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Kindness Week Update

It's Kindness Week and joy is everywhere at the York Academy! Our students and staff at both schools have been working on over 20 projects that will impact at least 1,000 people! We'll share some of the amazing activities with you tonight, and more will be coming.

Please like/follow and share our Kindness Week Facebook and Instagram posts so we can reach as many people as possible! If you share a post, please tag us on @yorkacademycharter (Facebook) and use the hashtags #IBkind and #YARCSuknighted. Let's reach as many people as we can so they know the amazing things that are happening at the York Academy!

You can also check out this Kindness Week Padlet of pictures. Add your own ones, too!

Please join us for our first Knights-Giving event on Friday! See below.

Nicole Miller, our wonderful Social Worker, has been spearheading Kindness Week at our schools. She held a brief parent session about kindness today. Missed it? You can watch it here (Passcode: .qiD1+nH)!

Come to Our First Annual Knights-Giving on Friday Night!

We're closing out Kindness Week with the first annual Knights-Giving this Friday from 5 - 7 p.m. at the Upper School!

ALL York Academy families (K-12) are invited!

Please bring a "family favorite" Thanksgiving dish to share. (There's also no shame if it's not homemade!)

Click below to RSVP by Friday and let us know what you're bringing.

RSVP Now

Upper School students can earn points for bringing a dish. The winner will even win 50 Points for their House!

We'll have Raffle Prizes, "Coco" will be playing in the Black Box Theatre (with cocoa), and there will be family friendly games and face painting. Plus, we'll have Keystone Kidspace STEM Challenges and a DIY Thank You Card Station for service/community members.

Here's how you can get in the Raffle: Cash Donations, Non-perishable food items (preferably with a pop top), and non-electric/manual can openers. Each dollar/item will earn you 1 ticket.

Many thanks go to the Upper School Family Engagement Committee in collaboration with Ms. Davis' Creative Technology class for organizing this event.

Come enjoy time together and celebrate kindness with us on Friday!

Counselors Are Collecting Can Openers for Those In Need

Did you know that one of the top items that those who experience food insecurity need most is a basic/manual handheld can opener? Imagine that's the case for your family. You go to the food bank and bring home some cans. Among them are cans of soup. Just as you're ready to make some soup for your kids, you realize you can't because they aren't the pop-top kind. You don't have a can opener...

As their Kindness Week Project, our Counseling Department is holding a can opener drive for the Catholic Harvest Food Bank through this Friday (11/17)! They greatly appreciate the 27 can openers that have been donated. Let's #UKnight and collect 50+ so we can make more of an impact! Stop by the Dollar Store or place an order on Amazon. The can openers must be basic/manual (non-electric).

Students may drop them off in Mrs. Cunningham's office (Lower School), in Mrs. Bonderowitz's office (Upper School), or bring them to Knights-Giving on Friday! Thank you in advance!

First Graders Share Kindness Notes & Flowers at Market

Click on the picture to watch Seth Kaplan (ABC27) report on yesterday's first grade Kindness Week visit to Central Market! Three classes (75 students) walked to Market and handed out flowers with handwritten notes attached to them to store owners, patrons, and passersby outside. It was a fun, memorable day for all 75 students...and meaningful to those who received an unexpected small act of kindness on a Tuesday morning. Way to be risk-takers, Knights! Click here to view pictures on Facebook.

Notes from the Nurses

Our sixth graders are holding a Toiletries Drive! All 100 students will create a care bag for the local homeless shelters. The bags will allow people to better care for themselves and know that our students are thinking of them. The students would be grateful for any donations you could provide. Thank you!

Notes from the Nurses

Since cold and flu season is approaching, please remember to keep your student(s) home if they are not feeling well. Students at the Lower and Upper School should be kept home if ANY of these symptoms apply:

Fever (100°) within the past 24 hours
Vomiting or diarrhea within the past 24 hours

This does not include the time when medication was used to prevent the symptoms above. Students must be free from these symptoms WITHOUT the use of medication for 24 hours.

If you have any medical questions, please feel free to contact our nurses:

Lower School: Ms. Halloran at mhalloran@yorkarcs.org or (717) 801-3900
Upper School: Ms. Nyoni at vnyoni@yorkarcs.org or (717) 900-5001

Celebrating Our Upper School Knights of the Month

Congrats to our October Knights of the Month! They exhibited the IB attribute of being Knowledgeable. Knowledgeable Knights demonstrate knowledge in classes and think through the choices they're making before they act. These students study and know the content they are learning so they are able to complete their work. They are knowledgeable and understand that they are at school to learn and be successful.

Let’s celebrate Adam B., Kaiya N., Gabby H., ShaTayla B., Seamus

G., Jamille W. and Ryan Mota Sanchez (not pictured). Great job, Knights!

Kindergarten Classes Create Tree of Kindness

Our kindergarten classes (100 students) created this beautiful Tree of Kindness for their Kindness Week project. They cut out 800 paper hearts and asked Lower School students and staff to write/draw kind words on a heart and add them to the tree. It keeps growing and is stunning! Way to be kind, kindergarten Knights! We're proud of you! Check out this post to see how the tree has grown!

Students Write Notes of Good Cheer for Bell Socialization

Some of Mrs. Ireland's fifth and sixth graders delivered 40 handmade Kindness Cards to Bell Socialization today. Great job, Knights!

Notes from the Kitchen: Birthday Celebrations

I want to take a moment to review York Academy’s Administrative Guidelines regarding Birthday celebrations in the classrooms with you. Our Food Service Department offers the opportunity to purchase a Birthday Basket that would be delivered to your child’s classroom. The basket contains healthy and allergy-safe snacks for all the students in the class. The cost is $20, which is about the same cost as a tray of cupcakes from a bakery. Click here for a Birthday Bag order form.

To keep our students safe, any homemade or store-bought food items must be individually wrapped for them to take home. The food item will be given to the child at dismissal and may not be consumed in the classroom or on the bus. The decision to allow the child to have the snack will be determined by the child’s parent.

Thank you for your help in keeping our students safe and healthy.

PTO Updates

The next PTO Meeting is on Tuesday night (11/21) at 6 p.m. in the Lower School Media Center/Library. Come find out what's planned for 2024. Everyone is welcome!

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The York Academy PTO is partnering with White Clover Family Farm for a soy candle fundraiser! Forms were sent home last week and are due back by Monday, November 27. Click here for details. All candles cost $15, and you may pick up your order on Monday, December 11.

Save the Date for Our 2nd Annual Winter Workshop (12/2)

The holidays are near, and our National Honor Society and National Spanish Honor Society are teaming up again for the 2nd Annual Winter Workshop! It will be held on Saturday, December 2 from 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. at the Upper School, and ALL families are invited (K-12)! Children will be able to pick out their own inexpensive, high-quality gifts for their family and friends. More details will be shared soon, but make sure to save the date!