Dear Yellowstone Families,
Friday afternoon greetings from Yellowstone! We are writing today with several important updates. We hope that you are continuing to weather this crisis. Please reach out to your child’s teacher or advisor if there is anything we can be doing to further support you:
- Yellowstone Schools Closed for the Semester: In his press conference this afternoon, Governor Abbott officially closed Texas schools for the remainder of this semester. This means that Yellowstone will be closed through our last day of school which was scheduled to be May 29th.
In the coming days, we will be sharing more about what this means for your fourth quarter report card, grade level promotion, and everything else related to the end of the school year. As of now, we have also not made a determination about summer school or our summer programming. As in the past, we will update you via email, text/dojo, and our website as more is finalized.
While the news was not unexpected, it was still very difficult to hear that we have to finish the school year in this manner. Please know that our staff is committed to continuing our remote learning initiatives, connecting with you weekly, and ensuring that your students are able to grow and learn during this time. - Food Distribution Continues on Monday: Our weekly food distribution will continue. On Monday, we will be distributing a box containing seven day’s worth of breakfast and lunch meals for each student in your home and other students in the community.
The distribution will take place at our campus location and through our bus delivery system. The timing remains the same from 11:00 to 2:00 and you can access our route information here: Food Distribution Routes. - Exciting Leadership News for Next Year: Even in the midst of the school closure, we want you to know that we are committed to building a Yellowstone Academy and Yellowstone College Prep that will be even stronger when you return.
In mid-February, we announced that Ms. Candice Lapid had been promoted to become the principal of Yellowstone Academy. She has done an incredible job through this crisis navigating our work with our staff and our families.
Around that same time, we announced the launch of our search for the next principal of Yellowstone College Prep. The search continued even through this period of school closure with a committee that included board members, executive leadership, YCP staff, and human resources.
Today, we are excited to announce that Mrs. Mesha White has been selected by the search committee as the next YCP Principal. Mrs. White was selected out of more than 150 candidates, sourced from across the country, who applied for the position. The final stage of the search process included an extensive interview with the committee, where the finalists were evaluated based on their resumes, the quality of their strategic plan, how well they articulated their academic results and success in student growth, their plan for parent engagement, and their methods for managing teacher performance.
Through Mrs. White’s presentation and interview, it was clear that she understood the challenges and opportunities YCP faces in growing students and ensuring staff are developed and held accountable to performance goals that will ultimately lead to academic excellence for YCP. Mrs. White has proven success in coaching and developing teachers and improving student results. She also has familiarity with our campus, as she joined the staff in January as an instructional coach to support our academic program. She has gotten the opportunity to know our students and staff, even before this crisis began, and the committee was particularly impressed with her positivity, excitement, and commitment to this new role.
We are confident Mrs. White will be a transformational leader who will work hard to realize Yellowstone College Prep’s mission to inspire, empower, and invest in our students so they can achieve their highest potential and fulfill their intended purpose. You will be hearing more from Mrs. White in the days to come. For now, she wanted to share this introductory letter with you.
As you can read in these announcements today, we remain committed to your family and committed to the values and mission that define Yellowstone. Thank you for continuing to partner with us—for working alongside our teachers online, connecting with our staff every week, and staying engaged in your child’s learning.
We look forward to providing more updates about the rest of this school year and what lies ahead in the coming days. We hope and pray that you remain safe and healthy during this time.
Sincerely,
The Yellowstone Team
