Community Conversations
January 2023
Dear Methacton Families,
Welcome to the first Community Conversations of 2023!
This month's newsletter will cover the following topics: School Board Director Recognition; request for volunteers to join the district's sustainability task force; and an update on Methacton High School.
SCHOOL BOARD DIRECTOR RECOGNITION
In the month of January, we honor our School Board Directors for their commitment to our students, schools and communities. Methacton School District educates nearly 4,600 students annually. Our nine member Methacton School Board is a vital part of providing opportunities for every student to succeed.
School directors, who are unpaid, devote an average of 10 hours each month to the challenging and complex responsibilities of board business, including voting on budgets, adopting policy and conducting comprehensive planning.
Join me in giving thanks to these public servants! In special recognition of School Director Recognition Month, K-4 students at Woodland presented their version of the Methacton Board of School Directors in a video at Tuesday’s voting meeting. The students put on an outstanding performance. You can watch it here.
SUSTAINABILITY TASKFORCE
Methacton School District is seeking interest from parents/staff/community/students to be part of the district's “Sustainability Taskforce”. Identified in our strategic plan strategy 6E, we are seeking individuals with knowledge, expertise, passion, and interest in serving to advise the district on matters of sustainability. As Superintendent, I hope to organize a taskforce (advisory board) that has a specific focus on positive impacts on our academic/instructional, economic, environmental, and social aspects of sustainability efforts.
The commitment for task force members will include: between 2-4 meetings per year held in the evenings after 6PM (most often via Zoom); provide as needed feedback on planning and targeted implementation strategies; advise the district on consultants; review consultant reports and provide feedback; and recommend areas of concentration.
Applications for consideration will be accepted through February 17, 2023. The taskforce will be announced in March with the first meeting to be held mid- to late March 2023.
METHACTON HIGH SCHOOL UPDATE
The district is awaiting its final facilities assessment report on Methacton High School. In addition to that report, there is a study being conducted on the high school pool as a result of concerns with leaking and other related matters. In the interim, it should be no secret that there are a number of matters in the building and on this campus that have challenged the district for far too long. This requires us to take a step forward and recognize that, perhaps, a 10-15 year plan to chip away at these challenges may not be the appropriate approach in terms of intended results, nor the most financially prudent. As such, I can share that there is mounting concern that this high school campus and facility, while arguably the most prominent attribute of this school district community, really needs a comprehensive consideration now for the benefit of students, families and the community for next 50-60 years.
Consistent with our strategic plan, there are a number matters to consider including:
- increasing the aesthetics/visual appeal of the campus and building;
- addressing HVAC/humidity;
- increasing campus safety and security;
- addressing the undersized leaking pool;
- the undersized and outdated auditorium;
- the in adequate parking for staff, students, guests;
- traffic flow;
- program implementation such a Fabrication/STEM Labs and apartment program for life skills students;
- permanent spectator seating and lighting at softball/baseball fields;
- renovation of tennis courts, locker and team rooms;
- adding a health and wellness center equipped to support the athletic programs, student physical education programming, and the health and wellness of students and staff.
These are only some of the matters on the consideration table.
In the coming months, I will be bringing forward a vision for the future that will be ambitious and realistic, and will take into consideration the short and long term benefits of making any further investments into this campus. It must include considerations for our students, staff, and community. It must consider the future world of work and the programmatic support our students will need now and well into the future.
I encourage you to follow us on this journey and follow us with other strategic plan matters by going here.
Sincerely,
Dr. David Zerbe
Superintendent of Schools
Alumni Spotlight
Now let’s take a look at some of the events and achievements that took place across the district in January...
ARROWHEAD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
+1,000 Pairs of Shoes Collected
Thank you Arrowhead students, Student Council, staff, and families. Through the efforts of Arrowhead's Student Council and school, Arrowhead collected over 1,000 pairs of shoes during their shoe drive! Way to go!
2nd Grade Readers
Thank You Patient First
EAGLEVILLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Therapy Dogs Visits 2nd Graders
4th Grade Chorus Practice
Eagleville's 4th grade chorus is back with their first practice of 2023!
Building STEM Houses
First grade students practiced their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math) skills as they built houses to withstand the wolf from The Three Little Pigs.
WOODLAND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Rising with Reflex
Have you heard about Woodland's goal to reach 1,000,000 facts learned per grade level?
That's right! Each grade level (2-4) has the opportunity to earn an extra fun activity if they reach 1,000,000 facts learned by June 2, 2023! Check out their current progress in the image above.
WORCESTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Dino Dig & 3D
Miss Park's Class Keeps the Beat
Worcester 3rd graders are working on recognizing different sections and themes within a song. Check out the video to see them dribble kickballs to show their understanding of the musical form. They really enjoyed it!
1K Forts & PJs
SKYVIEW UPPER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Quicktables Challenge
Recycling Club
Skyview’s Recycling Club has started collecting items to be recycled! They are also working on reminding our Skyview community how to differentiate between what can go into a recycling bin and what should not. Our students are working together to help improve our planet Earth!
ARCOLA INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL
Sock Roll Challenge
Don't miss the segment on CBS News highlighting the annual MLK Day tradition!
Tech Ed Project with Mr. Mayan
Arcola students were challenged with the following problem in Mr. Mayan's Tech Ed class:
Your group has been chosen by a local farmer to create a machine that separates eggs laid by 20 chickens. The chickens lay one egg per day in two sizes (small and large). The eggs are a very good source of income, but the farmer does not have time to manually separate the eggs. Create a machine that is self-feeding and easy to remove the eggs once separated.
Donations for Toys for Tots!
METHACTON HIGH SCHOOL
Congratulations Unified Sports!
Thank you The Arc Alliance!
NMTCC Student of the Month
Mr. Outland Joins AP Panel
Chemistry teacher Bruce Outland is a known leader in the AP Chemistry world. He has served as a lead developing the questions for the AP exam and has now been selected by College Board to determine the AP Cut Scores.
The standard setting panel will consist of nine higher education faculty members and six AP teachers. Panelists will have the responsibility of recommending cut scores for the 2023 AP Chemistry assessment to the AP Program. The cut scores are used to place students into the five AP score categories (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) which are, in turn, sent to colleges and universities around the country for credit and/or placement decisions.
This is a great honor and accomplishment for Mr. Outland and we are very proud of him.
METHACTON SCHOOL DISTRICT
Email: information@methacton.org
Website: www.methacton.org
Location: 1001 Kriebel Mill Road, Collegeville, PA, USA
Phone: 6104895000
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MethactonSchoolDistrict/
Twitter: @Methacton