2024-2025 School Year:

• 12/24-1/1- No School- Winter Break
• 1/15- Title 1 Math & Reading Literacy Night- see info below
• 1/24- Bingo- hosted by Ferderbar Staff
• 2/1- Bingo at Assumption- hosted by 4th Grade Committee
• 2/17- No School- President's Day
• 2/14- Half day for students- 11:10 am dismissal
• 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!

On Friday, 12/13, the class did a snowflake stem activity. The students needed to create a snowflake showing symmetry. They created them on geo boards, then drew them out on Kami figuring out how many supplies they needed and then built it with toothpicks and marshmallows.

Highlights from Ms. Matika's Room

During the week of December 2nd through 9th Ferderbar students got to test their skill on the Ferderbar Funtime Mini Golf Course. This lesson was the culminating activity of a unit focused on striking skills taught by student teacher Jack Blanker of Eastern University. The equipment used in the lesson was purchased with funds raised during last year’s Ninja Warrior Fundraiser.

Click this link to watch a short video - Ferderbar Mini Golf

Ferderbar staff will be hosting a family bingo on January 24th. Flyers will be going home soon. All proceeds will go towards PBIS activities and incentives for our students!

Ferderbar Elementary School held our Winter Book Fair last Tuesday at the Neshaminy Mall Barnes & Noble. The event included:

• A story time featuring many of our teachers.
• A scavenger hunt to earn a prize.
• Pictures with our mascot, Shadow.

Our 4th grade students performed two concerts on Thursday, 12/12. Both performances included the 4th grade advanced orchestra and the 4th grade chorus. There was a surprise performance from our traveling group, the Ferderbar Chorale.

Congratulations to all 4th grade students! You did a wonderful job!

Thank you to Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. Patrick for your effort in planning and preparing the students for the concerts.

Click on the link to see a few minutes of our in-school winter concert performance.

♪ Winter Concert: Congratulations to our 4th Grade Chorus and Advanced Orchestra on a fabulous concert. Chorus is a part of our 4th grade music class. We will begin preparing our spring music, which will include lots of solo opportunities, in January! Save-the-date: our Spring concert is Tuesday, April 10th.

♪ Ferderbar Chorale: Students in our special group have been hard at work every Thursday morning preparing music for our trip to perform in a nursing home on December 20th. Permission slips are due now. Congratulations to the singers who were able to attend a special performance at Crescent Fields at Huntingdon Valley on Saturday. The residents loved it. See picture below.

♪ Reward Days: The trimester ended December 4th. Most of the classes in the school earned a “Reward Day” in music. On their reward day, we do special activities – fun songs, instruments, movement activities, and games. First grade did a fun “scarf dance” to “Dance of the Reed Flutes” from The Nutcracker. See pictures below.

♪ Composer Spotlight: Our featured composer for the months of November and December was Clara Schumann! After learning about Beethoven to start the, students were definitely not as familiar with her works. We were able to listen to music we hadn’t heard and learn about her interesting life!

♪ Hallway Display: Third grade students were featured on the wall outside music last month. The projects were called “Thanksgiving Rhythm Poems.” Students filled boxes with 4 beats of rhythms that were attached to words associated with Thanksgiving. See the pictures below.

♪ Pictures needed!: Our “Wall of Fame” is starting to fill up. I would love hang up more 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!

The latest edition of Mrs. Parker's newsletter is below.

Topics include:

• Winter Kindness calendar
• SEL Books
• Acts of generosity

Dear Neshaminy Families,

We invite you to join our ESSA Federal Programs Parent Advisory Team to help shape supplemental school programs funded through Titles I, II, III, and IV. Your input is crucial in supporting student success and improving educational experiences in our district.

As a member, you’ll:

• Provide feedback on academic and program goals.
• Collaborate to ensure programs meet student and family needs.
• Guide decisions for Title-funded initiatives.

Details

When: Thursday, January 9, 2025, at 7:00 pm

Location: Virtual

Click here to register for the meeting!

https://neshaminy.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JzDo8IdIQcW3RPAFlXrGcg

In the newsletter, you will find information about our Title I program, upcoming family events, glimpses into the vibrant happenings within our schools, and resources to monitor your child’s progress and support learning in the home. We believe that a well-informed and engaged family is the cornerstone of a thriving school community.

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.

Good attendance is essential for students to succeed in school.

Please remember to send in a note or an email to your child's teacher after every absence. If you go to the doctor for a sick visit, well check, specialist, or dentist, please ask for a note and bring that in. All absences are marked unexcused, until a note is provided. Families can use the attachment below to provide details about their child's absence.

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.

Ferderbar is a treat free school for all birthday celebrations. Families can send in items like pencils, erasers, stickers, and any non-food items.

Check out our calendar below.

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:

• 1/13.25- HSA Meeting- 6:30 pm- in library
• 2/1/25- 4th Grade Committee Bingo

We are excited to start planning for the end of the year events and will be collecting 4th grade dues of $40 to cover the costs. The dues will help pay for your child to have a party, year book and a gift.

We will also be hosting a few events throughout the school year to help fund raise; however, we will be unable to provide everything for the children without the dues.

If you are experiencing financial hardship and are unable to contribute the full amount of the 4th grade dues or would like to contribute a different amount, please indicate that on the form below with the amount enclosed by February 21, 2025.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Madeline Hendricks at madeline.hendricks18@gmail.com or Jeanne Neal at jciccone85@gmail.com.

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:

• 12/20-Fourth Grade
• 1/3: First Grade
• 1/10- Kindergarten

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