West Chester Area School District

Dear WCASD Community,

Welcome to the last full month of the 2021-22 school year! For me, May isn’t just the last full month of the school year because of days on the calendar, it’s also the fullest month of activities, concerts, field days, festivals, and many more celebratory events.

This is such a busy time and it can feel overwhelming, but it’s also a wonderful opportunity for our students, staff, families, and community to come together – some of us for the last time as we celebrate graduations and retirements. As we look toward the end of the school year and the bittersweet feelings that it brings, I am so appreciative of this community and the way each and every one of you make each year unique and memorable.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the numerous events we have this month and then when I have the honor of wishing our seniors the very best in their bright futures this June!

To make sure that you don’t miss any of the events coming up for the WCASD, check out the list of upcoming events below and our Celebrate the Arts Flyer.

Important Dates:

May: Mental Health Awareness Month | Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

May 2: Eid al-Fitr

May 2-6: Teacher Appreciation Week

May 3: Teacher Appreciation Day

May 4: Building a Community Zoom Parent Session | 7:00 p.m.

May 8: Mother’s Day

May 9: Education Committee Meeting | 6:30 p.m.

May 9: Pupil Services Committee Meeting | 7:00 p.m.

May 11: School Nurse Day

May 12: Love Languages Zoom Parent Session | 6:30 p.m.

May 16: Property & Finance Committee | 6:00 p.m.

May 17: No School for Students - Teacher In-service

May 18: Maintaining Healthy Relationships Zoom Parent Session | 7:00 p.m.

May 25: School Board Meeting | 7:00 p.m.

May 30: Schools and Offices Closed - Memorial Day

Peirce Middle School student, Claire Bushnell, is one of this year's Chester County Chapter DAR American History essay winners! All winners have their essays submitted to the state level where Claire was then selected as the Pennsylvania State DAR 8th grade winner. For the essay contest, Claire discussed the importance of The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for many American families who have lost loved ones in times of war.

Congratulations to Claire on her essay and thanks to one of her teachers, Mr. Christopher Beatty, Gifted Resource teacher at Peirce!

Congratulations to Rustin High School, Stetson Middle School, and Fugett Middle School for their exceptional work throughout the competition!

Photo is from Fugett's participation in the Mission Possible challenge!

The WCASD Sensational Strings (MS Select Strings and HS Senior Strings) performed a concert at the Uptown Knauer Performing Arts Theater in West Chester. The Select Strings, directed by Mr. Tim Celfo and the Senior Strings directed by Mrs. Katrina Kelly played a wide variety of repertoire spanning from classical to musical and jazz music!

This school year, a group of Henderson students discovered their shared interest in the field of Medicine and decided to form a new club and chapter of HOSA (Future Health Professionals, formerly known as Health Occupations Students of America).

This is an international career and technical student organization endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education and the Health Science Technology Education Division of ACTE. HOSA actively promotes career opportunities in the health industry and to enhance the delivery of quality health care to all people.

After 18 members came together to officially charter the Henderson club in October 5, they then participated in their first HOSA PA Conference along with over 900 students! One of the Henderson students, Miruna Vasilescu, competed in Pharmacology and won first place while also qualifying for ILC in Nashville.

Thank you, Koryn and Sravya, for your informative reports and leading us in a salute to the flag!

Thank you as well to our students and principals from East, Henderson, and Rustin High Schools for joining us to recognize our students' tremendous achievements as national merit scholars, musicians, state competition winners and more. We also enjoyed getting to view senior student artwork from Henderson High School, including the first place congressional award winning artwork, Ghost House, by Henderson student Shruti! Her work will be on display in the Capitol Building during the coming school year.

Exton Elementary spent Fridays in April celebrating Autism Acceptance and Awareness month!

Students walked around with a treat cart for teachers and staff with the proceeds from all purchases and donations given to The Arc of Chester County, a local organization that assists and advocates for individuals of different abilities and their families.

More than 70 local professionals, many of whom are parents to WCASD students, attended Henderson High School's annual career day, giving students a bird's eye view into careers ranging from FBI agents, physician's assistants, college professors, to public relations officers.

