Neshaminy Update

After a two-year pandemic hiatus, the Neshaminy District Art Show returned to Gym 1 at Neshaminy High School on May 18 and 19. During the pandemic, students artworks were presented in a digital form. But as the show's lead organizer, Neshaminy HS Art Teacher Justin Bursk pointed out in his introductory remarks, there is nothing like experiencing artworks in person. The District art teachers chose and prepared over 1,000 art works including paintings, drawings, photography, ceramics, wire art, three-dimensional sculptures from clay and paper mache, oragami and digital art. The long hallway outside the gymnasium became a unique space for a series of murals from each school, each made up of hundreds of discs each painted by a different student, plus another striking mural of pencil-drawn portraits from the art students at Neshaminy High School. These murals, along with the expanded selection from each of the District schools, made this year's art show one of the most inclusive to date.

Nearly 650 runners from throughout the District and community entered the 2nd Annual SUNset Challenge 2k / 5k running race at Maple Point MS on Friday, May 13. The race grew by nearly 200 runners since the first edition was held in 2019 (the race was not held in 2020 or 2021 due to the pandemic). The course was expanded this year to take advantage of a new paved trail installed on Maple Point property last year in partnership with Middletown Township. 2K runners remained on the Maple Point property while the 5K race course made it all the way to Middletown Community Park, where fans watching Neshaminy HS softball games as part of the Sports Block Party at the same time cheered them on before the runners returned to the finish line at Maple Point.

Sponsored by the opioid abuse prevention group StandUp Neshaminy, the race is designed to promote healthy choices and lifestyles in Neshaminy schools and the community. Over 70 volunteers including teachers, students and support staff helped as race marshals, handing out water and snacks to runners, directing traffic, and bringing all six elementary school mascots to the race to cheer on the runners. Any money raised over the cost of the race will be used to fund opioid abuse prevention educational and outreach programs in Neshaminy schools and community. The race was started and is organized by Tawanka Elementary School teachers Monica Millevoi and Andrea Piccinetti; retired NHS physical education teacher Jan King, and Neshaminy Community Relations Coordinator Chris Stanley. In addition, this year Joseph Ferderbar ES physical education teacher Ferris Kelly and District Math Coach Beth McGinty joined the organizing committee. Neshaminy District Technology Coach Jim Gosser donated his time and talent as the DJ for the event.

The Disrict physical education teachers provided support for the race, including running before-school running clubs at several schools. Tawanka Elementary School once again took the title of the school with the highest participation rate (by percentage of school population). Mascots from each of the District's six elementary schools were in attendance to cheer on the runners from their schools.

Summer is just a few short weeks away, and our reading teachers are excited to announce a new way to keep your child engaged and reading all summer long. This year, Neshaminy will have a Summer Reading Canvas course where parents and students will find the interactive reading lists linked to Sora as well as other resources to engage readers and promote literacy during the summer months. To kick off this new effort, parents and guardians are invited to join a virtual NSD summer reading parent information kick-off night, "Book Your Summer with NSD Summer Reading!" on Monday, June 6 from 6:30 - 7:30 pm. During this webinar, you can find out more about:

• Summer Reading Engagement
• The Sora app
• Summer Reading Lists
• NSD Summer Reading Challenge/Incentive
• Free Learning Resources

To register for this free webinar, scan the QR code above or visit the link below:

LINK: Summer Reading Program Kickoff Webinar Registration

The Neshaminy Families Connect series of webinars have been posted. This year the District hosted three valuable virtual seminars for parents and guardians offering essential information from noted experts on building resilience during challenging times while coping with stress and anxiety:

• "Supporting Today’s Overwhelmed Teens with Love, Laughter, and the Science of Resilience"
• "Nurturing Resilience in Ourselves & Our Children and Teens during Challenging Times"
• "Resilience for the Long Haul: Strategies to Maintain Good, Healthy Habits Moving Forward”

All three webinars are posted on the District website at the link below for a limited time.

