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community communicator an informational publication for residents of the perkiomen valley school district volume xxii no 2 winter 2009 superintendent s update clifford l rogers ed.d.

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2 volunteer your expertise perkiomen valley high school will be holding its first ever career fair on wednesday march 4 2009 the goal of the career fair is to educate students on various careers in the workforce and to help students gain more knowledge about whether a particular career seems suitable for them the career fair will be held from 7:30 a.m to 11 a.m in the perkiomen valley high school gymnasium we are currently seeking members of the workforce to volunteer at the career fair to inform our students of the career options that are out there in the real world please go to our website at www.pvsd.org to view more information and a registration form for the career fair thank you very much for your time and dedication to educating our students about what the workforce and careers have to hold you are helping our students create a pathway to their future mark your calendars the perkiomen valley school district foundation s 5th annual wish upon a star gala will be held on june 7 2009 it will be held at the perkiomen watershed conservancy from 5 to 8 p.m tickets are available through the pv foundation at www.pvsdfoundation org or by emailing laura strausser at lstrausser@pvsd.org corporate sponsorships are also available all proceeds support the students of the perkiomen valley school district the pvsd administrative team welcomes your comments 610 489-8506 clifford l rogers ed.d superintendent crogers@pvsd.org barbara russell assistant to the superintendent k-5 brussell@pvsd.org grace l cisek ed.d assistant to the superintendent 6-12 gcisek@pvsd.org judith a roth director of special education jroth@pvsd.org julia krik asst director of special ed jkrik@pvsd.org brian allebach director of human resources ballebach@pvsd.org amy hurd director of finance ahurd@pvsd.org district office jim weaver business administrator jweaver@pvsd.org beth yaksich director of food services byaksich@pvsd.org scott clemmer director of operations sclemmer@pvsd.org janet heacock payroll and benefits supervisor jheacock@pvsd.org michelle brown school/community relations mbrown@pvsd.org patti scott house principal pscott@pvsd.org cyndi lewis house principal cylewis@pvsd.org larry glanski athletic director lglanski@pvsd.org dr rockwell finley mental health coordinator rfinley@pvsd.org amy sacks assistant principal asacks@pvsd.org evergreen elementary school 610 409-9751 kim minor principal kminor@pvsd.org schwenksville elementary school 484 961-7064 pauline galiardi principal pgaliardi@pvsd.org pv middle school west 484 977-7210 ryan stanson-marsh principal rmarsh@pvsd.org donna milligan assistant principal dmilligan@pvsd.org 610 489-1230 john romanoski high school principal jromanoski@pvsd.org mark stipa house principal mstipa@pvsd.org pv high school skippack elementary school 610 409-6060 kim boyd principal kboyd@pvsd.org pv middle school east 610 409-8580 seamus clune principal sclune@pvsd.org south elementary school 610 489-2991 michelle cinciripino principal mcinciripino@pvsd.org

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3 t time at evergreen elementary school although the title may give you visions of students sitting around sipping on cups of tea t time is actually a special time for reading for a half-hour each day students get to switch classes so that they may spend time working on reading skills the response to intervention rti process is a multi-tiered approach to providing services and interventions to meet the instructional needs of our students although the main focus of rti is to support students who are having reading difficulties by increasing levels of instructional intensity we are focusing on all levels of student learning including enrichment there are three main groups during t time one group works on decoding and encoding skills through the fundations program or wilson reading system some students experience more difficulty with comprehension because they focus so hard on trying to read the words that they do not have the attention to really comprehend what they read this intervention is meant to help these students learn how to identify words that they do not know so that they can become more fluent readers and be able to focus their attention on the story s meaning instead of on decoding the words other students work on comprehension through soar to success soar to success gives students strategies to help them better comprehend a story that they are reading one strategy that the students learn is prediction predictions are important because they allow children to bring their prior knowledge to their reading and to make logical assumptions about a book another strategy that the readers in this group learn to use is clarification which is checking for understanding students learn that when they don t understand something they need to clarify it so that they do not miss an important piece of the story these groups talk about different ways that they can clarify when they are reading so that they will be able to do this independently in the future students also learn to summarize what they have read this skill can be a little daunting for some children as they are used to retelling what has happened in a story but not to condensing the story s events into a one or two sentence summary about the main idea this skill is important because it allows the students to really think about what is important in what they are reading the last strategy that these learners use is questioning the readers learn to ask questions of themselves and others to see if they truly comprehend what is going on in the story through these strategies the soar to success program helps students to become stronger readers through better comprehension another group uses a program called junior great books junior great books helps students develop essential literacy skills reading carefully thinking critically listening intently and speaking and writing persuasively by participating in shared inquiry discussions junior great books students learn to read for meaning and to support their own interpretation of the text these activities support our students who are readers and gives them an opportunity for extension and enrichment to help them to become more critical and thoughtful readers t time at evergreen has become a very special time of day the students enjoy participating in their groups because they are experiencing success the intensive instruction they are receiving is tailored to the students needs enabling them to truly blossom and become better readers spring musicals · the perkiomen valley middle school east drama club will be performing disney s high school musical on february 27 and february 28 at 7:30 p.m this production