Haverford Happenings

Elementary Schools

Kindergarten:

• AM: 8:45 am – 11:25 am

• PM: 12:50 pm – 3:30 pm

Grades 1 – 5: 8:45 am – 3:30 pm

Haverford Middle School

7:50 AM - 2:40 PM

Haverford High School

7:30 AM - 2:22 PM

The message below is shared by School Board President Bridget Wiedeman on behalf of the Board:

With Dr. Reusche's announcement of her plans to retire in June 2025 after 10 years of dedicated and exemplary service to the School District of Haverford Township, the School Board wishes to express our appreciation for her skilled leadership and many contributions to our students and community. During Dr. Reusche's tenure, the District has grown in enrollment, demonstrated our strategic values, invested in our school buildings, and maintained a commitment to educational excellence. Hers will be a tough act to follow, but she has generously given us ample notice so that we may conduct an extensive search during this school year for the next SDHT superintendent. With the District's strong condition and reputation in areas of academics, staffing, mission, and financials, we expect the position to be attractive to highly-qualified candidates. The Board looks forward to initiating a search process and to gathering input from members of our school community about the qualities we seek in the next leader of the School District of Haverford Township.

Some school districts in parts of our state and nation have increased restrictions on cell phone use by students or even enacted cell phone bans. We want to provide some context on this issue for the coming school year.

Cell phones have become an integral part of our modern life. Many of our middle and high

school students have cell phones, and we respect that parents may choose to provide them to

their children for various reasons. However, it’s important to note that the district provides

students with all the technology needed for classroom use. Our students have access to a wide

range of technological resources that support learning and development at all levels, and

personal cell phones are not required or needed in our schools for instructional purposes.

In addition to our School Board Policy addressing technology use, the following is a brief

summary of our guidelines for cell phone use across grade levels:

Elementary School:

Students should leave cell phones and other personal electronic devices (iPads,

Apple/Smartwatches, Gizmo Gadgets, other electronic devices, etc.) at home. If a parent/guardian sends their child to school with any electronic devices, they must be stored in the student’s backpack and silenced. These personal devices are not to be used during the school day.

Middle School:

Students may bring cell phones to school, but they must be stored in lockers and silenced or

turned off during the school day. Misuse of these devices may result in disciplinary actions,

including an administrator taking the phone during the school day. For necessary

communication, students can use the phone in the main office and families may call the office if

they need to urgently reach their child.

High School:

Students are permitted to bring cell phones and personal devices to school, but these must be

silenced or turned off and kept out of sight during class time. Teachers may require students to

store phones in a designated area during lessons. Non-compliance may lead to disciplinary

measures, including the administrators taking the devices during the school day. Families may

contact the school office for urgent communication or emergencies that need to be shared with

students.

We believe this balanced approach allows students to benefit from modern technology while

helping us to minimize distractions and promoting a focused and productive learning environment.

If you have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your child’s school principal.

Bus passes will be emailed to families starting on August 26th. If you do not receive your student's bus pass by Thursday, August 29th, please email transportation@haverfordsd.net. Please check your Spam folder as well any email address you may have provided to the school district in PowerSchool. It is essential to keep this information updated for your child.

Reminders for the first two weeks of school:

What can students, parents, and guardians expect to see in the first two weeks of a new school year?

With the start of a new school year comes new routes and bus stop location changes for the drivers and students. We are all learning a new routine. This process moves slower in the first two weeks of a new school year as we all learn the new routine. Parents take pictures and want to speak to the driver. Additional traffic volumes at the schools all cause delays during this period. We keep pickup and drop-off within a 5-minute window as much as possible.

During the first two weeks, the district continues registering new students and updating student information. These changes cause additional stops to be added or removed from the school bus runs, which may alter stop times slightly.

The office staff constantly works with the drivers to ensure that all students arrive at school on time. Bus runs are sometimes modified to make the necessary changes to accomplish this goal of on-time delivery to all of the schools we serve. After the first two weeks, this usually has been accomplished.

The transportation staff is ready to help answer your questions; please email transportation@haverfordsd.net.

We appreciate your patience as we begin a new school year!

What the App Can Do

• View your student’s daily transportation assignments.

• Securely share your student’s schedule with caregivers (sub-subscribers).

• Receive notifications and updates related to transportation.

• Create GeoAlerts that will notify you when the bus has arrived or departed from the assigned bus stop and/or school.

• Send private messages to SDHT’s Transportation Department.

Install the App

• Stopfinder is available for download in the App Store and Google Play.

Access Student Schedules

Access to student schedules is granted only to the student’s designated contacts:

In-District Students: The primary e-mail address(es) is in PowerSchool.

Out-of-District Students: e-mail address(es) provided by the non-public school.

