The Tigers' Pride

Welcome to the summer edition of The Tiger's Pride. Within this issue, we extend our heartfelt appreciation to our PTOs for their unwavering support. The partnerships we have with parents and families are truly priceless, playing a pivotal role in the success of our schools. Let us come together in expressing our gratitude to the PTOs for their dedicated efforts, volunteering their time, sharing valuable ideas, and infusing our schools with so much energy. You will also discover numerous reasons to celebrate our exceptional students. From their remarkable achievements in the arts to their well-deserved writing recognitions, our students continue to inspire. We hope you find the Tiger Pride in this issue.

Tina M. Kane, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

The Loomis Elementary School PTO is a team of devoted parents that helps our school community tremendously. If there is a need, the team works tirelessly alongside staff, administration, and their fellow volunteers to help in any capacity. The Loomis PTO hosts several family-friendly events such as our Holiday Shoppe, a Scholastic Book Fair, and our annual Loomis Fun Fair, which is a spectacular event for the entire community. The funds raised from these events support the cost of assemblies, a whale mobile, an agricultural lab truck, Field Day tee-shirts, and items around the school that benefit our students, including the recent purchases of new furniture for our library. We are so fortunate to have a wonderful team of dedicated PTO members at Loomis! If you are interested being part of the Loomis PTO or its Board, please contact PTOLoomis@gmail.com.

Congratulations to all of the MNSD teams that participated in the 2023 K’Nex STEM Design Challenge at the Delaware County Intermediate Unit. Teams were challenged to identify an environmental issue, research it, and create a solution by building a prototype out of K’Nex. Special congratulations to the teams from Culbertson Elementary (2nd place trophy), Worrall Elementary (3rd place trophy), Loomis Elementary (Honorable Mention ribbon), and Paxon Hollow Middle School, who secured two awards. Science National Honor Society from Marple Newtown High School devoted their time to assist with judging the various designs. Check out some pictures and a video from the competition below.

Congratulations on a job well done to the entire group of Marple Newtown High School students that participated in the Pennsylvania Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) State Leadership Conference in Hershey, PA. With guidance from MNHS teacher and FBLA advisor Anita Stum, the team completed two grueling, fun-filled days of competition and workshops. A special congratulations to Alyssa Ching on her 1st place finish in the state for digital animation!

(Left to right) Aila Lam, Maria Kaltsidis, Francesca Fusunyan-Lee, Olivia Highland, Alyssa Ching

Marple Newtown High School would like to thank our PTO for all of their support this year. We have a dedicated group of members who have helped us to continue our efforts to provide the best for our students and staff. This year our PTO donated their time and efforts to celebrate our teachers with a series of morning breakfasts and a wonderful Teacher Appreciation Luncheon. They strive to find ways to fundraise in order to support our Renaissance Program along with other programs that MNHS uses to recognize our students. We appreciate everything you have done for us in making MNHS a great place to be!

Paxon Hollow’s PTO has worked extremely hard this year enhancing the appearance of the school grounds as well as lifting the spirits of students and staff. Earlier this year, the PTO worked alongside the grounds crew to hang pole banners around the parking lot. The banners are visible to community members and visitors as they arrive at PHMS, bringing a very prestigious touch to our campus. PTO and grounds crew have also been hard at work revitalizing the courtyard by laying down new mulch, creating pathways, and getting the water fountain back up and running. The PTO has also lifted the spirts of students and staff throughout the year. On multiple occasions, they have provided coffee, treats, lunch, and small gifts which are much appreciated by PHMS staff. The PTO outdid themselves during Teacher Appreciation Week, having each day themed and associated with a breakfast, catered lunch, ice cream, and many other treats. The PTO has also supported and created fun experiences for our students including our fun-filled duck assemblies, creating a new and annual 8th grade painting event, and putting together a field trip for each grade. During the first week of June 6th grade students will be heading to Tree House World, 7th grade will be taking a Philadelphia bus tour and lunch at Xfinity Live, and 8th grade will be attending their annual Hershey Park trip! Once again, the Paxon Hollow family would like to thank our PTO members for their hard work and dedication to making our students’ middle school experience the best it can be!

The Marple Newtown School District has been honored with the 2023 Best Communities for Music Education designation from The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education. The Best Communities for Music Education designation is awarded to districts that demonstrate an exceptionally high commitment to provide music access and education to all students. MNSD is one of the 830 school districts nationwide to receive this exceptional recognition. The award program recognizes outstanding efforts by teachers, administrators, parents, students, and community leaders who have made music education part of a well-rounded education. Congratulations to our entire music department for their dedication and devotion to music and the MNSD students!

