York Preparatory Academy is proud to present our first line of apparel and merchandise! We hope that you will participate in our first fundraiser, as we have created a variety of Designs and Colors that can be mixed and matched to suit every style. Have fun creating your YPA apparel!

Please complete and mail the Apparel Order Form to York Preparatory Academy, 1015 Charlotte Ave Box 215, Rock Hill SC 29732 along with your payment. Please make checks payable to York Preparatory Academy. Items will be available for pick-up at Double B Graphix. Parents will be notified when their order is complete.

Attachments:

File	Description	File size
YPA Apparel Order Form		460 Kb

York Preparatory Academy is a public school, funded by the state, and does not charge tuition or fees. All eligible K thru 12th grade students residing within the South Carolina are eligible to attend YPA. Students will be admitted without regard to race, religion, gender, creed, national origin, disability, ancestry, need for special education or itinerant services, or socioeconomic condition. Expelled students will not be admitted according to the policy of the SCPCSD.

NOTICE FOR ALL STUDENT APPLICANTS

The YPA lottery will be conducted on Saturday, February 20, 2010, in the sanctuary at First Baptist Church in Rock Hill. Doors will open to the public at 7:30am and the lottery will begin promptly at 8am and continuing until completed. To be considered in the lottery, applications must be received by YPA on or before 11:59 pm on January 31, 2010. For applications received by email, the receipt date and time will be the receipt date and time set forth on the email. For applications received by US Mail, the receipt date will be the postmark date. No applications received after January 31, 2010, will be eligible for the lottery and will be reviewed on a first-come first-serve basis.

Applications

Applications may be completed online or you can download the application and submit it via mail. All applications must be received by January 31, 2010 to be eligible for the lottery. The applications will be received and processed by the Charter Committee of YPA.

We are currently accepting applications for all grades. Applications received after the January 31st deadline, for all full grade levels, will be placed at the end of any applicable waiting list in the order in which they were received. As anticipated, grades 8 and 9 are not yet filled to capacity; however, if an 8th or 9th grade student is accepted into one of the remaining seats, their siblings are not entitled to Priority Enrollment Status this year.

The Lottery

If the number of applicants exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level or building, a lottery process will be used to determine enrollment. There is no appeal process when a student is denied admission due to lottery results.

The YPA Public Lottery will be held on Saturday, February 20th in the sanctuary at First Baptist Church. The doors will open to the public at 7:30am and parents will be allowed to shake the buckets for good luck and the lottery will begin promptly at 8am. There will be three Lottery Commissioners present: Betty Salmond, Ed Egan and Herbert Crump. Commissioners were selected from the community for their impartiality as they have no ties to York Preparatory Academy. Their sole responsibility is to manage the lottery proceedings to ensure fairness.

There are a few regulations that YPA would like to bring to your attention concerning the Public Lottery. While the lottery is open to the public, it should be noted that there will be no interaction permitted with the Lottery Commissioners, nor will interference with the lottery process be allowed. Children are welcome but are expected to be quiet. No food or beverages are permitted in the sanctuary.

Notification of Admission

Following the lottery on February 20, 2010, YPA will mail admission packets no later than March 15th to notify parents of their children’s acceptance. At this time, YPA will also mail letters to notify parents of their children’s status on the waiting list. If a seat becomes available, the open seat will be offered to the next student on the waiting list.

Priority Enrollment Status

The following statement is in response to the reinterpretation of South Carolina State Charter law by the State Board of Education.

During our first enrollment year, State law permits us and YPA will give priority enrollment status in our lottery to children of Planning Committee members, siblings of children selected to attend YPA through the lottery, and children of employees of YPA; however, by State law, the total number of students receiving priority enrollment status cannot exceed 20 percent of the school’s total enrollment.  Due to this restriction and our inability to control the makeup of our applicants, we cannot guarantee enrollment to any student; however, based upon the lottery process we have established, it is highly probable that all priority enrollment students will be enrolled at YPA.

Attachments:

File	Description	File size
YPA 2nd & 3rd Grade Supply List.pdf		6 Kb
YPA 4th & 5th Grade Supply List.pdf		11 Kb
YPA 6-8 Grades Supply Lists.pdf		24 Kb
YPA K-1 supply list.pdf		23 Kb
YPA Enrollment Application	YPA Enrollment Application after January 31, 2010	328 Kb

Dress-code

YPA students should display themselves neat and clean in appearance. YPA believes that the manner by which students dress has the potential to avoid unnecessary distractions in the academic environment and reflect a positive attitude in academic pursuits. YPA has a set of general standards that all students will adhere to. 

