2024-2025 School Year:

• 10/11- No School- Yom Kippur
• 10/19- Fallfest
• 11/1- No School- Diwali
• 11/5- No School- Election Day
• 11/11- District Closed- No School- Veteran's Day
• 11/27-11/29- No School- Thanksgiving Break
• 12/24-1/1- No School- Winter Break
• 2/17- No School- President's Day
• 2/18- No School- Teacher PD Day
• 3/31- No School- Eid al-Fitr
• 4/17 & 4/18- No School- Spring Break
• 4/21- No School
• 4/21-4/25- PSSAs- English Language Arts
• 4/28-5/2- PSSAs- Math & Science
• 5/20- No School- Election Day
• 5/26- No School- Memorial Day
• 6/11, 6/12, 6/13- Half Days
• 6/13- Last day for students

Congratulations to the following winners who showed they can be respectful, responsible, and safe!

Students reviewed how to be respectful, responsible, and safe throughout our building.

In our lunchroom students earn Dojo Points each day for being respectful, responsible, and safe.

Each month the class with the largest amount of points receives the Golden Fork Award. This class receives not only the trophy for the month, but also the class gets to fill 10 blocks on their class's Pride Board. The class in second place receives The Golden Spoon Award and fills 5 blocks filled on their Pride Board. As a reminder, when the class fills all the boxes on their Pride Board they receive a class incentive of their choosing.

Congratulations to the September Class Winners!

Kindergarten:

• Golden Fork: Ms. Shields
• Golden Spoon: Mrs. Chakler

First Grade:

• Golden Fork: Mrs. Osborn
• Golden Spoon: Mrs. Mitchell

Second Grade:

• Golden Fork: Ms. Matika
• Golden Spoon: Mr. Mednick

Third Grade:

• Golden Fork: Mrs. Cariola
• Golden Spoon: Mrs. Rizzo

Fourth Grade:

• Golden Fork: Mrs. Mednick
• Golden Spoon: Mrs. Fleming

The Neshaminy Education Foundation will be hosting its Second Annual Castleball Tournament. Ferderbar’s Tournament will be held on October 10th, 17th, and 24th. The students will meet immediately after school. Parents must provide transportation home with a pickup time of 4:50 pm

There is a $5 entry fee to participate. Please scan the QR code below to register. Mr. Kelly will email all parents and guardians with additional details. If you have questions, please reach out to Mr. Kelly at bkelly@neshaminy.org.

All spirit wear orders will be delivered to Ferderbar and sent home with students. Orders should arrive in the next few weeks. An email will be sent home making families aware.

On Thursday, October 31st, the students of Ferderbar Elementary School will hold our annual Halloween costume parade. All family members are welcome to view our outdoor parade. The parade will begin promptly at 2:20 pm.

Students will parade around the blacktop at the back of the building. Families will be able to view the parade from behind the fence that lines the perimeter of the blacktop. Kindergarten will lead the parade with the grades following in ascending order, first, second, third, and finally fourth. All grade levels will go around twice.

Hopefully the weather will be beautiful, however if it rains, the parade will remain inside for only students to view. Costumes depicting any violence or horror as seen in the movies, on the news, or in comics are not permitted. Weapons of any kind, including metal, plastic, wood, and cardboard are not permitted. Costumes should reflect age-appropriate characters.

We request that all students bring their costumes to school in a bag with their name and their teacher’s name clearly marked on the bag. Students will be provided with time in the classroom to dress in their costumes in preparation for the parade. Students will bring in their own snack and drink for a small classroom party afterwards.

If you do not wish to have your child participate in the parade, or the classroom activities that follow, please complete the form below or write a note to your child’s teacher. Your child will be excused from the festivities, and he/she will be provided with an alternate activity that is not related to this event. Additionally, if you do not want your child to participate in this event, you may pick your child up from school at 2:00 pm with no attendance penalty. If you are opting out, please fill out and return the form below.

Save-the-Date

ATTENTION 4th GRADE PARENTS:

♪ 4th Grade Chorus: As a reminder, ALL 4th graders are part of our chorus. We have begun learning music for our winter concert, which will be held Thursday, December 12th.

♪ Special singing opportunity: Forms went home regarding a special singing group. This group will meet Thursday mornings at 8:20 to learn holiday music for a performance at Oxford Rehabilitation and Healthcare on December 20th. Forms are due Tuesday, October 8th. Our first rehearsal is Thursday, October 10th. There are still spots available!

♪ Hallway Display: Fourth grade students were featured on the wall outside music last month. They had to describe in 1-2 words what they did last summer using the letters of the music alphabet placed on the staff. See the pictures below. Can you crack the code?

♪ Pictures needed! We have a “Wall of Fame” in our music room. I would love to fill it up with examples of Ferderbar’s shining stars participating in musical endeavors outside of school. Does your child take piano lessons? Send pictures from their recital. Is he/she a dancer, involved in musical theatre, a children’s choir, etc.? Bring in pictures and programs from their shows! Let’s fill this wall up with our talented students!

Important Reminders:

• Students need to come to school with a charged laptop everyday.

