Many of the best middle and high school musicians in Bucks County visited Neshaminy in March. The District was the 2023 host of the Bucks County Music Educators Association (BCMEA) Music Festival, which included three days of rehearsals and performances at Maple Point Middle School and Neshaminy High School.
Students from 17 middle and 13 Bucks County high schools auditioned to participate in the festival, which was held on March 16-18. At the auditions, which were held at Pennsbury, the musicians were asked to prepare a solo piece, play scales, and do a short sight-reading piece. They were judged by music teachers from the various schools during a blind audition. Separate audtions were held for middle and high school students.
The final selection included:
- 80 high school band musicians
- 83 high school orchestra musicians
- 110 high school chorus members
- 75 middle school band musicians
- 65 middle school orchestra musicians
- 113 middle school chorus members.
Of these, 46 Neshaminy musicians were selected for the high school groups and 50 in the middle school groups. Each group held rehearsals on Thursday and Friday which culminated in live performances on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.
A group of 15-20 Neshaminy HS parent volunteers from both the vocal and instrumental programs supported the effort along with another 10 volunteers at Maple Point. They provided snacks and water for the musicians each day, organized and serviced dinner to the choirs on Friday night and lunch to four ensembles on Saturday at both sites. They also prepared the concert program and other necessities.
The BCMEA Music Festival rotates among various participating school districts in the county about every 7-8 years. The BCMEA Music Festival is part of an annual set of similar events at the regional and state level, each with increasing levels of competition. Fourteen Neshaminy instrumental musicians qualified for the PMEA District 11 Band & Orchestra this year (see article below).
The 2023 edition of Gym Night at Neshaminy packed a lot of creativity, hard work and showmanship into three sold-out shows in March 3 and 4. Once the colors were rejoined on Saturday night, Red took the trophy with a 39-34 comeback victory after Blue dominated on Friday evening.
Each team's exhibition dance featured specific careers including astronauts and space (Red Seniors), authors and literary genres (Blue Seniors), armed forces (Red Juniors), scientists (Blue Juniors), detectives (Red Sophomores), archaeologists (Blue Sophomores), directors (Blue Freshmen) and safari guides (Red Freshmen).
This was the 69th Gym Night and the 70th year that Gym Night has been held at Neshaminy (the 2021 show was canceled due to the pandemic). During that time, the Blue team has won 31 times and Red 38 times including this year's win. The video below features a history of Gym Night at Neshaminy; interviews with Gym Night alumni and current captains; and a look back at the weeks and months of preparations by students, their families, Neshaminy staff and the community that made Gym Night 2023 another legendary success.
With some help from a mild winter, both the fields project at Neshaminy High School and site work for the new elementary school at Maple Point are well underway. At the high school, the baseball and softball seasons both started on their new turf fields, both of which were completed in time for the regular season. The multipurpose field has been graded and is settling for a few weeks before the new surface is installed. The scoreboard for that field is in place. Though the tennis courts will not be ready for the spring season, they will be completed in time for the 2023 fall season.
Stadium Update
Installation of the new metal bleachers at the stadium is expected to begin by the end of March, and as of the publication of this newsletter, the new turf field is still on track to be completed in time for the graduation ceremony in June. After some discussion at a recent Board Facilities Committee meeting, the District administration did make alternate plans to host the ceremony indoors at the CURE Arena in Trenton only as a precaution should unforeseen circumstances delay installation and prevent the ceremony from being held at The Ridge.
The following are dates for the 2023 student assessment tests at Neshaminy:
- Grade 3 & 4 English Language Arts: April 24 - 26
- Grade 5 - 8 English Language Arts: April 25 - 27
- Grade 3 - 8 Math: May 1 & 2
- Grade 4 Science: May 3 & 4
- Grade 8 Science: May 4
- Middle School Algebra: May 17 - 18
- High School Algebra: May 15 & 17
- Literature: May 18 & 19
- Biology: May 22 & 23
Important information about the tests for parents and students can be found on the District website and each school home page.
Spring is here and that means baseball and softball! Bucks County Challenger Baseball and Softball is gearing up for another season to be held at Neshaminy HS. Special Needs athletes are invited to register either on March 31, 6:30 in the NHS Cafeteria, or at the Girls Softball practice field (by the school bus parking lot) on the first day of play, Sunday April 2 from 11-12:30. Challenger is an independent program that brings area special needs athletes together with coaches and players from NHS and other area HS sports teams together for skills training, game experience and friendship!