Our students had a great time, even if they did have to overcome stage fright to sing in front of their classmates while learning about the enthusiasm it takes to teach young children!

Join the WCASD for a three part Community Roundtable Series on Social Emotional Learning presented by Thom Stecher & Associates held via Zoom.

The next session is on Wednesday, May 4, from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. This session focuses on building community through respect for self and others, responsibility for what we think, feel, say and do, and the development of healthy relationships. To register for this session, click Building a Community.

The final session is on Wednesday, May 18, from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. It will discuss the core concepts of maintaining relationships such as expressing care, challenging growth, providing support, sharing power, and expanding possibilities. To register for this session, click Maintaining Healthy Relationships.

To learn about the full series or view previous sessions, click the button below!

The Henderson High School Chamber Choir and Chamber Orchestra performed at the State Capitol in Harrisburg as part of the celebration of Music in our Schools Month.

The HHS Chamber Choir and the Chamber Orchestra students along with Mr. Jonathan Kreamer and Mrs. Katrina Kelly took a tour of the capitol building, performed for a large audience, and were recognized by State Senator, Carolyn Comitta, on the Senate floor during session!

Don't miss Peirce Middle School's performances of Legally Blonde Jr. The Musical on May 6 at 7 PM, May 7 at 3 PM and 7 PM, and May 8 at 3 PM 🎭

Just like Elle, you don't need any backups for your weekend plans. You're going to Peirce! To purchase tickets, click the photo or the button below.

The East Vikings spent their first day of the break with their football coach, the Sunrise Rotary Club of West Chester, Board President Sue Tiernan, and others at the Melton Center preparing the new community garden beds.

After mulching, digging, and planting all morning, the garden space is looking beautiful!

Walking through Exton Elementary's hallways just got even more inspiring thanks to its students, staff, and Philadelphia based mural artist Kaitlin Chow!

After the West Chester Area Education Foundation funded an artist in residency mini-grant, Exton students got to learn from and work with Chow to help design and paint a large work of art for their school. The collective and hard, but fun, work it took to create this piece is literally illustrated in the final mural, which says, "We're stronger when we work together."

The Rustin Marching Band is looking forward to December as they will head to Hawaii to represent the state of Pennsylvania and the USS Pennsylvania Battleship in the 2022 Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade!

The students and their Band Director, Michael Shoremount, are honored to be a part of the Pearl Harbor Commemoration Ceremony and Parade and are busy raising funds to defray the costs for students to be a part of the trip. Additionally, any students that will be attending Rustin next year are still welcome to join the band, even without experience playing an instrument.

Check out the Rustin Marching Band's website to learn more about the band, their performance in the Memorial parade, upcoming performances, and how to become a sponsor for the trip!

Each month for the rest of 2022, the WCASD will develop two-minute videos that answer two questions about important programs, events, policies, and more within the district.

The first video in the series focuses on understanding what a comprehensive plan is for a school district and the college and career opportunities that are available to WCASD students. While this first video is a little over the two-minute goal, we hope you find it useful and look forward to staying under the time limit next time!

The WCASD Senior Strings had the honor of performing at the PMEA All-State Conference in the Poconos! Senior Strings was one of only very few ensembles from across the state of PA selected to perform at the conference.

The WCASD Senior Strings is comprised of 37 members from East, Henderson and Rustin High Schools. This is the 5th time the ensemble has been selected to perform at the PMEA Conference and excelled in performing a challenging and varied musical program!

WCASD students throughout the district participated in great activities and outdoor learning in celebration of Earth Day, from water quality testing and picking up trash to planting new garden beds and learning how recycled materials are reused!

The WCASD East Vikings Indoor Color Guard came in first place at the Region 3, TIA championships! Then East and Henderson teams went on to earn number one and two spots at the TIA Atlantic Coast Championships in Wildwood!

Color guard teams perform exciting choreographed dances and routines that enhance and interpret the music of a marching band show.

Photo shows East High School Indoor Color Guard team.