Congratulations to the 5th graders in Samantha Partridge's class at Russell Elementary for their winning "Rule of Law" essay contest submission. The contest, which is sponsored by the Courts, Community, and Rule of Law Committee of the Judicial Council of the Third Circuit, culminated in a ceremony at the James A. Byrne United States Courthouse in Philadelphia. Mrs. Patridge's class was honored as an essay finalist by the United States District, Magistrate, and Bankruptcy Court Judges for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for their class essay, "Why the Right to Vote is Important to Me and for Our Country". Five Russell students read their class essay to the eleven judges and dignitaries in attendance for the special session of the court. Click here to see more pictures from the ceremony.

Russell Elementary School is a special place, and a huge factor in that is our involved and organized PTO. Our community thrives due to the partnership between home and school. We are truly fortunate to have a dedicated and supportive group of parents that help strengthen our school community. The PTO brings us so many important family-friendly events such as the Russell Family Picnic, Pizza Bingo, Holiday Shoppe, School Store, the Scholastic Book Fair, teacher appreciation, and our annual Fun Fair. The funds raised from these events support the cost of field trips, assemblies, and other items around the school. We are so grateful at Russell to have an amazing team of dedicated PTO members who work alongside us and ensure that Russell continues to emblemize the values and character traits that we expect in our community.

The MNSD administrative team recently welcomed incoming kindergarten families at the annual "Parent Information Night A to Z".

As part of a schoolwide reading initiative, reading specialist Kelly Miller challenged Loomis Elementary students to read for 15 minutes every night. If they did, Principal Jaime Smyth would have to climb to the roof of the school. Loomis students far surpassed their goal. In fact, they read so many minutes that the Broomall Fire Company had to be called in to lift Principal Smyth right into the sky!

Worrall Elementary School is grateful for our wonderful PTO! The PTO helps the school in a wide variety of ways each year, and their efforts enrich our school tremendously. PTO-sponsored events such as the Big Buddy Breakfast, Winter Holiday Shoppe, Pizza Bingo, and Food Truck Fiesta give our community chances to gather and have a great time. The PTO also financially supports the school by contributing to field trips and purchasing “wish list” items for teachers. Furthermore, our PTO volunteers are integral to the success of school events such as our Book Fairs, classroom parties, and Field Day, amongst others. Thank you, PTO, for everything you do to help Worrall be such a special place to be!

Congratulations to the young writers who participated in the Central League Writing Contest. Under the guidance of advisor and MNHS teacher Galen Mooney, the students participated with enthusiasm, respect, and joy. The competition featured a mystery writing prompt that was unveiled on the day of the contest. Students were asked to compose a full, short story within the constraints of one hour. A special congratulations goes to Noelle Lehrman, who took home the top, first place prize!

• 9th Grade: Irene Biju and Adiel Rosenbloom

• 10th Grade: Rylee Fenlason and Eliza Stewart
• 11th Grade: Rhiannon DeLuca and Nico Vitale
• 12th Grade: Casey Broomall and Noelle Lehrman

The Culbertson Elementary School teachers and staff would like to thank our PTO for all of the wonderful events that they coordinated over the past year. In addition, we would also like to thank all of the parents/guardians who volunteered their time to assist with the events. We, as a school, know this takes an enormous amount of time and dedication. This year the students at Culbertson were treated to several assemblies, such as the Laser Show, Mario the Magician, and the unforgettable NED Show. The PTO organized our annual Pumpkin Festival, Flight on Ice, and our first-ever Trunk-n-Treat. They also supported our teachers and staff through the use of a Teacher’s Wish List and a week of food and treats during Teachers Appreciation Week. We cannot say "thank you" enough for all of the memories that you have created for our students over the past year!

During a ceremony at the Delaware County Courthouse in Media, PA, the Delaware County Bar Association recognized students from Worrall Elementary and Loomis Elementary as "Law Day" poster contest winners. Students were asked to submit a poster depicting the following topic: How can individual citizens use their voices to fulfill the promise of the Constitution? Congratulations to all of our winners and everyone who participated!

• Loomis Elementary winners: Jordan Tran (1st grade) and Olivia Tien (4th grade)
• Worrall Elementary winners: Alexa Jakowenko (2nd grade), Karin Savage (2nd grade), and Ryan Zhu (5th grade)

Throughout the year, students from each of the six MNSD schools are selected by their art teachers and recognized by the Superintendent for their creative artistic ability. Dr. Tina Kane, Superintendent of Schools, recently honored students and families from both Russell Elementary and Paxon Hollow Middle Schools. The students' art was displayed in the Board Room of the district's Administration Building, where Dr. Kane personally spoke with the artists about their work. Each artist was awarded a Superintendent’s Art Recognition certificate in honor of their creative contributions to the art program.