LINK: Families Connect Webinar Video Archive

The School Board met on Tuesday, May 24 for a Public Meeting. Their next meeting will be a Board Public Work Session on Tuesday, June 7 at 7pm in the District Board Room at Maple Point. The meeting agenda and livestream video link will be posted at www.neshaminy.org/meetings.

Among the items on the agenda at the May 24 meeting:

• Approval of school meal prices for the 2022-2023 school year
• Approval of the Neshaminy Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2022-2023
• Approval of the Bucks County Technical High School Budget

2022-2023 General Fund Budget

The Neshaminy Proposed Final General Fund Budget for the 2022-2023 school year has been posted for public inspection. The $195,701,284 budget includes a proposed tax increase of the Act 1 maximum of 3.4%, or 5.63 mils. This increase will be mitigated, however, by the availability of Homestead Exemption taxpayer relief from the state, which will reduce the net property tax increase for the average taxpayer from $157.84 to $96.26. The tax increase is necessary to fund the repayment of the $40M bond issue the district issued for the construction of the new elementary building at the Maple Point campus.

Upcoming Committee Meetings

• Business Operations Committee, Wednesday, June 1, 6:30 pm
• Facilities and Planning Committee, Wednesday, June 8, 6:30 pm

All committee meetings are held in the District Board Room at Maple Point unless otherwise noted. The public is invited to attend and participate in Board and Committee meetings. All meeting times and locations are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances; please check the District website www.neshaminy.org for any updates.

At a special District Board Meeting held before the Public Work Session on May 10, the the Neshaminy School Board unanimously appointed Feasterville resident Stephen Linden as a new Board member to replace Stephen Pirritano, who resigned last month. Mr. Linden is a title insurance consultant who previously owned his own agency for 30 years, and a is a parent of five grown children (three of whom graduated from Neshaminy HS) along with his wife Linda. He will serve out Mr. Pirritano's term which expires in December, 2023.

Neshaminy is pleased to once offer our Neshaminy Senior Citizens age 65 and over the opportunity to apply for a property tax rebate of up to $650 for qualified applicants through the Irene Boyle Tax Assistance Program. This is the 43rd year for the program. Since 1977, rebates totaling over $2.9 million have been paid by the District, with over 220 senior citizens participating last year. The deadline to apply is June 15, 2022. For more information and qualification guidelines, please click here.

Registration for the 2022-2023 school year is now open. Families are encouraged to register their new students as early as possible to ensure that they are able to attend their neighborhood school. The registration process can be started online by visiting www.neshaminy.org/register. A member of the Central Registration staff will contact you to make an appointment to complete the process in-person

Registration for the Pre-K Counts program at Neshaminy is now open. If you have a child who will be 3 or 4 by September 1, 2022, and meet the income eligibility requirements, you can enroll in this FREE quality program hosted in two of our Neshaminy schools and the Lower Southampton Learning Center. Pre-K Counts is a Pennsylvania grant-funded program with generous eligibility guidelines (household income as high as $83,250 for a family of four based on 2021 tax returns).

Visit www.neshaminy.org/pkc to find out more and register.

Did you visit the Bucks County Intermediate Unit Fab Lab at the STEAM Expo? This mobile STEAM education resource offers classes and technology-related programs throughout the county for students and educators. They also have a new Fab Lab Center in Warminster, where they host after-school clubs, Saturday STEAM-related programs and are hosting a summer camp program for up to 8 weeks! Find out more about this valuable resource and summer camp by visiting their website at https://www.bucksiu.org/fablab.

The Neshaminy District Calendar was approved by the School Board during their February Board Public Meeting. It has been posted on the District website and can be viewed at the link below.

LINK: 2022-2023 Neshaminy District Calendar

Sunday, May 22 was the final game of the season for the Bucks County Challenger Baseball and Softball program at Neshaminy HS. Over 60 kids participated in the program this year along with their buddies from the NHS baseball and softball teams, parent volunteers, and players from other area high schools.

