Submitted by Natalie Hasenfuss, Director of Pupil Services

York Suburban School District has provided emotional support programming for students in grades three through twelve since 2012. Beginning in the 2017-18 school year, the district will extend that programming to kindergarten through second graders. Both Valley View Elementary and Yorkshire Elementary will provide programming for students in need of emotional support. Previously our primary students in need of emotional support received services through the Lincoln Intermediate Unit #12(LIU) . Students in need of emotional support services typically have difficulty with social skills and behavior regulation. We are excited about the opportunity to keep these students within district buildings as part of our York Suburban community, providing them with increased opportunities for academic rigor, exposure to typical peers, and inclusion in the general education classroom when ready.

Another change for our primary level is the addition of an Autistic Support program at Valley View Elementary School. Students in the Yorkshire Elementary attendance area in need of Autistic Support will be transported to Valley View. York Suburban has hosted LIU#12 Autistic Support classrooms for numerous years. Autism Spectrum Disorders are a group of complex neurological developmental disabilities that are characterized by impaired social interactions, problems with nonverbal and verbal communication and unusual or severely limited activities, interests, or behaviors. Autism Spectrum Disorders are defined purely by behavioral manifestations such as deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, and deficits in developing and maintaining relationships appropriate to developmental level.

York Suburban is taking STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) in a new direction this year for grades 5-8.

Beginning in fifth grade, students will explore STEAM by engaging in collaborative career exploration activities in career clusters that include the arts, business, health care, humanities, communication, technical fields, and any other area of interest the student may want to explore.  By applying concepts gleaned from the engineering process, students learn how to use a design thinking model to realize the greater impact that a particular career has on the community.

In grades 6-8, students will use the design engineering process to research, design, and create projects based on their own areas of interest. These solution-based projects can incorporate a variety of mediums that apply science, technology, engineering, and math. The STEAM projects will require students to engage in creative, critical thinking and demonstrate a level of technological proficiency.

Students working on critical thinking and collaboration skills while using the design engineering process to transfer “toxic popcorn” safely.  

On Tuesday, September 5, the York Suburban Girls Volleyball team opened its season with its Eighth Annual Black Out fundraising match. This year, YSVB supported the efforts of Food for Thought, a collaborative partnership between Luther Memorial Lutheran Church, the Impact Foundation (York Suburban Education Foundation’s student-led committee), and the York Suburban School District. Food for Thought’s initiative is to provide a backpack filled with nutritious, non-perishable meals, and snacks to food insecure Valley View Elementary students.

Through the efforts of the volleyball teams at York Suburban and Eastern York, the Black Out sold 400 t-shirts and collected 25 corporate sponsorships and 22 gift baskets for drawings. The evening resulted in a donation total of 728 food items for the shelves and over $5,776.75 to assist with start-up of Food for Thought. YSVB would like to thank the Eastern York School District for their participation, the local corporations for their sponsorships and donations, the volunteers for the evening’s success, and the community for its support of Food for Thought and York Suburban Volleyball.

Sixth grade English Language Arts students were reading nonfiction articles about hurricanes, sparking discussions about Hurricane Harvey. Students felt horrible about the victims of the hurricane and wanted to do something to help.  In lieu of donating money, students determined it would be better to give donations. A one day donation drop off was designated for Wednesday, September 6, and the outpouring of generosity was inspiring.  

Grateful students helped to sort, organize, and pack the supplies for delivery to Bailey Coach located in West York.   Bailey Coach delivered the items to hurricane relief organizations in Texas.

Discovery and Design — Formerly known as computer class … Why the Change?

While all students in the York Suburban School District from kindergarten through eighth grade are exposed to instruction that ensures that they obtain the necessary computer skills to operate their school issued chromebooks and utilize available resources that enhance their success in other subjects, the Discovery & Design curriculum includes much more. Students as early as kindergarten are learning about ways that technology impacts their lives.

Valley View Elementary students participating in the Hour of Code

The elementary Discovery & Design curriculum is based on the foundation that all students–at all ages–will learn about computer science. Our youngest learners are being exposed to “low tech” coding skills and invention stations. The basic concepts of internet safety and digital citizenship are included at each grade level as they are critical components of a good computer science curriculum. The magic, however, comes when students understand how computer science is changing the world and how they can create the technology of our future.

On their first day of school, 5th graders use Google Classroom and Forms to fill out a “course application” for related arts choices.