YCIS-SV Community Connection

Dear YCIS Community,

As we come to the close of 2025, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to each of you for being such an important part of the YCIS community.

This year, we have seen our students grow with confidence, curiosity, and care—academically, socially, and bilingually. We were especially proud to celebrate our students’ learning and creativity through recent community events, including Sharing the Learning, the Winter Concert, and the Art Exhibition. These meaningful moments reflect the joy, talent, and collaboration that define YCIS.

We are deeply grateful to our faculty and staff for their dedication, to our families for their trust and partnership, and to those who generously supported our Annual Fund. Your contributions directly strengthen our programs and enrich the learning experiences of our students.

As we look ahead, re-enrollment for the coming school year is now open. We warmly encourage families to continue this journey with us as we remain committed to nurturing the whole child and advancing our bilingual, inquiry-based education.

Wishing you and your families a restful holiday season and a joyful start to the new year. We look forward to continuing this meaningful partnership together.

Warm regards,
Kevin, Vivian, and George

It has been such a joy seeing the YCIS ECE Community come together for this week’s Winter Celebrations. There is something truly special about the energy of the season, and witnessing everyone sharing laughs and making new memories has been the highlight of the week.

As we head into the break, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season surrounded by your loved ones. Whether you are staying cozy at home or heading out on the road, we wish you a healthy and safe journey. May your time off be filled with warmth, rest, and plenty of cherished moments with family and friends!

What an amazing performance this afternoon! We know parents already took lots of videos and photos. Here's another chance to rewatch the entire concert or skip to your child's performance by clicking here: https://youtu.be/6Imc-SZUZRY

Our school community came together for a House Lunch this Tuesday, where students enjoyed eating together and strengthening connections within their houses. The afternoon included friendly house competitions, highlighted by a fun snowball toss game that brought lots of laughter and excitement. We bonded, built house spirit, and enjoyed time together before the holiday break.

We are excited to announce that House of Lion is the winner of this year’s food drive! With an incredible total of 115 food donations, their generosity truly stood out.

Altogether, our school community collected an amazing 435 food donations! This food drive would not have been possible without the support and kindness of everyone who participated. Every single donation made a difference, and together we showed what it means to care for and give back to our community.

We are so grateful for the opportunity to share joy and love with those in need. Thank you for your generosity and school spirit! Here is a video from K-B class:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TVI1HBTQZSpm7CFrvqpEwxPNrMP8BY3m/view?usp=sharing

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thank you, YCIS community! Our Grade 2A class raised $1,000 to donate to the Refugee Resettlement Village as part of their project-based learning initiative. Through their study of community and diversity, our second graders chose to give back through action by organizing a student-led snack sale for the community.

We are deeply grateful to Marleen, founder of the Refugee Resettlement Village, who shared her story with our students and inspired their work. She was especially moved by the snack sale video the students created, sharing:

“This video made me cry… My heart is bursting. You can’t possibly understand how much this experience means to me. Truly.”

This support comes at a critical time, as the organization’s funding was cut as of December 31. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported the snack sale and our students’ efforts—your generosity is making a real difference.

To learn more about Marleen and her work, you can view the local news feature here:
Furnishing a warm welcome: South Bay woman helps refugees get start with new life

🐝🐝🐝

Congratulations to our Class Spelling Bee Champions!

• Grade 1: Evelyn Mounzer, Isabel Xu

• Grade 2A: Mason Xue, Layla Huang

• Grade 2B: Coral Ning, Mark Hu

• Grade 3: Joules Hsu, Simon Tang

• Grade 4: Avery Hui, Vivian Li

• Grade 5: Anders Chung, Sabrina Gao

• Grade 7/8: Ryan Zhang, Erica Cedilnik

These students will compete at our All-School Spelling Bee on January 9th. We will recognize top scorers from Lower School (Grades 1–2) and Upper School (Grades 3–8), with the top three overall advancing to the regional qualifier. We are proud of all our champions and wish them the best as they continue preparing!

