The Neshaminy School Board approved the appointment of Jason Bowman as the new Director of Secondary Education for the District at their meeting on May 11. The position was formerly held by Dr. McGee when he was appointed as Superintendent last June.
Mr. Bowman comes to us from his current position as Director of Secondary Education at Bensalem School District. He is a graduate of Widener University, with undergraduate and Masters degrees in Engineering and Education. He earned a Principal certificate at the University of Scranton, and an Educational Leadership and Administration certificate from California University of Pennsylvania.
Neshaminy High School will see some familiar faces moving into new roles this summer following the retirement of Assistant Principal / Athletic Director Thomas "Mags" Magdelinskas in June after 30 years with the District.
Assistant Principal Lisa Pennington will take over as Athletic Director, while District Staff Development Data Specialist Steve McAloon will move to Lisa's current position as Assistant Principal in the Academic Scheduling and Student Records Office at the high school. Ms. Pennington is a graduate of Maple Point and Neshaminy High Schools, and has worked for the District as a teacher, field hockey coach and administrator since 1993. Mr. McAloon is also a Neshaminy graduate, and has been working at the District for 26 years. He taught Social Studies at Neshaminy HS (and was the department chair for 8 years) before moving to his current position.
Join the NSD Reading Specialists on Wednesday, June 2 at 6:30 pm for a fun virtual parent information session to learn about how to engage young readers over the summer months. The webinar is designed to be brief and informative. Also, find out about getting early access for your child to our Elementary Summer Reading Lists as well as other free reading resources! There will be 2 raffles that evening. Sign up using the below flyer registration link:
The next scheduled Board Public Work Session is Tuesday, June 8 at 7 pm in the auditorium at Maple Point Middle School. The meeting is open to the public and will also be livestreamed on the District website at www.neshaminy.org/meetings.
Among the items approved at the Board Public Meeting on Tuesday, May 25 are:
- School breakfast & lunch prices for 2021-2022 will remain the same as the 2019-2020 school year (school meals were free during 2020-2021 due to Federal subsidies)
- Acceptance of the Bucks County Technical High School 2021-2022 budget in the amount of $31,469,644 (operating budget of $29,448,532), with the Neshaminy School District 2021-2022 net fiscal contribution to be $5,139,782.
Adoption of new policies in the #900 section, which includes Public Participation in Board Meetings, Public Attendance at School Events, Advisory Groups, Public Complaint Procedures, School Visitors and News Media Relations.
Upcoming Committee meetings (open to the public), all held in the District Board Room at Maple Point MS:
- Tuesday, June 1: Business Operations Committee meeting, 6:30 pm.
Livestreams and archive videos of the Board Public Work Sessions and Public meetings can be viewed at www.neshaminy.org/meetings.
2-1-1 Service: If you are looking for non-educational community resources such as food pantries, housing assistance, help with utility bills, unemployment information or crisis resources, the United Way of Bucks County offers a centralized information service which can be accessed by calling 211, texting your area code to 898-211, or visiting www.pa211.org. This service is available 24/7 and is available in 42 languages.
The Pre-K Counts program at Neshaminy is enrolling students for the 2021-2022 school year. This state-funded program operates in several Neshaminy school buildings, and offers a quality, free preschool program to families that meet age and financial eligibility guidelines. For the upcoming school year, the income guidelines based on household size are as follows (based on 2020 Federal tax returns):
- 2 family members: $52,260
- 3 family members: $65,880
- 4 family members: $79,500
- 5 family members: $93,120
- 6 family members: $106,740
- 7 family members: $120,360
Students must turn 3 or 4 years old by September 1, 2021 to qualify. To learn more about Pre-K Counts at Neshaminy or to apply for enrollment, please visit the Neshaminy PKC website www.neshaminy.org/pkc.
Neshaminy High School Laboratory Preschool is now accepting preschool applications for the 2021-2022 School year. Children must be four years old by September 1, 2021. The program is held 4 days per week (Monday through Thursday), and there are both the morning and afternoon openings. School will begin mid-October and end in May. The cost for this program is $350. Please visit https://www.neshaminy.org/Page/1596 to see more information and to download the application form. Please note that openings are limited.
