Superintendent’s
Report
November 8, 2012
Student & Staff
Recognition:
·
Rotary
Students of the Month:
o September: Megan Cook
o October: Yash Bhutwala
· Homecoming
Queen Haley Gehret was featured in Barb Miller’s Patriot News article. The
article highlighted the obstacles Haley has faced and her resilient, positive
attitude. However, one could not miss the character that our other students
also showed in the fact that they voted her their queen.
·
Palmyra
fall sports include great showings by golf*, girls soccer, girls field hockey*,
boys XC*, and girls XC*. All these teams made it to playoffs but those marked
with * made it to state level competition. The girls’ XC team won the gold,
only the 4th time in Palmyra history that this has occurred. The
city celebrated with a parade on Saturday. All athletes are to be commended!
·
Foundation
Logo Contest: Scores of excellent designs were submitted. The winning logo is a
collaborative effort from students Lucas Hellenthal, Sarandon Smith, and Glenna
Stehman. You will see this logo used around town in the near future.
Lingle
Higlighted:
Warfel
Construction will feature Lingle Avenue Elementary in their 2013 calendar. It
underscores that they are as proud of this building project as we are.
Veterans Day:
Board Members are invited to a Veterans’ Day
assembly in the HS auditorium on Thursday, November 15 at either 8 AM or 8:50
AM. It will include speeches by a regular HS sub who is a veteran, a student
who accompanied Vietnam Veterans to DC, singing the national anthem, and the band
playing taps. As a reminder, students will not be in school on Veterans’ Day
because of K-8 conferences and a HS professional development day.
Professional
Development:
·
President
George Downey and I joined Dr. Burkhart from IU13 as well as Dr. Hudacs and a
board member from SOLANCO in presenting at the state conference for PSBA and
PASA. We presented how we developed our Guiding Principles and how it has
helped our board make some of the tough decisions, especially as they relate to
dwindling, financial resources.
·
The
keynote speaker was Dr. Yong Zhao, originally from China and currently a
Michigan State Univ. professor. He is the author of Catching
Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization. His gist was that American education needs to guard against
striving only to the best in academic testing measures. We currently are the
world’s
leader in teaching creativity, problem-solving, entrepreneurship, and innovation.
The Chinese and others are working hard to emulate what we do in this area.
·
The
IU13 Superintendents’ annual study trip was in Pittsburgh where we focused on
the new teacher effectiveness and principal effectiveness projects. We worked
with Gates Foundation staff, Pittsburgh administrators and union leadership,
and SAS / PVAAS leadership. The study trip was focused and well-planned to
concentrate on all aspects of these new initiatives with those who have
researched and worked with it at a practical level.
Weather:
Palmyra
Schools were, thankfully, fairly unaffected by
Hurricane Sandy and Winter Storm Athena. Our make-up days for the two hurricane
days will be Presidents’ Day, Monday, February 18, and the first day of what
would have been Spring Break, Wednesday, March 27. Students in our buildings
are involved in a number of fundraising efforts for victims of Sandy in NJ and
NY.
Division
Reports:
Elementary:
·
Author, Judy Young, visited all 4 schools the week of Oct. 22, making
grade level presentations and book signings. She spoke about how ideas become
stories and how stories lead to books, emphasizing the connection between
reading and writing. Students were stunned to hear how many times she edits her
work. Our teachers plan to capitalize on that!
·
DRA benchmark testing was completed this month. This data has been
entered on Data Blender to be used for our data team meetings where we monitor
progress. We also completed the second PASD writing sample, a formative
assessment used to guide instruction.
·
Local
fire fighters visited to share fire preventive and safety procedures with our
first grade students. Using a house model, students learned about various fire
scenarios and what to do based on the type and location of the fire. Students
then toured the fire truck and some got to see Miss Oswald dressed as a fire
fighter.
·
Ingram
& Daugherty Orthodontics from Palmyra
visited with first, second, and third grade Northside students to remind them
of proper teeth hygiene.
·
Mike
Hostetler from WGAL-TV and his cameraman came to visit
Mrs. Stephens’ second grade class. They videotaped for a two-minute segment of
a newly created sports feature called “Second to None.” Students learned about
microphones, costumes, props, rehearsals, cues, and takes. This opportunity
presented a unique learning experience for our students.
Middle
School:
·
The Builder’s Club, under the
leadership of Senór Knepp, held a fund-raiser to support Special Olympics. The
student-centered evening featured Michael Minor and Friends, which included his
ventriloquist puppets as well as his family. It was a delightful event that was
designed for children but thoroughly enjoyed by parents and community members
as well.