Mary C. Howse students and staff enjoyed a wonderful concert complete with rockstar performances, solos, and a very special tribute to Choral Director, Mary Litzenberg, Orchestra Director, Mary Belczyk, thanking them for their years teaching students to love music as they get ready to enjoy retirement this summer!

Congratulations to five students who went through a rigorous audition process to represent the WCASD at the All-State Level at the PMEA All-State Conference!

East student, Heather, played bass in the All-State Wind Ensemble. Rustin senior, Bryce, sang Tenor I in the All-State Choir. Vocalists, Andrew and Ryan, represented Henderson in the Tenor II and Tenor I sections in All-State Choir. Finally, Henderson senior, Sam, was one of two accompanists who successfully auditioned from across the state of PA.

The West Chester Area Education Association and WCASD proudly presented the Dr. Elwood M Spellman award for spirit of volunteerism and citizenship to 30 AMAZING senior students from all three high schools!

Please take a moment to view the program outlining all their accomplishments!

WCASD East students Zachary, Brooklyn, and Joseph were recently awarded 1st place in the National History Day (NHD) Regional Competition for their NHD Senior Group Documentary: A Pardon for Horror - The Diplomatic Failure & Moral Debate of Unit 731.

These students first began their project in October of this year as they selected and extensively researched a topic based on the 2022 NHD theme, Debate and Diplomacy-Successes, Failures and Consequences. They will be presenting their work at the state competition taking place this May!

Thank you to all of our exceptional donors and sponsors who made it possible for the WCAEF to provide more than $305,000 for West Chester Area School District (WCASD) classroom mini-grants, over $241,000 to send WCASD students to Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week to work with business leaders from across the state, and thousands of dollars to provide students with internship experiences with the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry.

Thank you to all of the generous donors and sponsors who continue to support our mission!

Join Rustin on Friday, May 13, at 7 PM or Saturday, May 14, at 3 PM and 7 PM for a can't miss performance!

West Chester Area School District art teacher Bette Naughton presented her students' artwork recently at the 2022 National Art Education Association Convention in New York City.

Naughton's presentation, "Equity and Inclusion: Innovative Practices for Creating an Inclusive Art Room Where Every Student Shines," stood out among the proposals as she has focused her years of experience on developing adaptive and engaging lessons that motivate and spark excitement in children of all abilities.

Read the full article at on Patch!

Register to attend the WCASD's free parent workshop, Love Languages, on Tuesday, May 12, at 6:30 pm via Zoom. This workshop will explore the benefits of identifying and understanding the love languages detailed in Gary Chapman's book, 5 Love Languages.

To register, click Love Languages Parent Workshop.

WCASD seniors and their families, as you prepare for the last few weeks and your graduation celebrations, there are important dates and information that you will find helpful linked below. Click on your school's name for information specific to your school and if you have any questions, contact your school directly!

East High School

Henderson High School

Rustin High School

Did you know that the WCASD offers a Senior Tax Reduction Incentive Volunteer Exchange Program designed to assist Senior Citizens with the burden of Real Estate Taxes? In return for volunteering their services through this program, senior citizens may be entitled to a rebate of property taxes in accordance with the guidelines outlined on our Senior Tax Reduction Incentive Volunteer Exchange Program webpage.

Before applying to the program, we encourage those interested to review the attached brochure below and the guidelines on our website.

Attention WCASD parents, teachers, coaches and the community! East Bradford Neighbors Magazine is constantly looking for a few students who have done or are doing something of interest academically, athletically, artistically or in the community to feature in the magazine. If you know a student that has been achieving their personal best, share up to 500 words about them and what they've been up to along with one or two high-resolution photos for them to be considered.

Email East Bradford Neighbors Magazine Publisher Fay Steiger (fsteiger@bestversionmedia.com) to submit an article about your favorite kid! The deadline is the 5th of every month.

We are so grateful for our incredible WCASD teachers every week, but for Teacher Appreciation Week please join us in showing some extra appreciation.

Share a story, quote or photo of a memorable teacher or moment with us so that we can help celebrate all of the exceptional educators in the WCASD!