We are looking for certified and support staff for part-time and full-time positions across the District. Check out the possibilities by visiting the Neshaminy employment web page at www.neshaminy.org/employment. Among the current openings:
- Substitute teachers (all levels)
- Building aides
- Dining aides
- Playground aides
- Van drivers (PT)
- Substitute bus drivers
- Instructional Assistants
Neshaminy's employment partner, ESS, will be holding two open house information sessions for support staff and substitute teaching positions in April:
- Friday, April 14, 10am-12pm
- Friday April 28, 10am-12pm
Both sessions will be held in the District Board Room at Maple Point, 2250 Langhorne-Yardley Road in Langhorne. Similar sessions will be held in May and June as well.
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish! Schweitzer students and staff had an amazing time celebrating Literacy Week by having spirit days through the week of Dr. Seuss’s birthday. From Wacky Wednesday to Crazy Sock Day to dressing up like our favorite story character, Schweitzer has a LOVE for books! The fun is continuing through a March Madness ‘Tournament of Books’ where students read and vote on their favorite books each week during the month of March to find out their top loved books in grades K-2 and Grades 3-4.
There was a lot of green attire and fun activities across the District on March 17 celebrating Saint Patrick's Day. In these photos, Ms. Gruener's first-grade class at Walter Miller ES and Ms. Atwater and Mr. Blaydon's classes at Tawanka ES designed and built "leprechaun traps," as a fun STEAM-inspired project. In the same theme, the first and fourth grades at Pearl S. Buck ES worked together building "leprechaun mazes."
The District's fourth-grade students enjoyed a ride to Neshaminy High School on Tuesday, March 21 to hear a concert staged by members of the high school band, orchestra and chorus. The purpose of the assembly is to inspire the students to join Neshaminy's award-winning music program and see where their lessons and practicing can take them if they take advantage of the many opportunities to play and perform in middle and high school.
Grace Nesbitt, an 8th grade student athlete at Maple Point Middle School, has competed as a member of the wrestling team as both a 7th, and 8th grader. Competing against boys, Grace had a very successful wrestling season at Maple Point culminating in a 3rd place finish at the LBCL Championships. She continued her success beyond the interscholastic season by competing in the junior high girls division placing 4th in the Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling State Championships and 3rd in the Keystone State Championships. As women’s wrestling continues to grow in popularity across the state of Pennsylvania, Grace looks forward to forging new paths Neshaminy, with hopes of establishing a girl's wresting team at the high school.
Congratulations to Neshaminy HS MiniTHON for raising a new school record total $38,059.14 for Four Diamonds! This is the 8th year for MiniTHON at NHS and they have raised over $140,000 so far. The money includes proceeds from contributions to the Neshaminy page on the Four Diamonds website and a variety of fundraisers held over the past several weeks. The District's three middle schools held their own "Mini-MiniTHON" on December 3 during which they raised $3,755. Other fundraisers included a "No Shave November" among male teachers, a raffle competition between Pennsbury and Neshaminy during football games last fall, a "Drive-In" Halloween movie event in October, and a "Kids Night Out" event in February. One of the more unique events held during their "Spirit Week" in February was "Stall Day," during which students were invited to contribute loose change during a first period class. The teachers agreed that they would not be able to start teaching until they counted all the coins - the more coins, the greater the delay. In another event, NHS Principal Stephen Garstka showed his support by agreeing to be the target of a pie-in-the-face from the winner of another fundraising raffle.
A brand new club at Neshaminy HS aims to support cancer victims while encouraging good mental health at the same time. The Take a Break club is a group of students working to support the mission of the For Pete’s Sake foundation by raising money for families experiencing a cancer crisis. The group focuses on the importance of mental health, stress relief, and gratitude. On March 21, the group sponsored their first-ever "Take a Break Day," during which teachers were encouraged to take part of their class period to let their students relax with a variety of fun activities such as chair yoga, dancing, and games like Wordle, trivia, "Finish the Lyrics," or board games. Alternatively, the students could just read or have a discussion about strategies for beating stress and facing life's challenges.
