistant Principals, Debbie Brand and John Gollisz. We would also like to welcome our new
faculty Benedetta Varotta (Art) as well as the following CTAs to the high school: Roberta Budetti, Betty CampionePhillips, Faith Goldstein and Denise Vignola.
CHANGES/REMINDERS FOR THE 2013/2014 SCHOOL YEAR
 There will be no formal mid-term exam period. Teachers will use their discretion when to test based on
their curriculum. By doing this we are increasing teacher-student contact time to support NY State
mandates. If a student needs to complete a January Regents exam, he/she will be “pulled” from their
regularly assigned schedule and are expected to make up missed work.
 There will be no progress reports this year. However, we will still use the deadline on the calendar for the
Extracurricular Eligibility Policy.
 Class of 2017 will be required to have a 3.7 GPA to be inducted into National Honor Society.
 All students will receive gmail accounts at the beginning of the school year in their English class.
 “Enter Only” door has been added to the Cafe. Students are not permitted to walkthrough.
 Study halls and lunch periods will continue to be mandated for ninth grade students. There will be no
“free” period for ninth graders. The study hall room is 136.
 All students registered for an AP course are required to complete the AP examination. If a student refuses
to take the regularly scheduled and/or late exam, he/she will lose the AP designation on their transcript
and an updated version will be forwarded to the appropriate college/university. Be sure to include this in
your course expectations.
 The Character Education program, Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) and Response to
Intervention (RTI) teams will move forward. We will again highlight Random Acts of Kindness by our
students.
 The PTSA will be donating the student planners this year. The planners will be distributed in your child’s
English classes on their first day of school.
 Middle States Implementation/Community Service Program – This year will be our fourth year phasing in
our community service initiative as determined by the Middle States Committee. Community service
provides students with wonderful opportunities to give back to their community, while it allows students
to foster interests outside of the classroom. Students will be presented with this information at the class
meetings and we will continue to update you on the process and progress via the internet. Please
encourage your child to get involved and support this initiative. Please see Mrs. Mero with any questions
or opportunities of which you are aware.
 Physical Education grades will count toward overall GPA for all students. Students are not permitted to
opt out of Physical Education during athletics.
 Be sure to review our Extracurricular Eligibility Policy.
 Birthday Recognition – We will list our student birthdays on our electronic message board
 located in our main lobby.
 Cell phones, IPods and other electronic devices that are not an integral part of the educational program
should be placed in the green tray upon entering the classroom at the beginning of the class period. If an
electronic device is seen or heard by the teacher and disrupts instruction, the device will be removed by
the teacher and given to the appropriate assistant principal. Ms. Brand will work with our 9 grade
students, Mr. Gollisz will work with our 10th grade students and Mr. Cassarini will work with our 11 and
12 grade students.
 Please follow the chain of command protocol located on our district website if you have an academic
concern.
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SPECIAL EVENTS
There are so many important activities and events at our high school throughout the school year. Please check the
calendar section of our web-site for a complete list. I’d like to bring to your attention several of these events
which will be taking place during the fall:
 Back to School Night on Thursday, September 19, at 7:00 p.m. Details will be posted on the website.
 YHS Financial Aid – on Thursday, October 10, at 7:00 p.m. at Brookside Elementary School.
 Homecoming Weekend – October 4, 5.
 Westchester-Putnam College Conference on Tuesday, October 22, at 6:30 p.m.
 YHS Drama – November 15, 16.
There are many wonderful organizations and committees at YHS that I encourage you to get involved in. They
include the PTSA, Huskers Club, First Nighters', Foundation for Excellence and Alliance for Safe Kids.
Thank you for reading my letter and the other attachments. I promise to work as hard as I can to make the high
school a positive learning experience for every child; my hope is that each student will work as hard as he or she
can in order to ensure success. Your support in that process is much appreciated. Please feel free to contact me
whenever necessary.
Best wishes for a healthy and productive year!
Sincerely,
Joseph DeGennaro
Principal
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