Stopfinder contacts, at their discretion, may share their student’s schedule with caregivers (sub-subscribers).

Invitations for Stopfinder will be sent by email after the bus passes have been mailed.

Click to learn more about Stopfinder features:

https://stopfinder.com/

https://www.mytransfinder.com/mytf/videos/StopfinderApp.mp4

The School District of Haverford Township offers healthy meals every school day. Breakfast is free again this year to all students.

Additionally, students identified as eligible for reduced-price lunches through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) will not be charged for their meals; non-eligible students will require payment.

• Lunch cost: High School $3.35, Middle School $3.25, Elementary $2.90

Your child(ren) may qualify for free meals or for reduced-price meals.

APPLY: Click here to complete the application: https://www.schoolcafe.com/

INSTRUCTIONS: Click here for School Cafe instructions or watch this video for instructions on using School Cafe.

ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION: Please review the eligibility information for your household here.

The parent/guardian portal (PowerSchool) allows parents/guardians to read and complete forms and indicate receipt and review of other informational materials. While reviewing all information in the portal is important, it is imperative that parents/guardians review and submit back-to-school forms every year.

Visit our Technology Department webpage for information about using the portal and completing forms. This YouTube video walks you through the process. If you do not have access to a computer, you can request paper copies from your building secretary.

The district utilizes SchoolMessenger to communicate with families via email, phone, and text.

We have been informed that if you were a SchoolMessenger user, you had previously opted in for text messaging alerts. If you had opted in to receive text messages when we used School Messenger in prior school years and have the same mobile number, you have already opted into their system and do not need to complete the process again.

If your mobile number is not listed in your student's PowerSchool record, or if you did not choose to receive SMS messages, you will need to update your mobile number. To do this, log into the PowerSchool parent portal, go to the Forms section on the left-hand side, and select the Emergency Contact form. After you update your information, please submit the changes at the bottom of the form.

Once you've updated your information, please text 'Y’ to 67587. This will ensure that you receive important updates and announcements.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at ithelpdesk@haverfordsd.net.

With the new school year just around the corner, please take this time to explore our online School Store and pay for your student’s school fees online at MySchoolBucks.com. If their account has fees that are due, you can securely pay for them using your credit/debit card or an e-check.

If you need assistance with your account, visit myschoolbucks.com. There, you can find helpful how-to videos and answers to commonly asked questions. For all other questions, please contact the ITHelpdesk@haverforsd.com.

Do you need to finish your summer reading and complete the Summer Reading Summary Form on your grade-level page before the start of the new school year? Teachers will review the responses to assist students in continuing their development as readers.

You can find Summer Reading/Math (Curriculum) Resources here.

We are pleased to announce the appointments of new administrators who have recently joined our team or relocated within the District. Welcome Dr. Abigail Hollenback, HMS 8th Grade principal; Nicole Dolski, Supervisor of Elementary Special Programs, Pupil Services; and Jennifer, Lynnewood Assistant Principal; and Dr. Natalya Adelizzi as Principal of Manoa Elementary School.

Please join us for community conversations with the Board of School Directors. It is a chance for members of the Haverford community to have a casual conversation with some school board members. The events will take place on Wednesday, October 23, Thursday, January 30, and Wednesday, April 30 (locations to be announced). All Haverford community members are welcome.

The School District of Haverford Township utilizes BoardDocs, an online, paperless resource for all school board meetings. Here, you can find the agenda, meeting minutes, video replay, and board policies. The meetings are live-streamed on YouTube.

Regular and Committee Board Meetings will be held at the Oakmont Administration Building.

*NOTE TIMES FOR COMMITTEE MEETINGS

Upcoming Meetings:

• August 29: Policy Committee Meeting at 6:30 PM
• September 5: Regular School Board Meeting
• September 12: Curriculum and Pupil Services Committee Meeting at 6:30 PM
• September 19: Regular School Board Meeting
• October 10: Regular School Board Meeting
• October 17: Finance & Facilities Committee Meeting at 6:30 PM

All presentations and videos can be found on BoardDocs.

Sept. 2 Labor Day Holiday (schools & offices closed)

Sept. 3 First day for students

Oct. 2 All Facilities Closed for PM after-school activities

Oct. 3 Holiday (schools & offices closed)

2024-2025 Calendar (At a Glance)

2025-2026 Calendar (At a Glance)

Join our team! Click the link to view available positions across the District and how to apply.

The mission of the School District of Haverford Township is to educate and to inspire a community of lifelong learners who become well-rounded global citizens.

Website: https://www.haverford.k12.pa.us/
Location: 50 East Eagle Road, Havertown, PA, USA
Phone: 610-853-5900
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haverfordsd.net
Twitter: @haverfordsd