YPA students will not

• wear clothing that is grunge, ripped, torn, bleach spotted, or see-through
• have undergarments visible
• wear clothing that is not size appropriate (excessively large or baggy or unduly tight/formfitting)
• wear clothing that promotes gang affiliation, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, the use of controlled substances, depicts violence, has obscene designs or language, or is of a sexual or disruptive nature

Specific standard of dress at YPA includes:

1.  Shirts:

• Buttoned shirts must be buttoned within 2 buttons to the top.  Neat T-shirts are also allowed within guidelines regarding avoidance of all inappropriate symbols as stated above.
• When student’s arms are raised overhead, the shirt must cover both the front and rear of the pant or skirt waistband. Abdomen, chest, and back must be covered at all times.
• Any display of cleavage is unacceptable.
• Tops cannot be see-through, backless, sideless, worn off the shoulder, or sleeveless. All tops must have long, short, or cap sleeves.
• Shirts, though recommended to be tucked in, can be un-tucked as long as the shirt does not extend below the lower hip.

2.   Pants:

• Wind pants or sweat pants are not to be worn as regular school attire. (Exceptions allowed during Physical Education when approved by the teacher.)
• Back pockets must be at hip level.
• Pants should not drag floor.
• Leather pants (or skirts), oversized pants, and tight knit pants are unacceptable.
• Overalls are not to be worn by middle school students.

3.   Skirts, dress hems, and shorts:

• Skirts and dress hems should reach the top of the knees.
• Shorts should be no higher than 4 inches above the knee.
• Leggings are not to be worn as pants.
• Leggings may only be worn under skirts in alignment with the skirt rule.
• No fishnet/mesh material.

4.   Shoes:

• Most shoes are acceptable as long as they are regular street-wear with no more than 1 ½  inch heels.
• No flip-flops, cleats, or shoes with built-in rollers.
• Shoes must be properly buckled or tied where applicable.
• Appropriate shoes are required for Physical Education and recess.
• No bedroom slippers (or pajamas) are to be worn.

5.   Coats and hats:

• No hats, headgear of any type, hoods, or sunglasses are to be worn inside the building.
• Coats are not to be worn in class.

6.    Girl Scout, Boy Scout, 4-H, etc:

• Uniforms may be worn on meeting days.

7.    Hair:

• Hair is to be neat and well groomed.
• Hair must not draw excessive attention thereby disrupting the focus on learning.
• No rollers, combs, or picks to be worn in a student’s hair.
• Hair color must be natural to human beings.

8. Piercing and jewelry:

• For girls, body piercing must be limited to the earlobes with no more than 2 sets of earrings.
• Boys are not to wear earrings.
• Any other piercing jewelry must not be visible.
• No chains are to be worn. Spiked collars wristbands, or belts are prohibited.

9. No tattoos are to be seen.

10. Students are to dress gender appropriate.

If the student's dress is such that it constitutes a threat to health or safety or otherwise creates a

disruption in the school environment in the considered discretion of the Managing Director, the

Managing Director or his/her designee may require the student and the student's parents or

guardians to take appropriate action to remedy the situation.

Remember in choosing dress as well as in behavior the prudence in following this one rule: Don’t

do anything that would embarrass you, your family, your value system, or your school.

York Prepatory Academy believes athletic programs provide opportunities for students to develop physical fitness, friendships and self-discipline. Organized sports help students learn teamwork and are an important part of a well-rounded educational experience.

YPA plans to conduct a survey, once enrollment is finalized, to gather information regarding student interest in athletics. This information will be used to organize intra-murals and possible exhibition games with local private schools for the opening year of YPA.  At present, we are hoping to begin with teams in Cross Country, Track, Basketball, Volleyball, Soccer, Baseball and Softball. The success of forming these teams will be dependent upon student interest. 

It is our goal to be able to have competitive athletic teams for the subsequent years of YPA. Our competitors would be local private and charter schools.

York Preparatory Academy will provide bus service that utilizes group pick-up and drop-off points for clusters of families. For example, families that live in neighborhoods along Marshall Road would walk or drive their children to and from a common gathering point where the bus would come each day. Due to financial constraints, the bus service cannot be door to door.

YPA will utilize homeroom lunch time in each child's respective homeroom or small combined group of classes. This provides a more cohesive academic environment which is commonly used in successful charter schools elsewhere. Classroom teachers will be able to alternate lunch time duties with fellow teachers and parent volunteers.

Due to the limited funding available to public charter schools and the extensive costs for cafeteria facilities/costs not covered by the USDA school lunch program, YPA will not be able to deliver the same lunch services as the traditional public schools. There will be limited hot lunch opportunities where third-party vendors will be invited to serve YPA students. All children not able to afford bringing their own lunch will be provided a lunch by YPA.