The Neshaminy Education Foudation is pleased to announce three scholarship winners for the Neshaminy High School Class of 2021. Each will receive $1,000 to be applied to their post-secondary education:
- Sameer N. Raval, who will be attending Temple University
- Grace Thomson, who will be attending Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania
- Carly Gross, who will be attending Penn State University
They were recognized along with other scholarship and Senior Award winners at Neshaminy High School on Thursday, May 27.
As the end of the school year quickly approaches, some of the elementary school classes are celebrating with an alphabet-based countdown featuring daily activities for each letter. Students in Mr. Rydzewski's class at Walter Miller Miller ES are participating, above you can see G (for green day), H (for hat day) and I (for invisible pet day, which included the responsibility of cleaning up the mess that their invisible pet may have left). At right, students in Mrs. Bank's class and Ms. Moore's classes at Tawanka Elementary School decided to add some glow sticks to the mix and have a glow dance party for G (Green) Day, as did the staff at Joseph Ferderbar Elementary School (below).
A favorite springtime activity in the elementary schools is raising caterpillars until they develop into butterflies. The students get to see the metamorphosis process up close and then release their butterflies outside to begin their lives as an essential part of the ecosystem. At left, a student at Herbert Hoover Elementary School releases her butterfly.
Groups of students celebrated Bike and Walk to School Day in May with early morning rides at Carl Sandburg MS (above), Herbert Hoover ES (right) and Albert Schweitzer ES (below).
Accompanied by Middletown Township Police escorts, students gathered at various locations near their schools where they met some of their friends and joined teachers and administrators for the trip to school. The police department offers free bicycle helmets to kids, and encourages them to ride safely,
Here are this year's eighth-grade American Legion award winners at Neshaminy's three District middle schools. Eighth-grade teachers and specialists nominate, then vote for students who exhibit the qualities of positive attitude, above average grades, community spirit, leadership and strength of character:
Langhorne American Legion Jesse W. Soby Post #148: Julia French, Maple Point MS; Jason Wilmot, Maple Point MS; Gracie Sullivan, Poquessing MS: Joey Willse, Poquessing MS; Nate Loadwick, Carl Sandburg MS; Erin Potent, Carl Sandburg MS
American Legion Jesse Soby Post #148 Auxiliary: Jaela Johnson, Maple Point MS; Brynn Trepper, Poquessing MS; Mary Kate Alvino, Carl Sandburg MS
Penndel American Legion Post #436: Liam O’Neill, Maple Point MS; Bridget Dytky, Maple Point MS; Rocco Cauvin, Poquessing MS; Collin Wiegner. Carl Sandburg MS; Kenna Lowman, Carl Sandburg MS
Penndel American Legion Auxiliary Unit #436: Samantha Lugo, Poquessing MS
Joseph Brann Award for Outstanding Math Student: Swasti Shinde, Poquessing MS
Congratulations to the award recipients and thank you to our friends at the American Legion posts for recognizing student achievement at Neshaminy!
On Friday, May 14, Carl Sandburg MS held a ceremony to present this year's winner of the Al Durante Service Award. "The award is presented to a Sandburg 8th grader who displays service to school and community. The candidate must demonstrate kindness, a positive outlook towards life, sincere caring for the well-being of others, and unselfish attitude in and out of school." Six students were nominated for this prestigious award; Kenna Lowman was this year's winner. Al's son Mark Durante and Middletown Township Supervisor Anna Payne were presenters at the ceremony; the Township designated May as Al Durante Month in honor of the coach and Sandburg support staff member who spent over three decades at the school and ran a popular after-school basketball program.
Neshaminy HS hosted the annual Academic Recognition Ceremony, the Military Commitment Ceremony and the Senior Award Ceremony in May. All were livestreamed and the video archived videos can be viewed at www.neshaminy.org/nhsvideo. The NHS graduation livestreamin video will be posted on the same page.
