Updates from Dr. Hattar

September 28, 2026

Dear Yorktown School Community,

I hope this letter finds you well.  September moves so quickly, and we are already turning the page to October this week.  Below are some important announcements for your review.  

Congratulations!

Congratulations are in order for many of our students. Just one month into the school year, our students are already earning national recognition.  Please join me in celebrating our five 2027 National Merit Semifinalists:

• Saarth Desai

• Benjamin Smith

• Zoe Yau

• Ryan Zheng

• Charlie Zhong

Only seven public and private high schools in Westchester County had more students recognized as National Merit Semifinalists (Scarsdale HS, Edgemont HS, Rye Country Day HS, Horace Greeley HS, Bronxville HS, Byram Hills, and Briarcliff HS).

Congratulations as well to our seven National Merit Commended Students.

• Alex Altamuro

• Luke Evangelista

• Miles Fallon

• Shane Goff

• Dhayashree Ravi

• Zach Rindone

• Jason Yang

We also congratulate our students selected for the All-State Mixed Chorus.

• Danielle Fruchtman (Soprano 2)

• Zachary Sunaz (Tenor 1 Alternate)

Additionally, several of our student-athletes earned pre-season recognition across multiple sports! Congratulations to all of our celebrated students.  Please continue the outstanding work!

Finally, the 2027 Niche rankings were released today.  Congratulations to our students, staff and entire school community.  The article can be found here.

IMPORTANT: ParentSquare Account Activation

Beginning October 1, ParentSquare will become the primary platform for school and district communications.  During the transition, we will continue to use our current communication system alongside ParentSquare to help ensure families receive important information.  However, please be sure to activate your account as soon as possible as we will be exclusively sending information to families using Parent Square effective Thursday, October 1.  

Also, we will be initiating a test phone call to all families and staff using our new platform.  This call will be initiated on Wednesday, September 30 at 4pm.  If you or someone you know does not receive a call, please be sure to complete a helpdesk ticket with our Technology Department.

Screen Time in Schools

One of our efforts this year is to be more mindful and selective about screen time, especially in our elementary schools.  In alignment with the current and emerging body of research around screen time, we believe that screen time should be used carefully and thoughtfully, and for sound educational purposes.  In several recent peer-reviewed research studies, the effects of screen time for certain recreational purposes (i.e. social media, gaming, streaming) were highlighted as being especially detrimental.  Please know that our school does not permit access to many of these sites.  However, the use of technology for instruction, supported by sound pedagogical practices, are generally beneficial to student learning.  The US Department of Education has also recently released a statement affirming this position.  The New York State Education Department also supports the responsible integration of educational technology in the classroom while restricting access to content that detracts from student learning.

We look forward to providing periodic updates during this school year.

False/Misleading Social Media Pages

We are aware of some social media accounts that have resulted in readers being misled to believe that the accounts are related to the Yorktown CSD. One such account appears to be connected to our Technology Department, and is not.  Please note these accounts contain some statements/questions that are misleading or, at times, inaccurate, and are not connected to the Yorktown CSD in any way.    

Idling of Vehicles

Westchester County law prohibits the idling of gasoline vehicles for more than three consecutive minutes.  This applies on and off school grounds and when ambient air temperature is above 32 degrees.  Kindly be mindful of idling your vehicle, especially on school grounds.

School Dismissals

Please be mindful of the time that you are arriving for arrival and dismissal.  All three of our elementary schools are in the heart of residential neighborhoods and we want to be respectful of the traffic in each area.  We have received concerns from residents indicating that vehicles are lining up upwards of an hour prior to dismissal resulting in traffic safety concerns.  Specifically, vehicles parked along the side of the road result in diminished sight lines and narrowing of two-way traffic roadways.  As a result, we ask that you not arrive too early for dismissal.     

Illnesses in School

As we return to school, if your child is symptomatic with fever, we ask that your child remain home until they are fever-free for at least 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications.  We appreciate your cooperation in keeping a child experiencing symptoms of illness, respiratory and/or gastrointestinal, home until they are well.  

Bond Construction Update

Our classroom additions to Brookside and Mohansic have been terrific thus far.  We have had some setbacks, but have worked through them.  Some exterior finishes were damaged upon arrival, and will be replaced as soon as they arrive.

