I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! As we reach the halfway point, I want to highlight a few exciting updates for the 2024-2025 school year.

Firstly, we are delighted to announce that Mrs. Heather Baker will join the Peirce Middle School team as a seventh-grade math teacher. Heather has been outstanding during her time at East Bradford, and we thank her for her dedicated service to our students. We wish her all the best in her new role at Peirce. With Mrs. Baker's departure, we are excited to welcome Mr. Brad Clemens back to East Bradford as a member of our fifth-grade team. Brad completed his student teaching under Dr. Mercurio several years ago and recently served as a long-term sub at Peirce Middle School. Please join me in welcoming Mr. Clemens back to East Bradford!

We are also pleased to share that East Bradford will regain its Title 1 designation for the 2024-2025 school year based on national, state, and local criteria. As a result, Title 1 reading specialist, Mrs. Jennifer Johnson will rejoin the East Bradford team. Additionally, we will add a full-time Title 1 math interventionist to our team. We will announce the new math interventionist's name once they have been hired and board approved.

Furthermore, we are excited to share that Ms. Madison Snell is now a contracted district teacher and will remain with us as a full-time second-grade teacher. We also welcome Mrs. Kristine Culp to our second-grade team. Kristine comes to us highly recommended from Starkweather Elementary. Additionally, English Language Learner (ELL) teacher Mrs. Christine Van Wyk is joining our team from Fern Hill Elementary, where she has taught for the past five years. I am also proud to announce that Mrs. Malia Salisbury-Jones is rejoining us as part of the fourth-grade team. Finally, I would like to acknowledge Mrs. Trisha Adami, our new Design Lab teacher, who comes to us from the Maple Newtown District with over seven years of teaching experience. Please join me in giving a warm and enthusiastic welcome to all these outstanding educators.

As part of WCASD's efforts to remain on the cutting edge of education and maintain our status as a leader in K-12 education, we will introduce two significant program changes for the 2024-2025 school year:

1. Design Lab: We are excited to announce the introduction of a new special area class called "Design Lab." This class integrates the new Pennsylvania STEELS Standards and focuses on design thinking principles, encouraging students to engage in hands-on activities that emphasize creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration. In the Design Lab, students will explore the entire design process, from brainstorming and ideation to prototyping and testing, ultimately creating projects that matter to them and their community. This new special area class will join the specials rotation along with Art, Music, and Health/PE, so students will experience Design Lab once every four school days. More information about Design Lab can be found on the district website.

2. Library Flex Model: Our current library program will shift to a Flex model. Instead of having a regularly scheduled library time, teachers now have the flexibility to schedule library visits at any time throughout the week. This allows classroom teachers and librarians to strategically collaborate on themes, projects, and lessons to best meet student academic needs.

In closing, I want to remind you about the changes to our open house format for the 2024-2025 school year. We will combine the open house experience with our former Sneak-a-Peak event. This will give students an opportunity to preview their classrooms and meet their classmates while parents receive important district and school information. Please refer to the flyer below for open house details.

Have a great rest of the summer, and we look forward to seeing you all soon!

As always, thank you for the opportunity and privilege to partner with you for your child's education.

Joyfully,

Christopher M. Alston, Ed.D.

Principal