• All cellphones and smartwatches will be placed in student bookbags at the start of the day and will remain powered off during the school day.
• No stickers can be placed on the district device.
• Students need to have headphones.

Please see the following attachments for additional information and expectations.

Congratulations to the following homerooms for being in first place for the amount of minutes read for the month of September!

• Kindergarten: Mrs. Cochran
• First Grade: Ms. Fainelli
• Second Grade: Mrs. Athey
• Third Grade: Mrs. Haughey
• Fourth Grade: Mrs. Fleming

The October newsletter from our Guidance Counselor, Mrs. Parker is below.

Topics include:

• Kindness Calendar
• Unity Day
• Opportunity for winter support

The vaccination deadline has been extended to Tuesday, October 22. The first day of exclusion from school for failure to have the appropriate vaccinations shall begin on Wednesday, October 23.

To avoid exclusion from school beginning October 23, 2024, one (1) of the options below must be received by your child’s school nurse on or before October 22, 2024.

1. Proof of vaccination OR

2. A written plan from a medical office to obtain vaccination OR

3. Written documentation outlining your child’s exemption based on medical reasons, religious belief, or philosophical/strong moral or ethical conviction.

The District urges you to review vaccination records with your child's physician and complete this required task as soon as possible.

If you have already completed this process, we thank you for your cooperation and you can ignore this email.

Link to vaccination information sent on September 27, 2024: https://secure.smore.com/n/xy6e0-vaccination-requirements

Who needs to obtain volunteer clearances?

Any adult applying for or holding a volunteer position who is responsible for a child's welfare or has direct contact with children during curricular or co-curricular activities needs to obtain volunteer clearances. Examples include classroom volunteers, Home & School activity volunteers, or field trip chaperones.

If you have any questions as to whether a clearance is needed for a particular volunteer role or activity, please contact our main office, 215-809-6370.

Don't Wait!

Act 34 - the Pennsylvania State Police Clearance - can take 2 to 4 weeks to process and Act 151 - the Child Abuse History Clearance - can also take 2 to 4 weeks.

You will NOT be allowed to volunteer or chaperone a school trip unless all appropriate volunteer paperwork is complete and submitted.

Click the link below to access additional information and links for each clearance.

https://www.neshaminy.org/Domain/2376

Breakfast is free for the 24-25 school year. Students can purchase a second breakfast.

Neshaminy uses School Café for payment. You will need to register at https://schoolcafe.com You can check balances, set balance alerts, set recurring payments etc. A 5% convenience fee will be charged on all online payments.

Food Service Website

Please visit the Food Service webpage for additional information:

https://www.neshaminy.org/domain/18

To apply for the Free & Reduced Meal Program:

Read the letter to Neshaminy families for information about the 2024-2025 Free & Reduced Meal Program

Visit https://www.schoolcafe.com/ or use the free School Cafe app to apply quickly and easily online.

Though we encourage our families to apply online, paper applications are still available and can be found below. They are also available at the Main Offices of each of our schools and can be filled out and returned there.

Pennsylvania Free Reduced Application (English)

Aplicación reducida gratuita de Pennsylvania (Español)

If you need help or want to fill out an application in person, the Main Office staff at each school can assist you during their normal business hours.

Do you have questions about this application or the Free & Reduced program at Neshaminy? Call 215-809-6542.

Do you have questions about this application or the Free & Reduced program at Neshaminy? Call 215-809-6542.

Please Note:

• Families must complete a new Free & Reduced application each school year.
• Paper applications are no longer distributed at school.

Did you know...

• Free and Reduced Meal applications are available in 48 languages (call for information)
• If you qualify for free meals, you may be eligible for affordable internet from Comcast (see below) and the chance to purchase lower priced laptops or computers
• You can go to any local library within your community and use their computers to apply for Free and Reduced Meals

Additional Programs

If you receive Free & Reduced benefits, your children may qualify for other programs as well. To make it easier to find out about these, we can share your information with these other programs but need your permission to do so. Completing the forms below will not change whether your children get free or reduced price meals:

Elementary information sharing permission form (fillable PDF form)

The link for our Universal Elementary Student/Family Handbook is below. In preparation for the upcoming school year, all families should review the information.

Important Dates:

• August 28th- First day for K, 5 & 9
• August 29th- All grades report to school
• September 2nd- District closed for Labor Day

Vice President- Amy Schnauffer: amyschnauffer5@gmail.com

Treasurer: Noelle Grebe: Noellegrebe@gmail.com

Secetary: Jill Langhorne: Jill.langhorne@gmail.com

Check out the HSA's webpage to learn more about the events and activities throughout the year.

https://www.neshaminy.org/domain/997

Upcoming Dates:

• 9/23- HSA General Meeting- 6:30 pm
• Last day for the fall fundraiser is 10/9- see flyer below.
  
• 10/19- Fallfest
• 10/21- HSA General Meeting- 6:30 pm

The school store will run every Friday from 8:50-9:10 in the back of the cafeteria. One grade level goes per week.

School Store Schedule:

• 10/18- Fourth Grade
  
• 10/25- Kindergarten
• 11/8- First Grade
• 11/15- Second Grade

Check out the flyers below for information on events and programs in our community.