The turf field on the MS/HS campus has been very well received.  There are some changes that need to be made to the field, and those will be done before the winter.  With regard to the remaining turf field, concessions building, bathrooms, and basketball courts, we anticipate those being ready this spring (as previously scheduled).  Of course, this completion timeframe is contingent on the winter weather.    

Superintendent’s Student Council

We are now accepting applications for YHS students to join the Superintendent’s Student Council.  If your high school child wishes to join this amazing group of students who meet with me monthly to discuss ways to improve our school district, please be sure to complete this application no later than October 13, 2026.  Students selected to join the Council will be notified via email by 4pm on October 23.  

Winter Weather Information

As we move toward the colder months of the year, weather-related delays and school closures are very likely.  Please always know that we prepare thoroughly whenever inclement weather is in the forecast.  The safety of your children and our staff is at the forefront of every decision we make.  While we always try to balance the importance of maximizing instructional time with the safety of our students, staff, and bus drivers, safety will always come first.  

Each year, in August or September, I drive almost every road within our school district’s boundaries to remind me of the circumstances of the roadways that our drivers will navigate during inclement weather.  Despite having lived in Yorktown for 18 years, I find the drive around town enormously helpful.  I find that actually seeing and experiencing some of the steep hills, narrow roadways, limited visibility around curved roadways, and limited sidewalks where students will wait for their buses, helps me to better understand what our drivers will be facing.  I am also reminded of how far south our buses travel to transport children, including into parts of Ossining and Mt. Kisco.  There were some roadways that I would prefer to avoid even on sunny days simply due to their narrowness, and when we add accumulated snow to each side of the road, it makes them unpassable for a school bus.  However, with a responsibility to transport all students who are registered to ride the buses, our buses do not have the option of avoiding some of the more narrow, steep, and/or curved roads, even during inclement weather.  

In addition to road conditions, when deciding on a snow closure or delay I also take into consideration:

• the hundreds of students waiting for buses in the dark, winter mornings.  Several streets lack sidewalks, resulting in children using the street to walk to their bus stop.

• low visibility during the earliest bus runs.  Buses are on the roads for approximately six hours each day, with the first student pick-up just after 6:15 a.m. 

• the nearly 200 high school students who drive to campus. 

• staff who travel upward of an hour in each direction.             

• the safety conditions on each of our school campuses.

We take snow calls very seriously in our district.  I am generally monitoring the weather forecast in the days leading up to the weather event and throughout the overnight hours on the day of the event.  I consult with our transportation contractor, surrounding school districts, our meteorological service, and the Yorktown Highway Department.  Additionally, I travel the roads at 4:15 a.m. to assess road conditions and surface temperatures.  My hope is that we arrive at a decision on any school delays or closures sometime shortly after 5:00 a.m.  

There may also be instances that we begin with a school delay, and due to deteriorating weather conditions, we make the decision to close schools.  If we begin with a delay, the decision to convert from a delay to a closure will be made shortly after 7:00 a.m.  

We will communicate all emergency school delays, early dismissals, and closures through our phone and e-mail (ParentSquare) notification systems.  Please note that the caller ID may read differently depending on your phone service provider.  In order for us to be able to contact you in the event of a school delay, early dismissal, or closure, please ensure your current phone number and e-mail address are correct in the Parent Portal.  You may make any changes to our parent portal by accessing https://parentportal-lhric.eschooldata.com//Yorktown.  We will also use our district Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts, @YorktownCSD, to share school delays, closures, and early dismissals.     

We are committed to the safety of your children.  As many families in our community know, my two children attend school here in the Yorktown CSD.  Please know that I will always treat the safety of your children with the same thought and care that I treat the safety of my own children.

#YorktownDifferenceMaker

We have amazing faculty and staff who are so incredibly committed to our students and are relentless in their support of children and their families.  To formally acknowledge their profound commitment to our students, we have initiated the #YorktownDifferenceMaker recognition program.  This program is intended to be one of the most meaningful honors an employee can receive in the Yorktown Central School District.  It gives students, families, colleagues, and members of our school community an opportunity to recognize a faculty or staff member who has had a profound and lasting positive impact on them or on the life of a child.

This recognition is not simply about someone doing their job well.  It is about recognizing those special individuals who go far above and beyond in helping a child to feel seen, valued, supported, challenged, inspired, and/or believed-in.

You may click here to nominate a #YorktownDifferenceMaker

Respectfully,
Dr. Ron Hattar