Please encourage your child to participate in the ANCCS Chinese Academic Contest (中文學術競賽). This exciting academic event celebrates students’ Chinese language skills and cultural learning through friendly competition, and it’s a wonderful chance for them to challenge themselves and shine. Registration is open now—please sign up using the contest registration form or clicking on the link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd2eKTL0a2ntkatTgaRynkrpGmbTc_ROPj0o2qQEDBCGo2_wQ/viewform

Fourth graders are participating in a Relationship PBL focused on empathy, respect, and understanding different perspectives. By learning about their senior friends’ cultures and life experiences, students have been building meaningful cross-generational connections through the theme of Love & Charity. On 12/16, our 4th graders joyfully returned to visit their senior friends, putting their learning into action. During the visit, students shared performances, played games, created crafts, sent gifts, and spent time chatting together. This return visit was filled with laughter, warmth, and genuine connection, strengthening relationships across generations and reflecting our students’ growing servant hearts within the community.

Fourth graders are participating in a Relationship PBL focused on empathy, respect, and understanding different perspectives. By learning about their senior friends’ cultures and life experiences, students have been building meaningful cross-generational connections through the theme of Love & Charity. On 12/16, our 4th graders joyfully returned to visit their senior friends, putting their learning into action. During the visit, students shared performances, played games, created crafts, sent gifts, and spent time chatting together. This return visit was filled with laughter, warmth, and genuine connection, strengthening relationships across generations and reflecting our students’ growing servant hearts within the community.

In their first PBL unit, our first graders explored the theme of the past and present, learning the importance of cherishing what we have today. This semester, students explored how things change over time and learned to appreciate the people and ideas that came before us. As part of this meaningful unit, students invited our Co-Principals to their classroom for a special storytime. They read the book 《校長婆婆 Hau Cheung Po Po》, which shares the history of YCIS and the inspiring story of our school’s founder. Through this heartfelt story, students learned how YCIS began, how it has grown over time, and how love and care have shaped our school community. This experience helped students connect the past to the present while deepening their sense of belonging and appreciation for our school.

Our ASB students hosted a student-led hot chocolate sale to raise funds that will be reinvested into activities and events for the student body. ASB members thoughtfully planned start-up costs, pricing, and logistics, while using their communication skills to reach out to local businesses for support. A special thank you to community partners, including Starbucks, for donating cups.

Last week, our 7th and 8th grade students gave their parents a glimpse into what it’s like to be part of a middle school science class. In preparation for this experience, our students designed and delivered a presentation that taught or reviewed the law of reflection, demonstrating both their understanding of the concept and their ability to communicate scientific ideas clearly.

After the presentation, the 7th and 8th graders applied their learning by building two identical obstacle courses for parents to try. Parents were challenged to complete an obstacle course using a stationary laser pointer, while carefully positioning mirrors to guide the beam of light around obstacles until it reached a target. This interactive activity allowed parents to experience firsthand the hands-on, inquiry-based approach students use to apply new concepts after learning them in class.

This was our first time incorporating a live demonstration into our Sharing Our Learning event, and it was a great success. The activity not only highlighted student creativity and problem-solving skills, but also created an engaging and enjoyable experience for parents, who clearly had a lot of fun participating.

As we head into the holiday season, we’re reflecting on the many joyful moments in YALP. From hands-on academic challenges and science experiments to creative crafts, authentic cooking and outdoor activities, our students have been learning, collaborating, creating, laughing, and growing together.

These experiences are at the heart of YALP, reflecting our commitment to supporting students’ academic growth and overall well-being while nurturing the whole child through learning, friendship, and a joyful community.

As we close out 2025, we wish all our families a happy, restful, and joyful holiday season, and look forward to welcoming everyone back in 2026!

Hello YCIS families!

Re-enrollment for the 2026-27 school year is now open! Look out for detailed instructions in your inbox.

Enrollment portal: https://ycis-sv.fsenrollment.com/users/sign_in

Questions? Email admissions@sv.ycef.com or speak with Alice by calling 650-903-0986

⛄ 12/21-1/2: Christmas Break, ECE & K-8 Campuses will be closed

🍎 1/5/2026: NO SCHOOL, Teacher In-Service Day

Coming in January!

Chris Willard, PsyD

Growing Up Mindful: Calm & Resilience at Every Stage

Wed, January 14, 7pm PT, via Zoom

Drawing from his extensive work in mindfulness-based interventions and contemporary psychology, Dr. Christopher Willard will share practical, evidence-based tools for students and adults to cultivate presence, resilience, and emotional well-being in our fast-paced, digitally connected world. Dr. Willard will offer accessible strategies to reduce stress, strengthen attention, and foster greater compassion from his years of clinical practice and teaching.

Registration is open!

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