Off to a Great Start!

EXCELLENCE TODAY FOR TOMORROW

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT – August 2008

As we begin the 2008-2009 academic year, we are delighted to announce there are many exciting changes!

First, I would like to welcome officially our new administrators:

Dr. Linda Bluebello, Director of Pupil Services Mrs. Grace Eves, Director of Management Services Dr. Steve Quinn, Assistant Principal at Springton Lake Mrs. Katherine White, Principal at Media Elementary Mr. Chip Olinger, Athletic Director

We believe that we have, indeed, strengthened our team leadership with these additions and we are looking forward to many productive hours of working together.

Facility Readiness

All of our buildings are beautifully cleaned and ready for the first day. Several Board members took time from their busy schedules to visit each building this past week and we want to thank them for their interest and for chatting with our maintenance and custodial workers during these visits. This meant a lot to everyone.

Of note is the major renovation work completed at Glenwood School. The locker room area that for years has been wasted space, has now been converted to music practice rooms, a new computer lab, and a new storage area. Penncrest is also proud of the additional painting that has been done in their hallways and the football stadium area has never looked better! The cheerleaders even painted a wonderful lion on the ticket booth! A fresh coat of paint goes a long way to improve pride in our surroundings. I would like to thank Supervisor Ron Baldino and all of our maintenance and custodial workers who accomplished many projects throughout the district this summer.

And finally, I am delighted to report that the Education Resource Center at the Granite Run Mall is up and running. It is a beautiful facility and we are eagerly awaiting our students. We have added a second teacher to the program so that now we may have an enrollment in that program of no more than 40 students. The Grand Opening is set for October 2nd. A formal dedication ceremony will be held from 11:00 a.m. until Noon. Senator Pileggi will be our Keynote speaker. From Noon until 5:00 p.m. there will be an Open House and the public is invited. We hope several of our community members will stop by for a tour. The ERC is located on the upper level, next to Boscov’s, across from a greeting card store. We look forward to welcoming many guests since we are only the second program like this in the entire state.

Opening Day for Teachers

The first day back to school for professional staff employees is always an exciting one for us. We began our day at Penncrest where the cheerleaders performed, under the direction of Coach Jessica Anderson. Even the school mascots danced for the crowd. Following this outstanding demonstration, everyone enjoyed the marching band and we celebrated with a preview of their game half time show. Thanks to Mr. Snyder who always works with the students to provide quality entertainment. Welcoming speeches were given by our Board President and the presidents of each of the associations in our district. Following these, I presented the vision for this school year which is focused on Connections.

Our symbolic representation describes the connections in which we will foster stronger bonds and around which our goal-setting will take place. These are: Truth, Personal Growth, Student Achievement, Each Other, and the Community. We gave examples of what stronger connections in each of these areas could include.