Throughout the year, students in Ms. Sammartino’s Marketing for Sports, Entertainment, and Events at Neshaminy HS learn about branding products and services, the 4 P's of Marketing, advertising, event planning, and the decisions necessary for promoting products and events to name a few This year was a little different thanks to Mr. Stanley, the Community Relations Coordinator here at Neshaminy.
At the start of the year, Mr. Stanley began visiting the Marketing classes to share, show and explain what it takes to brand and promote the great things that are happening at Neshaminy, promoting intellectual curiosity among the students and the opportunity to connect classroom learning in our community.
During the classroom visits, Mr. Stanley explained his career path, passion, the description and importance of what he does, and the many ways he connects with the local community to let them know all of the great things that are happening at Neshaminy. Mr. Stanley also gave the marketing students an opportunity to brainstorm a marketing project that could be used to promote and spotlight the great things that make Neshaminy what it is. Once the list was narrowed down, a final project was created and became what is now known as “POP” or “Points of Pride.”
The opportunity allowed the BCIT (Business, Computer, and Information Technology) students in Ms. Sammartino’s class to apply the concepts they learned beyond the classroom by creating hashtags related to different topics and things that are happening in our district. Once established, students then went out on their own to find and interview people (students, teachers, coaches, events, activities, and alumni) to reflect the moments that make them proud to be a part of Neshaminy. The pictures included class-created hashtags along with quotes from the people that will be represented in the upcoming social media campaign. So . . . be on the lookout for the “POP” that the BCIT Marketing students are proud to be a part of!
Grant funding has allowed the Neshaminy School District to add two Student Support Counselors to support our K-8 students. Neshaminy High School is using its funding to provide four days per week of Student Support Counseling. The Student Support Counselors partner with established school teams, including principals, school psychologists, school counselors, and home and school visitors/social workers, to provide additional student support. These additional supports will be available through June 2024. Please contact your child’s school counselor for additional information regarding this additional resource.
Things are moving fast on the NHS fields project! The Neshaminy HS baseball and softball teams are the first to use new fields for play. The markings are in place on the new multipurpose field, and layers of rubber beads, which increase safety by cushioning the impacts of players hitting the surface, are being spread. The tennis court surface is complete and is awaiting paint and nets. The bleachers have arrived at the stadium and are being assembled. This is a fast process since all the components are pre-fabricated and just need to be assembled on the foundations that are already in place. The turf stadium field is still on schedule to arrive within a couple of weeks and should be completed by mid-May. As of the publication of this newsletter, plans to hold the Class of 2023 Commencement Ceremony on the new stadium field are still on track.
New Principal Appointed for Ferderbar ES
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- Congratulations to Dr. Sinead Doherty, who was approved as the next Principal of Joseph Ferderbar Elementary School at the School Board Public Meeting on March 28. Dr. Doherty is a Neshaminy resident with children attending our District schools. She is currently serving as Assistant Principal at Butler Elementary School in the Central Bucks School District. She will be replacing Andre Modica, who is retiring at the end of this school year.
In 2017, Pennsylvania's Department of Health established requirements for school vaccinations. Please review this document from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and consult with your child’s healthcare provider. Communication from the District will continue as a reminder of this PA Department of Health requirement.
District Policy 203 requires that “a certificate of immunization shall be maintained as part of the health record for each student, as required by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.” Further, the Policy states that “a student who has not been immunized per state regulations shall not be admitted to or permitted to attend district schools unless exempted for medical or religious reasons or provisionally admitted by the Superintendent or designee after beginning a multiple dose vaccine series and submitting proof of immunization or a medical certificate on or before the fifth school day of attendance.”
The requirements allow for the following exemptions: medical reason, religious belief, or philosophical/strong moral or ethical conviction. Even if your child is exempt from immunizations, he or she may be excluded from school during a vaccine-preventable disease outbreak.
Communication from the District will continue as a reminder of this PA Department of Health and Policy 203’s requirements. Please contact your child’s School Nurse with questions.
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.
Neshaminy High School Preschool Laboratory is accepting preschool applications for the 2023-2024 school year. Children must be four years old by September 1, 2023. The program is held 4 days per week (Monday through Thursday) and there are both the morning and afternoon openings. School will begin mid-October and end in May. The cost for this program is $350. Please visit the Preschool Lab website to see more information and to download the application form. Please note that openings are limited.
The NHS Preschool Laboratory is run in conjunction with the Child Development & Parenting classes at the high school. This program allows the students who are involved in these courses the opportunity to actively participate with the children, which has proven to be mutually beneficial for both over the years the program has operated.
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 an open house information session for support staff and substitute teaching positions on Friday, April 28 from 10am-12pm. The session 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.