The Joseph Ferderbar ES Home & School Association had so much fun beautifying the school on May 21 and so many students and their parents showed up to work despite the unusually warm weather that day. It’s a big job so they plan to do more every spring and fall! Special thanks to Mrs Cwik, Ms Gordon and the Early Act Club for coming out and also bringing some lemonade to cool the gardeners down!

The kindergarten classes at Walter Miller ES (and other schools) just completed a project called, "What is a Community?" At Miller, it started with a bus tour of the area around their school, where they looked for and checked off various landmarks such as police and fire stations, stores, churches and even the hospital. They then wrote about three of those landmarks, after which each class created a miniature community out of boxes, paper bags and other various materials.

Joseph Ferderbar ES third-grade teachers Beth Dillon and Joy Rizzo completed a Differentiated project for the Women's Animal Center in Bensalem. Their students created posters, decorated donation boxes, created a google slide to inform other classes in the school, and wrote announcements and a flyer to be sent home. They collected $1,705 in donations, sold animal-themed products to raise money, and gathered 13 large boxes of animal supplies. The children also made toys for the animals.

Students at Albert Schweitzer ES put on the gloves and trash bags to mark Earth Day with a clean-up outside their school in late April.

The second grade at Tawanka Elementary has planted their "Pollinator Pod." They planted 14 species that are native to Bucks County. Some of them include mint, joe weed, and milkweed. Mint helps to deter deer that might want to eat the plants. The joe weed and milkweed are for pollinators (insects and small animals that help spread pollen from plant to plant). The pollen helps create new plants. They are excited to watch the pod grow and see what bugs it can attract!

Mrs. McHugh’s kindergarten class at Albert Schweitzer ES and Mrs. Toth’s fifth grade students at Carl Sandburg MS teamed up to culminate their plant and ecosystems units with a service project. The students repurposed plastic containers by decorating and filling them with soil and marigold seeds. The plants are growing in Schweitzer’s greenhouse and will be distributed to nursing home residents.

One of the favorite STEM activities for fourth-graders is researching and building operating mag-lev trains. The students work in teams. They are given the basic parts, then must design ad build a track that will smoothly guide their miniature train using only carefully aligned magnets. They then prepare a report about the trains and how they accomplished their goal. Here, students in Ted Rydzewski's fourth-grade class at Walter Miller ES work on their mag-lev project.

The PTO volunteers at Pearl S. Buck ES completely transformed the staff break room into a circus-themed extravaganza for the annual staff appreciation luncheon. Principal Brian Kern even put on a penguin suit for the occasion - after all, he is the Ringmaster at Buck!

On Friday, May 13, students at Schweitzer walked, jogged, and ran around the Carl Sandburg track to raise money for additional equipment for the Schweitzer playground. The Albert Schweitzer PTO has already purchased an 8-Bay swing set, a 2-Bay swing set, a Merry Go All, and 2 benches over the past 2 years. The next phase includes purchasing components for a Challenge Course for the field area of the playground. Students raised $6,000 toward the next phase of the Playground Project. Thank you to the Albert Schweitzer community!

Girls on the Run is a program for girls in Grades 3-4 to help them recognize their individual strengths, build healthy habits, complete a Community Impact Project, and learn about teamwork! The Albert Schweitzer ES Girls on the Run team included 21 students and 5 teacher coaches. The team completed their culminating 5K race on Saturday, May 21st. It was wonderful to see teammates cheering each other on and encouraging effort and strength in completing their laps. The GOTR coaches were running buddies to members of the team, and everyone completed the 5K race successfully! Parents also came to cheer their girls on, so it was a TEAM effort! Way to go girls! The team is also completing their culminating Community Project which is to collect gently used and new items for a pet Supply Drive for the Women’s Humane Society and Home at Last Dog Rescue.

Carl Sandburg MS

Neshaminy's middle school musicians had a great day on their music adjudication trips on Friday, May 13 to Dorney Park and Six Flags - and earned lots of trophy hardware for their musical talent and hard work! Congratulations to the students and the music staff at Maple Point, Poquessing and Sandburg.