is a student/faculty performance with a cast and crew of over 150 students all tickets are reserved seating 6.00 advance sale due to the popularity of the show we are anticipating sold out performances tickets may be purchased by contacting lisa eskin at leskin@pvsd.org or calling 610 4098580 ext 3202 · the perkiomen valley middle school west drama club will be performing the musical into the woods on march 12 13 and 14 at 7:30 p.m all proceeds will be donated to the perkiomenville branch of the montgomery county spca into the woods is a musical that intertwines the plots of several brothers grimm fairy tales and follows them further to explore the consequences of the characters wishes and quests if you would like to purchase advance tickets please contact krista yerkes at 484 977-7210 ext 3732 or kyerkes@pvsd.org · perkiomen valley high school is proud to present the musical comedy pippin the show is set in the holy roman empire 780 a.d and is based loosely on the story of prince pippin son of king charlemagne the show features 1970s pop-style music performances are april 2 at 1:00 p.m for senior citizens only april 3 at 7:30 p.m april 4 at 7:30 p.m and april 5 at 2:00 p.m all performances are at spahr auditorium in perkiomen valley middle school east 100 kagey road collegeville tickets are $8.00 and may be purchased at the door if you would like to order tickets in advance go to www.pvmb.org.

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4 superintendent s update cont d a chart of the data points we have been using is provided on the right and is available on the pvsd website.we are preparing a formal annual report that we will share in the summer so that you can help us to track our progress i think you will see that we are doing quite well right now and that our relentless focus on excellence is going to propel our students ever more successfully into the future best wishes clifford l rogers ed.d grade level dibels xxxxxx dra xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 4sight curriculum based benchmarks terranova perkiomen valley school district assessment schedule 2008-09 pssa reading/math pssa writing pssa science advanced placement ap inview psat sat/act other measures k 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 post grad description xxxxxxxxxxxx student participation and success in higher level math student p ti i ti i e t st d t participation in extra and d co-curricular activities xxxxxxxxxxxx students accepted to first choice of post-grad option post grad graduates perceptions on quality of preparation for the future basic literacy skills reading level progress fall grades 15 may grades 1-3 and 4-5 if needed progress towards standards proficiency september november january march national benchmarking of students curriculum fall gr 7 9 spring gr 2 demonstration of standards proficiency nclb aptitude sat prep course selection scholarships college aptitude admissions college course credit non-assessment measures of progress toward strategic goals months administered september january may/june quarterly march february april/may april/may grade 3 november grade 6 fall fall spring may end of year reporting x evergreen elementary only pvsd benchmarks of progress to view this assessment schedule in a larger format go to www.pvsd.org click on parent links at the top of the home page and then click on assessment schedule copies are also available in the district office perkiomen valley school district 3 iron bridge drive collegeville pa 19426 phone 610 489-8506 www.pvsd.org a sense of pride as the doors of perkiomen valley high school opened on november 26 2008 it was clearly noticeable that this day was much different from every other teachers and administrators from the entire district entered the building with some sort of hope and anticipation of what would be soon to come the senior graduation project presentations each year our students reach goals that are set forth by their fellow teachers counselors principals and school staff however more importantly they reach goals that are set forth by themselves the senior graduation project was just one of these many goals that our students strived to achieve for three years students brainstormed planned and implemented their graduation projects for this very day during sophomore year students received a packet regarding the importance of not only the project but the importance of successfully completing the project to graduate in their junior year they brainstormed and laid forth the foundation of their projects between their junior and senior year students successfully completed and presented their graduation project to a panel consisting of teachers and administrators on this particular day the students dressed to impress and used various forms of visuals such as powerpoint picture slide shows and posters to convey the importance and detail which was necessary to complete their projects several projects related to community service volunteering mission trips fundraisers career interest areas and much more following presentations students returned to the cafeteria and it was easy to overhear the excitement and relief expressed in their voices not only were teachers administrators and staff proud of these accomplished seniors but more importantly the students were proud of themselves with graduation only a few months away seniors begin to reflect on their years here at perkiomen valley and look to even greater hopes and accomplishments in the future however what exactly does the future hold for the students a majority of students have met with counselors to seek guidance on what path may be taken to reach a career desired to further aide students in their journey to find the best career the perkiomen valley school district has provided them with the opportunity to job shadow and to participate in our career study program many of the students both past and present have said great things about this particular program not only does job shadowing and career study allow students to have a hands-on experience but to make a more solidified decision on whether this is the correct path for them with job shadowing being a single day experience it allows students to envision what to expect from a possible fourweek internship which occurs during the last few weeks of senior year also known as career study with this program we are giving students the opportunity to experience their careers prior to entering a permanent program in college or the workforce our guidance encouragement and hopes for these students have left a permanent mark although each student will take a different path this will never change with the graduation project complete and the gears shifting into careers and college we can see that our students are preparing more and more for what the future has to hold we proudly let them go knowing that their sense of accomplishment and pride in themselves will help carry them in each journey they may face.