Kindergartners at Pearl S. Buck ES went on a bus ride around town on April 14 to observe people, places, and jobs within the community. The Social Studies Unit in the District kindergartens have the students learning about what a community is, what important places are found in the community, who the important workers/helpers are, and how they can and should be a respectful member of our community. The students make a cardboard and paper diorama of the community as part of the project.
The Buck students toured Levittown and Langhorne and saw sites as an animal hospital, fire houses, the train station, the Public Library, Oxford Valley Mall, Sesame Place, various banks, various restaurants and much more. They stopped for lunch in Core Creek park before returning back to Pearl Buck Elementary. A highlight of their ride was seeing the Grinch outside the post office holding a special message for the visitors.
Walter Miller Elementary School's March Madness Book tourney announced their winner - out of 16 books, the students chose The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywalt as their favorite. Each of the 16 books nominated for the tourney has been added to the school's library.
Third graders at Tawanka ES also started off the month of March with an i-Ready March Madness tournament. Throughout the month, students worked hard to pass as many of their i-Ready My Path math and reading lessons as possible. Congratulations to the overall winners (photo at right) from the participating third grade classes!
During Healthy Me Club in March, Tawanka teachers Mrs. Piccinetti and Mrs. Banks discussed empathy, and learning what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes. They finished our discussion by designing shoes with positive words and ways to show empathy.
Healthy Me Club is a before-school activity at Tawanka sponsored by StandUp Neshaminy. The purpose is to offer students the knowledge, skills, and the mindset of making healthy choices; physically, socially and emotionally. It prepares them for middle school, high school and other real world situations - when faced with choices they will be able to make healthier decisions for themselves based on values, self-worth and independent thinking. The club was started at Tawanka and plans are underway to start similar clubs at other Neshaminy elementary schools.
Groups of eighth-grade students from Maple Point visited the pool at Carl Sandburg MS in late March as part of the boating safety program. Students from all three middle schools with the highest scores in the boating safety certification test are invited to practice their skills and will attend an annual boating picnic at Core Creek County Park in early May.
The Poquessing Middle School Select Choir (photo above) under the direction of Jason Leigh was one of a very few school groups from across the Commonwealth to be invited to perform at the 2023 Pennsylvania Music Educators Association conference at the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in the Poconos on Friday, April 21. They will also be performing outside the District again on Friday, April 28, at the 6th Annual AcaTamaJam A Cappella Festival held at Tamanend Middle School in Warrington.
Neshaminy was also represented at the conference by a group of thirteen NHS instrumental musicians who were selected to perform with the PMEA Band, Orchestra and Choir (photo at right).
Congratulations to our two winners in the 2023 Bucks County Short Fiction Contest for high school students. Erin Hernandez, a senior at Neshaminy HS, won second place for a selection titled, Do NOT Help Orphans You Find on the Street. Emily Myers, also a senior at NHS, captured third place for I Did Something Bad. Prof. Erangee Kumarage, a faculty member at Bucks County Community College, made the final selections. 41 entries were considered altogether. Both winners are students in Chris DiCicco's English class at NHS.
On Tuesday, April 18, the Neshaminy High School Musical Theater Program participated in the Bucks County Playhouse Student Theater Festival by presenting two cuts from The Music Man. The entire cast was recognized for their work as an ensemble. Layla Goodwin, Keira Callahan, Julia French, Sylvie Colon and Cullen McCormick were all recognized for their individual performances!
On the weekend of April 15, NHS seniors Olivia Garland and Andrew Neiman traveled to Rochester, NY to perform as part of the NAfME's (National Association for Music Education) All-Eastern Choir. This choir features the best singers from Maine to Virginia! Congratulations to both on this wonderful accomplishment.
Congratulations to the 2023 Neshaminy All-Sports Hall of Fame inductees! They were honored at a ceremony on Friday, April 21. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the All-Sports Hall of Fame ceremony! The honorees are:
- BASEBALL: Rick Brebner, Class of 2010
- BASKETBALL: Ryan Arcidiacono, 2012; Kelsey Ryan (Salmon), 2010
- BOWLING: John Margicin, 2010; BreAnna Episcopo, 2009
- FIELD HOCKEY: Heather Gorlaski, 1995
- FOOTBALL: Paul Carrezola, 2009
- INDOOR TRACK: Nick DeFeo, 2008; Allison Morris, 2007
- SOCCER: Jared Suchoski, 1999; Jennifer Hutchinson, 2009
- SOFTBALL: Lisamarie Ramagli, 2006
- TENNIS: Jill Arrish-Mundenar, 1986
- TRACK: Cody Minnig, 2013; Christine Denis, 2010
- CROSS-COUNTRY: Laura Histand, 2010.