Poquessing MS

Maple Point MS

Maple Point MS held their 5th Annual Mother's Day Walkathon on Friday, May 20 (delayed from earlier in the month by weather) to benefit the Barkann Family Healing Hearts Foundation, which helps families dealing with a loss or tragedy. The walk this year was dedicated to the family of Gabrielle Devine, 16, from Bensalem, who passed away from leukemia recently. Her father, Tony, is a teacher at Maple Point. This year's walkathon raised about $9000.

Poquessing Middle School is marking their 60th anniversary this spring. To celebrate, the school will be holding an Open House on Thursday, June 2 at 6 pm. Poquessing alumni and their families are invited to attend. The scheduled feature speaker is Patrick Murphy, former Under Secretary of the U.S. Army.

In conjunction with the celebration, the school will be unveiling a special mural honoring military veterans past, present and future. The wall will feature multimedia elements that can be accessed via embedded QR codes. Local veterans are also invited to attend the anniversary event for this unveiling.

To facilitate planning, those who wish to attend are asked to RSVP to poqhonorsveterans@gmail.com.

It was Bike to School day at Carl Sandburg MS on Friday, Mayi 20. With an escort from the Middletown Township Police, a group of students and Sandburg staff enjoyed a ride through Highland Park before school.

The eighth-grade at Carl Sandburg MS had the privilege of hearing a truly amazing firsthand account from a beloved guest speaker and Holocaust survivor, Mr. David Tuck. This presentation afforded a wonderful opportunity for curricular enrichment as students culminated the tolerance unit and the reading of “The Diary of Anne Frank” in English class. Mr. Tuck shared his personal story of survival and encouraged students to never live with hate in their hearts, but to gain an education so history doesn't repeat itself. Students reflected on this experience by writing letters to Mr. Tuck thanking him for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Sunny skies greeted all Poquessing MS staff and students as they participated in the school’s 13th Annual Hope Walk on May 10. This year, proceeds from this fundraising walk will go to a fifth-grade Poquessing student who was recently injured in an accident, along with Easter Seals of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Besides enjoying the time out doors, students danced to the sounds of DJ Mike Singer and won some great raffle prizes!

Two fifth-grade classes at Carl Sandburg MS (teachers Lauren DeCola and Erica Angel) learned about entrepreneurship in writing class. The students created a business plan, made a prototype and sold their items to each other at a classroom "marketplace" using "money" they earned in class. This is a cross-curricular unit that taught them how to write a proposal, use persuasive techniques, create prototypes and the basics of economics.

The kayaks are back! 8th-grade students from all three middle schools who earned their Boating Certificate in their physical education classes enjoyed a field trip to Core Creek Park on Friday, May 12. They were able to use kayaks, canoes and paddle boards, as well as having a picnic and playing games in the park. Watch for a couple of familiar faces from Neshaminy Past in the video above - two retired teachers that pioneered the boating program stopped by to say hello and see how the program has grown over the years.

On April 29, Maple Point MS held it's third Inclusion Social. This event brings students in specialized programs at Maple Point and other District schools and their families together with students from the rest of the school for a festive night of fun activities, games, crafts and food.

For the first time since 2019, students from Maple Point, Poquessing and Sandburg MS recently competed in the Neshaminy Middle School Debate Tournament at Maple Point Middle School. Students debated the merits of technology today as parents and other guests looked on and judges scored their arguments. It was a spirited night for sure!

Ms. Douglass’ 6th grade class at Carl Sandburg MS enjoyed playing Olympic games outside as part of their study of the impact of Ancient Greece on our modern world. Sports that students participated in included the javelin throw, the long jump, discus, the hammer throw, and various relay races.

On April 24, a group of eighth-grade students from Maple Point Middle School and their chaperones traveled with veterans on the annual Bucks County Tour of Honor to Washington DC. This event gives the veterans the opportunity to visit the war memorials and other monuments, and the students the opportunity to show their support for the veterans and also visit those sites. Upon their return, the veterans are treated to a dinner in the event center at Parx Casino. They are normally met by musicians from Neshaminy HS, but since they were away on the music department trip to Disney World that week, choir members from Maple Point stepped in to sing patriotic songs and perform the National Anthem at the dinner.