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5 schwenksville elementary school celebrates winter third-grade students at schwenksville elementary school celebrated the traditions of winter through special learning activities during classroom rotations in mrs maxwell s class students used their writing skills and winter ideas to create alliterations alliteration is a phrase that uses the same sound at the beginning of each word they are often called tongue twisters the focus in mrs banaszynski s classroom was to practice skills for listening and following directions students used a glyph and followed oral and written directions to create a personalized snowman each symbol or shape on the snowman was placed according to specific directions in mrs o malley s class christmas celebrations around the world were discussed students read about the traditions in brazil canada germany india and nigeria within small groups the students then created a poster with facts and pictures about the country s celebrations once the posters were completed each group taught the rest of the class about the country and shared their poster in miss finley s class the third graders creatively applied their understanding of verbs and adverbs to write a paragraph describing a winter noun of their choice verbs were applied to tell what the noun would do and adverbs to describe how the action was done mira yang wrote i am a cup of hot chocolate i am warmly staying in the cold mug i fastly spin around and around but when i am sipped i slowly disappear to complete the activity the students illustrated and cut out a picture to match their paragraph students seemed to truly enjoy the activities during each rotation not only were they actively learning and applying many skills but the activities also fostered excitement and anticipation for the winter season elementary students use video conferencing technology elementary students in the district are connecting with students from other schools throughout the country and they re not even leaving the classroom teachers are taking advantage of available district technology and opportunities coordinated by elementary technology coordinator tara parr to interact and learn with others via video conferencing the technology allows groups of interactive learners in multiple locations to view hear and communicate with each other in real time skippack elementary school third-grade teacher mr beddis recently culminated a language arts unit focused on the book henry fickle and the secret laboratory by video conferencing with author michele mack and nine other elementary schools including evergreen elementary school as the class read the novel over several weeks they were challenged by the author with a series of four tasks in which the clues were located within the story when the author video conferenced with the schools she shared the idea of where her debut novel originated revealed her writing process and unveiled the answers to the four tasks students then had opportunities to ask the author questions in a round robin format amongst the schools mr beddis has also video conferenced with schwenksville elementary on language arts units another third grade teacher at skippack elementary school miss connelly has used video conferencing on several occasions with miss walsh at south elto identify the most figurative language uses they heard in the story within five minutes not to be outdone fourth-grade teacher miss mattes at skippack elementary school embarked last year on a statewide video conferencing quest called where in pennsylvania teams from across the state developed clues about their hometown which illustrated their local history recreation transportation environment and geographical placement within the state during the video conference her class presented the clues in skit and graphical format to five other schools across the state in addition teams of mattes students watched presentations of competing schools noting clues that would help them pinpoint exactly what school was being represented parent helpers then worked with the teams to research the clues given during a 30-minute quest students were permitted to ask a few yes/no eliminating questions and then conference in-house to make their final guesses the multi-hour project concluded with the big reveal of each school s location miss mattes class is scheduled to participate again this year ementary school students studied the figurative language aspects of personification and alliteration and then created posters illustrating examples of each the students at each school showed their posters to students at the other school using the video conferencing technology and then the classes attempted to identify each use the classes closed by reading the picture book pickles to pittsburgh both classes were then challenged

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6 character education at south elementary school students and staff at south elementary school continue to work on their yearlong themes students are diligently working to build strong character traits through classroom mini-lessons morning announcement reminders songs in music class and the recognition of their peers who get caught demonstrating the character skill of the month at the conclusion of each marking period the student body comes together to celebrate the character skills of the quarter during the assembly students share time with each other singing the songs they have learned in music learning about the upcoming character theme and recognizing publicly those students who have been honored for their acts of good character additionally each classroom teacher selects a good character of the month who is awarded a framed certificate students in grades 3 4 and 5 who earn straight a s on their report cards are also recognized at these assemblies monthly themes are displayed on the front bulletin board which also serves as a reference point for students and visitors to the school each week students who have earned a caught being a good character slip are pictured in front of this bulletin board and these pictures are displayed on the good character wall outside of the cafeteria the cafeteria has also become a focus during this theme with good manners being the emphasis classrooms that display good manners earn a token for each day they display good manners these tokens are also displayed outside of the cafeteria so that students can check the progress of their class against the others in the building a competition is brewing to see which classes can earn the most tokens and a chance at the monthly prize winners of the monthly manners matter contest can be found on the school website at the end of each month when not working directly with the students of south elementary school the faculty and staff have spent time this year learning about the social and emotional factors that support students