Panther Press
August Newsletter
Ferderbar staff will be hosting a family bingo on January 24th. All proceeds will go towards PBIS activities and incentives for our students!
Event Details:
6:30 pm- doors open at 6:15 pm
$5 per person
Not a student drop-off event.
All players will receive a bingo marker.
Prizes are geared towards our Ferderbar students.
Hot dogs, snacks, and drinks will be for sale.
Pizzas are available with advanced purchase- fill out the form below.
Deadline to hand in form is 1/17/25.
Tickets will go home on Thursday 1/23/25.
Bingo will be held in Poquessing’s cafeteria. Please enter through Poquessing’s main entrance.
i-Ready Math and Reading
What is i-Ready?
i-Ready is an online program that will help us determine your child’s strengths and areas for growth, personalize their learning, and monitor their progress throughout the school year. i-Ready allows us to meet your child where they are and provides us with data to inform instruction.
The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions based on student responses. Each item a student receives is based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier ones. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade but to determine how to best support their learning.
i-Ready Instruction provides students with lessons based on their individual strengths and areas for growth. These lessons are interactive and provide strategic supports to keep your child engaged as they learn.
What can I do to help?
To help prepare your child for the i-Ready Diagnostic, encourage them to:
- Get a good night’s sleep and eat a full breakfast the day of the assessment.
- Try their best on each question and try not to rush.
- Try not to worry about questions they do not know—remind them that it is expected they will get only about half of the questions correct.
- Be respectful of other students who take longer to finish.
- Use paper and pencil to show work for math questions.
To support your child’s learning with online My Path lessons, you can:
- Discuss your child’s progress on their i-Ready lessons.
- Celebrate your child’s learning and growth.
Thank you for your continued support and for being a partner in your child’s learning. Your child's teacher will be sending reports home when the middle of the year testing is complete. If you have any questions about i-Ready, please do not hesitate to contact me or the school. You can also learn more about i-Ready by visiting i-ReadyCentral.com/FamilyCenter.
Dibels 8 (Grades K-2)
What are DIBELS?
DIBELS are measures that help teachers and schools determine how students are performing on important reading skills. DIBELS stands for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. These measures are designed for students in grades K-8.
What skills are measured by DIBELS and why are they important?
The critical skills necessary for successful beginning reading include: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The DIBELS measures assess students on four of these five critical skills, which are often referred to as the “Big Ideas” of reading.
How much time does it take?
DIBELS tests are “indicators” of the student’s overall reading status, and are not intended to be in-depth or comprehensive measures of reading. Just like using a thermometer to take your child’s temperature, which provides a quick indicator of your child’s general health, these quick DIBELS tests provide teachers with information about your child’s reading health and how well he or she is progressing on a particular early reading skill. Benchmark assessments generally take 2 to 6 minutes to give, depending on the grade of the student and time of year. DIBELS measures allow teachers to get valuable information about students’ reading skills without using large amounts of instructional time
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.
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:
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)