Above is a video of the spring District Secondary Orchestra Festival from May 11, featuring musicians from all three middle schools, Neshaminy High School and ending with all of the performing together on stage. Below is the NHS Spring Band Concert from May 23 and the Spring Choral Concert from May 25.

The Neshaminy HS Envirothon Team (Nathan Galan, Evan Tiemann, Rachel Garcia, Amanda Maisus, and Sierra Collado) competed ton May 20 in the Envirothon Oral Component of the Pennsylvania State Envirothon. The team has spent the previous two weeks researching an environmental problem revolving around municipal waste and community planning for the future. They then made a collaborative ten minute recorded presentation to share their solution with the State Judges. On Friday, the team watched the video virtual with the judges and then participated in a live question and answer session. The team traveled on May 24 to Camp Mt. Luther In Mifflenburg, PA to compete in the in-person field competition portion of the event, where they placed 14th out of 62 Pennsylvania counties. The club advisor is Brian Suter.

Neshaminy HS sent two teams to Central Bucks East high school in March for the 23rd Annual Bucks County Scholars Bowl competition. Our Neshaminy "B" team won 3rd place. The third place team is composed of Lukas Smolskas, Teddy Duffell, Max Lokhmatov, and Henry Vasilyev.

On Friday, May 20, students in the AVID classes at Neshaminy HS enjoyed a fun activity - drawing inspirational messages and pictures in chalk outside the Hub entrance.

Friday, May 13 was a busy one at Neshaminy - among the activities was the Sport Block Party at Community Park in Middletown (near Maple Point). Thanks to the Middletown Township Parks and Recreation staff for hosting Neshaminy baseball, softball, and lacrosse games "under the lights" during the afternoon and evening, along with live music, food trucks and other activities.

On May 13, several Neshaminy HS musicians enjoyed success at the Council Rock Orchestra Festival. Congratulations to the NHS Orchestra for a Superior Rating, Best Violas, Best Basses, Best Woodwinds, Best Brass, and Best Solist Award to Kaylee Zimmerman!

The Business, Computer and Information Technology (BCIT) Department at NHS is proud to recognize the Neshaminy Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) members who competed in the 2022 PA FBLA State Competition. Twenty-two Neshaminy students competed against the top Regional winners from across the state of Pennsylvania in several events.

Junior Nathan Galan placed third in Spreadsheet Applications. Freshman Julianna Silvano placed third in Introduction to Business Procedures and fellow Freshman Ben Crampton placed fourth in Introduction to FBLA. All three students have qualified to travel to Chicago, IL for the FBLA National Conference and Competition to compete against the top finishers in the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam.

Congratulations to these students for their efforts and their enthusiasm in leadership development and American enterprise. Neshaminy is very proud! Best of luck at the National competition!

The first graduation ceremony of the 2021-2022 school year is in the books! Students in the Pre-school Lab at Neshaminy HS celebrated the end of their school year with a graduation ceremony on May 12. The Lab is part of the NHS Family & Consumer Science program offering NHS students in the Child Development classes the opportunity to work in an actual preschool operated during the school year from October through mid-May for three and four-year-olds from the community.

42 members of Neshaminy’s Performing Arts Group had a fantastic day at the Bucks County Playhouse Student Theater Festival in New Hope on April 27. Nick DeMatteo won Best Male Vocal Performance, Cameron Krauss won Best Acting Range , Chris Simcox won Best Comedic Performance, and the cast and production staff of Something Rotten won Best Production. The students performed two twenty portions of the show for the judges. Congratulations to all!

