School Board Notes

Methacton’s Award of Excellence honorees for October 2020 represent Arcola Intermediate School. Donna Knarr, Attendance Secretary; Wendy McKenzie, Library Media Specialist; Jeff Miller, Special Education Teacher; Elizabeth Motley, Grade 8 Reading Teacher; Edward Lenters, Custodian; and Kathy Sicilia, Secretary.

All of these outstanding staff members provide support for students, staff, and our community. They are valuable team members and we are pleased to share with everyone how much we appreciate their commitment to the students of the Methacton School District.

A special thank you to Varsha Iyengar and Michael Legnola for representing Arcola Intermediate School as Junior Board Representatives for October 2020.

Congratulations to our “M” Award winners! Arcola Intermediate School's Principal Dr. Amy Mangano announced that more than 200 Arcola Intermediate School students have earned academic achievement for the 2019-2020 school year. Dr. Mangano also recorded a video announcement of the "M" Award winners, which can be found on the Arcola website. These students have earned a 93% or greater cumulative GPA for the 19-20 school year in Grade 7 and Grade 8. We are proud of all our students for their hard work and dedication to achieving academic excellence.

The Methacton Board of School Directors approved the return to on premises hybrid instruction model at a special meeting of the Board on October 20, 2020. The administration presented the instructional plan and the updated health and safety plan, both approved with a 9-0 vote. Dr. Matthew Walsh, the district’s new Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, provided the Board with specifics on the schedule and structure of the hybrid model and assured the Board and public that we will continue with the structure and rigor of our online offering.

Parents were issued a student selection form on October 21, 2020, which resulted in 95.74% of our students/parents/guardians responding to the student selection form. Of these responses, 41.3% of the students chose Methacton Online (remain all online) and 58.7% selected to return via the Hybrid Model.

The response breakdown for students choosing hybrid instruction by school is:

• Arrowhead 66.7%
• Eagleville 67.6%
• Woodland 49.1%
• Worcester 71.6%
• Skyview 61.8%
• Arcola 62.3%
• Methacton High School 50.8%
  

As a reminder, Dr. Zerbe wants parents/guardians to know that the hybrid model is suited to bring about half of the students on premises given their selection, where there will be 50% of the 60% who selected hybrid attending on site on a given day. Dr. Zerbe also indicated that 60% of the hybrid students plan to use bus transportation.

The student assignments are planned for release in Power School Parent portal on November 2, 2020. A letter will be issued by Dr. Zerbe in advance of this release.

Dr. Paul Spiewak, the district's Athletic and Activity Director, provided the Board with a health and safety plan on the upcoming winter sports. The plan is similar to that approved for the fall athletics and maintains all of the health and safety screening and precautions. The district is awaiting additional information from PIAA as to their recommendations and where appropriate will be adjusting our plan.

The Board, with their approval of the Health and Safety plan and the Reopening Plan on October 20, 2020, have also approved the schedule for professional development staff on November 3, 2020 and November 4, 2020. This means that there will be no school for students in K-12 on these two days.

All other items listed in the October 27, 2020 agenda were approved.

Mrs. Nikki Krelovich, Methacton Education Foundation Executive Director, presented the new website for the recently launched Methacton Alumni and Friends network. The interactive online community allows members to connect with alumni, learn about special events and opportunities in Methacton, and so much more. Methacton Alumni and Friends is open to any supporters, alumni and friends of the district.

The Methacton School District's Board of School Directors meets each month. School board work session meetings are generally held on the third Tuesday of the month, followed by the regular meeting on the fourth Tuesday (except during the month of December). Regular Board and work session meetings typically take place in the MHS LGI, and all residents are invited to attend. Committee meetings may take place in the Board Room at the Farina Center, or the MHS LGI. During the COVID-19 pandemic, meetings will be held virtually. Meeting agendas are posted to agenda manager, and start times and locations are posted on the District's website. Please confirm meeting time and location before attending. Download the meeting calendar here. Watch the meeting video online.

Email: information@methacton.org
Website: www.methacton.org
Phone: 610-489-5000