P.K. Yonge DRS

What a wonderful second week of Wayfinders!

Last week, our Wayfinders focused on Charting a Course, thinking about where they want to go as readers, writers, and learners. Students reflected on their reading strengths, explored assessment data, and began setting goals for the journey ahead.

One of the highlights of the week was our adventure to Silver Springs State Park. Students experienced Florida's natural beauty aboard the famous glass-bottom boats, explored the park's history and ecosystems, and continued learning about the stories that shape our understanding of Florida.

A special thank you to the Florida Defenders of the Environment for sponsoring this field experience and helping make this unforgettable adventure possible for our students.

We're proud of the growth, curiosity, and community we've seen over the first two weeks of Wayfinders, and we can't wait to see where Week 3 takes us!

Yesterday, we celebrated the dedication of the Timmons Learning Center in the 2nd Floor Green Wing!

Made possible through a generous gift from Deloyce Timmons Conrad in honor of her parents, this investment will support teacher research, expand enriching math opportunities for students, create a dedicated space for math exploration and learning, sustain the Adventures in Math (AIM) summer program for years to come, and help establish a middle school Math Olympiad team.

We are deeply grateful for this lasting commitment to student success and the future generations of math learners who will be inspired within these walls.

Girls ages 7-14 - you’re invited to a Blue Wave Girls Basketball Camp on July 18!

What a wonderful first week of Wayfinders! 🌊📚

This week, our Wayfinders focused on determining their location, learning that every meaningful journey begins by understanding where you are before deciding where you’re headed.

One of the highlights of the week was our visit to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park, where students explored the life and legacy of one of Florida’s most beloved authors. We were also honored to be joined by Flo Turcotte, curator of Rawlings’s papers at the University of Florida Libraries, who traveled back to P.K. Yonge with us to share a very special surprise. Thanks to the generosity of the , each Wayfinder received a personal copy of The Secret River by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, along with a personalized note from Ashley Lear, Executive Director of the Society.

We are grateful to our partners, our families, and our incredible Wayfinders for making Week 1 such a success. The journey is just beginning, and we can’t wait to see where Week 2 takes us!

Wayfinders is P.K. Yonge’s middle grades summer literacy program, where students engage in research-based reading instruction while building reading, writing, and leadership skills through stories, exploration, and shared experiences.

More photos from our Odyssey of the Mind teams’ trip to Worlds last week!

🌎✨ Last week, we celebrated an incredible accomplishment by our elementary Odyssey of the Mind teams as they headed to the World Finals in Iowa!

Their creativity, teamwork, problem-solving, and dedication have taken them all the way to the international stage, where they represented PK alongside teams from around the world. We are so proud of the hard work and innovation that brought them to this moment.

☀️ Summer Office Hours ☀️

From June 1–July 23, our front office will be open Monday–Thursday from 8:00 AM–4:00 PM.

We hope everyone has a safe, relaxing, and fun summer break! Stay wavy, Blue Wave! 💙

Summer Blue Wave athletics are already underway!

Many of our fall sports begin conditioning and activities before students return to campus, so now is the time to get cleared and connected with coaches.

✅ ALL student-athletes must complete the 2026-27 Athletic Clearance application and be fully cleared BEFORE participating.

Visit our athletics page for sport-specific information and coach contacts:
🔗 https://pkyonge.ufl.edu/athletics/

Watch the informational webinar:
🎥 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP_rLaoLjo0

Today we celebrated our 5th graders’ promotion to middle school with our annual Crossing the Creek tradition! 🌊🎓 This special PK tradition symbolizes not only our students’ growth over the years, but also their physical move across the creek to the secondary building. We are so proud of all they have accomplished and can’t wait to see what’s ahead for these future middle schoolers! 💙