Neshaminy Drama completed it's 2021-22 theatrical season with the Shakespearian comedy, As You Like It, set in the late 60's early 70's. This is the first time in almost 25 years, Shakespeare has been performed at Neshaminy. As You Like It was followed by a Night of Improv. where 18 students, from freshmen to seniors, participated in Improvisational games and scenes. Graduating seniors were also celebrated on this night. Drama Nights, which is a skit show a la Saturday Night Live, was the conclusion of 3 very busy weeks. Students in the Drama classes wrote and performed in skits. The best skits from each class were highlighted in this unique show over the course of two evenings. NHS Drama is already busy planning for the exciting 2022-23 season

In late April, Neshaminy HS held a Castle Ball tournament. This game involves teams setting up a self-supporting tower made up of 6 hoops (the "castle") which opposing teams must then attempt to knock down with foam dodgeballs. This is a popular activity in gym classes across the District. The teams each paid to enter the fundraising competition; the winning team got to choose the charity to which all the money raised would be donated. The Boys Takeover team won the competition and donated $1,300 to the Live Like Phillip Foundation, created in memory of Phillip Joseph Oseredzuk.

After months of preparation, fundraising, organization, practice and more practice, the NHS Music Trip to Disney finally got off the ground in late April. Vocal and instrumental musicians performed in adjudication during the week, and the Marching Band had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform in the Disney Magic Kingdom Parade.

Some important dates for the Class of 2022 and their friends and families:

• Friday June 10: Last student day for Seniors/ Senior Picnic
• Monday June 13: Graduation rehearsal 8:00 am
• Tuesday June 14: Graduation rehearsal rain date 8:00 am
• Wednesday June 15: Graduation Ceremony 6:30 pm
• Thursday June 16: Graduation Ceremony rain date 6:30 pm
• Friday June 17: Graduation Ceremony Second rain date 6:30 pm

Volleyball - District Champions!

The Boys Varsity Team had an undefeated regular season going 18-0 and ranked #1 in the District. They are the Suburban One League Champions and District Champions after beating #2 Pennridge on May 26. They have already secured a spot in the state championship.

Track and Field

Congratulations to the following Neshaminy High School Track & Field athletes who medaled at the District 1 Track & Field Championship:

• Sanaa Hebron won the 300 Meter Hurdles and the 200 Meter Dash, qualifying for the PIAA State Championship Meet in both events.
• Ryan Tarapchak finished 2nd in the 3200 Meter Run and 4th in the 1600 Meter Run, qualifying for the PIAA State Championship Meet in both events.
• Brendan Kaiser finish 3rd in the 800 Meter Run and qualified for the PIAA State Championship Meet.
• Calista Coffield finished 4th in the Long Jump and qualified for the PIAA State Championship Meet.
• Matt Lamb, Radelson Smith, Josh Anderson, Praise Adebayo finished 6th in the 4 x 100 Meter Relay, just missed qualifying for the State Championship Meet by .2 seconds.

Baseball

The baseball team advanced to Districts and lost a close 1st Round District Game to CB West 1-2.

Softball

The softball team advanced to Districts and won their first District Game by defeating Perkiomen Valley 8-1. They lost their 2nd round game to Hatboro Horsham.

Neshaminy Update is published monthly during the school year and distributed to the Neshaminy community via email and web. To submit comments, suggestions or news items for consideration, please email Chris Stanley, Community Relations Coordinator.

Neshaminy School Board of Directors

John Allen - President

Tina Hollenbach - Vice President

Cyndie Bowman

Adam J. Kovitz

Alicia Lafferty

Stephen Linden

Paul Saraullo

Kellen Sporny

Marty Sullivan

Contact Information

View Upcoming Meetings

Meeting Videos

District Calendar

Neshaminy School District

Superintendent

Rob McGee, Ph.D.

Assistant to the Superintendent / Director of Elementary Education

Michelle Burkholder

Assistant to the Superintendent / Director of Secondary Education

Jason Bowman

Assistant to the Superintendent / Director of Pupil Services

Anthony Devlin

Business Administrator

Donald B. Irwin, Jr.

Director of Human Resources

Kelly Kozik

Assistant to the Superintendent / Director of Educational Operations

Paul Meehan

Neshaminy School District

2001 Old Lincoln Highway

Langhorne, PA 19047

www.neshaminy.org