2024-2025 School Year:

• 11/26- Half day for students- 11:10 am dismissal
• 11/27-11/29- No School- Thanksgiving Break
• 12/4- Red Robin Dine & Donate- see flyer below
• 12/6- Progress Reports go live in Home Access Center
• 12/10- Barnes & Noble Night- 5:30 -8:30 pm- Neshaminy Mall
• 12/9-12/13- Holiday Shop- in school only
• 12/12- Winter Concert- 7:00 pm- Poquessing Auditorium
• 12/24-1/1- No School- Winter Break
• 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!

Students were selected to take part in the Junior Honors and Honors Choral Festival on November 18th. This festival consists of the most talented vocal music students from the school music programs across the district.

Congratulations to our Ferderbar Panthers who participated!

• Avery Cao
• Penelope Thomas
• Anvi Patel
• Winter Brockington
• Arjun Patel
• Abigail Burdin
• Mia Cherry

Our staff and students wore our Eagles spirit gear to show our excitement for the game on 11/14.

On November 4th, the District held it's 2nd Annual Castleball Tournament at Neshaminy High School. Our Ferderbar Team did a great job! Thank you to Mr. Kelly for all of his effort in helping to make this event such a success.

Our HSA is excited to partner with a local & beloved business for their fundraiser.

If you haven’t tried the delectable treats from Fritz’s Bakery, we have you covered! The HSA is selling vouchers good for a 1/2 dozen of their famous German stickybuns which can be used at either Fritz’s Bakery location (Oxford Valley & Bensalem). Each voucher is $12 and all varieties of stickybuns are included.

Order forms are attached below for you to ask your friends, family, neighbors, etc. to purchase vouchers. Order forms are due Nov. 20th- UPDATED along w/cash payment. Vouchers will be distributed to students the week of November 25th! Don’t think you will get over to Fritz’s in the next few weeks?

No Problem! These vouchers are good for 6 months and won’t expire until May 1st, 2025. This means you can have sticky buns for all your special occasions and gatherings - and why wouldn’t you? They’re that good!

Come support Ferderbar Elementary School!

Tuesday, December 10th 5:30 – 8:30 pm

Barnes & Noble @ Neshaminy Mall

Storytime featuring many of our teachers! Scavenger Hunt! Get a picture with our mascot, Shadow! Proceeds from all sales will support our reading initiatives!

♪ ALL 4th grade students are a part of the chorus and will be performing in BOTH concerts this year.

♪ Winter Concert date: Thursday, December 12th

♫ In-school concert – 9:30 am in PMS auditorium

♫ Night time concert – 7:00 pm in PMS auditorium

♪ Singers will report to their riser spots at 6:40 and check in with the attendance person for their class

♪ Singers in orchestra should report to orchestra!

♪ Concert Dress (for students only in chorus) –

♫For night concert:

GIRLS: dress shirt & dress pants/skirt, or nice dress, dress shoes; all color patterns welcome!

BOYS: Dress pants (no jeans!), dress shirt (tie optional), dress shoes (no sneakers!); all color patterns welcome!

♪ You must attend concert unless you are very sick, absent from school, or there is an emergency. Please let Mrs. Patrick know if your child is unable to attend.

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

Topics include:

• Kindness Calendar
• Gratitude Scavenger Hunt
• Turkey shaped breathing exercise

Neshaminy is excited to introduce the LinkIt! Student Portal, a valuable tool that allows parents and guardians to access their student's academic data with ease. Through this portal, they can view their child’s performance on both benchmark and state assessments, along with a variety of other local assessments. The service can be accessed by loging into the LinkIt! Student Portal using their child’s school-issued Chromebook, then entering their student username and password.

This platform provides a clear, comprehensive overview of a student's progress and performance, supporting a partnership in their academic success. Step-by-step instructions can be found on the Neshaminy School District website at the link below.

Ferderbar Elementary is a schoolwide Title I school because 40% or more of our students are eligible for free or reduced lunch. The school receives federal funds to supplement academic programs to improve academic achievement. A requirement is to create a plan that analyzes strengths and weaknesses and establishes goals for improving academic achievement. Below are the goals for 2024-2025:

1. K-4 students at Tier 1 on the iReady Math Diagnostic will increase by 45% from the beginning of the year.
2. K-4 students at Tier 1 on the iReady Reading Diagnostic will increase by 30% from the beginning of the year.
3. K-2 students at Core on the DIBELS Composite will increase by 15% from the beginning of the year.

This handbook includes District Title I information plus documents specific to Ferderbar including Right to Know Letter, Home/School Compact, Family Engagement Policy, and Transition Plan.

Translated copies are listed below as well.

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.

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:

• 10/31-11/15- Fritz's Bakery Fundraiser
• 12/16- HSA Meeting- 6:30 pm- in library

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:

• 11/22- Third Grade
• 12/13- Fourth Grade
• 12/20- Kindergarten
• 1/3- First Grade
• 1/10- Second Grade

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