New Parents Welcomed into York House Community 

This week, the York House community welcomed 70 new families at this year’s New Parents’ Evening. The virtual event took place on October 5 and was expertly MC’d by the YHS Parents’ Association President and Grade 1 parent Tanya Mehta.

The formal livestream program featured a special welcome from Head of School, Julie Rousseau, and Chair of the Board of Governors, Michelle Ostrow ‘89. This was followed by speeches from the Head Girls of the Junior and Senior Schools, Jamie (Grade 7), and Sophie (Grade 12), along with a beautiful violin duo performance of JS Bach’s Concerto for two violins in D minor by Jessica (Grade 10) and her sister Emily (Grade 9). New faculty and staff at York House this year also attended the event.

Volunteers from the New Parents’ Committee – led by Chair Alicia Winter – packed welcome gift bags for new families, which included delicious charcuterie boxes and refreshments courtesy of event sponsors The Graze Company and Township 7 winery. New family attendees also received a USB copy of a unique video featuring every single new student enjoying their first days as Yorkies.

Following the livestream, guests had the opportunity to meet and have conversations with other new families in smaller “Zoom Rooms” where they were able to share their first impressions of the school and stories from their daughters’ experiences so far.  A special thank you to members of our Board of Governors, Advancement Committee, Parents’ Association, New Parents’ Committee volunteers and school staff for hosting the online gatherings and the Advancement, Communications and IT departments for their support in making the event a success.

Food Bank Frenzy!

On Friday, October 1, the Junior School held their first Spirit Day and our first official House Event of the year – Food Bank Frenzy! Food Bank Frenzy is one big relay that has provided a fun and active way for our school to support the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society for over 10 years. 

The goal of the Food Bank Frenzy is to raise awareness of the Food Bank’s needs, to show off our school spirit, and of course, to have a friendly House competition. Each student brought in two cans of food and a toonie. Each House Team must race 150 items of food or money around the course. It is amazing to watch so much food and thoughtfulness zip around the field. 

We added the contribution of the toonie this year, as the Food Bank has three times the buying power, and also enables them to purchase fresh food and perishable items. 

When we added the surplus items and generosity of our Grade 1 and 2 students, our community collected over $800 and 25 boxes of food for the GVFB! A huge thank you to the House Leaders who prepared their teams, and a big thank you to each family for your donation. Way to go, York House!