in the classroom while students enjoyed a long martin luther king jr holiday weekend the staff worked with thom stecher a local expert in the area of social and emotional learning on the internal and external attributes that can pvsd strategic plan a draft of the district s strategic plan is now available for review we encourage you to review the draft and provide feedback before the board of school directors votes on the draft at its march meeting the draft is available in hard copy format at the perkiomen valley library at schwenksville in all six municipal buildings and in our seven school buildings the strategic plan draft is also available at www.pvsd.org to view the draft and feedback form please click on the link at the bottom of the homepage for strategic plan impact learning they considered how each of those attributes can be supported in the school setting and how they can help students more fully develop those attributes that are points of weakness mr stecher s research points to students who are able to make use of the highest number of attributes being the most successful both in the classroom and in life beyond the classroom the work that the staff did with mr stecher was part of a continuing local staff development initiative to more fully support all of the students at south elementary school as they aim to reach their own individual highest level of academic achievement the 2008-2009 school year is truly a year dedicated to knowing the whole child at south elementary school with a clear focus on what it takes to be a good citizen on the part of the students and the continued tireless work of the staff to find new approaches to student success we are looking forward to a spring semester filled with excitement and respect for each other and our differences help us go green in an attempt to be cost efficient and environmentally sound we are providing district residents with the opportunity to read the community communicator electronically instead of receiving a copy of the newsletter via mail in order to receive the community communicator via email go to the district website at www.pvsd.org and look for the link at the bottom of the home page you will be asked to complete a brief form each time a newsletter is available you will receive an email message with a link to the online newsletter please note that if you sign up for electronic delivery of the newsletter you will no longer receive a paper copy of the newsletter in the mail.

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7 pv student loan association this is one of a series of articles about former recipients of loans offered by the perkiomen valley student loan association when asked when she knew she wanted to be an elementary education teacher alexis marchuk did not hesitate to exclaim that it was while she herself was a student at north elementary school she wanted to be like some of her positive role models teachers such as mrs dugan mrs savitsky mrs st angelo and mr boyle so after being involved with soccer amnesty international and her required high school curriculum she graduated from perkiomen valley high school in 2003 and headed for montgomery county community college to begin her college career alexis went on to cabrini college where she earned her bachelor of science in elementary education while there she was the historian for the early childhood club gathering pictures and information for its members student teaching in the expansive north penn school district was quite different from her pv experience where her alma mater s size allowed for more personal interaction with students and teachers alike upon graduation she taught preschool and is currently a substitute teacher in pv spring-ford and souderton school districts hoping to soon have a contract and a classroom of her own alexis was extremely grateful to receive a loan from the perkiomen valley student loan association although she was a commuter and did not have housing expenses she did not realize how costly it would be for books alone alexis would advise students to begin to satisfy loans as soon as possible she was able to graduate on time and pay off her pvsla loan interest free before her government loan payments began pv seniors and graduates can obtain a loan application from the counseling center at the high school pvsla welcomes donations and support of fundraisers so that it can continue to provide students such as alexis with interest-free loans for more information or to download an application from the pv student loan association go to www.pvsd.org and look under parent links district participates in anti-bullying program the perkiomen valley school district has implemented the olweus bullying prevention program obpp at its high school and two middle schools the program is the most researched and best-known bullying prevention program available today developed by dr dan olweus of norway obpp has over 35 years of research behind it and has been implemented throughout the world we are implementing the olweus bullying prevention program as part of the strategic plan to improve the learning environment and make sure that all students are known by an adult said dr grace cisek assistant to the superintendent 612 research conducted reveals significant improvements in the social climate of the classroom as reflected in students reports of increased satisfaction with school life and school work improved order and discipline at school and more positive social relationships the ultimate goal is to improve learning for all students by making the school climate more conducive to learning to stop bullying it needs to be addressed at all levels of a student s experience unlike a curriculum that only addresses bullying at the classroom level and for a limited period of time obpp addresses bullying at the schoolwide classroom individual and community levels accordingly students receive a consistent reinforced message about bullying over an extended period of time and in a variety of settings because bullying has such wide-ranging effects obpp is designed for all students not just those who are bullied or those who bully others the goal of obpp is to change the norms around bullying behavior and to restructure the school setting itself so that bullying is less likely to occur or be rewarded a person is bullied when he or she is exposed repeatedly and over time to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons and he or she has difficulty defending himself or herself obpp is used at the school classroom and individual levels and includes methods for each to parents and the community for involvement and support the school staff is primarily responsible for introducing and implementing the program these methods are designed to improve peer relations and make the school a safer and more positive place for students to learn and develop the goals of obpp include reducing existing bullying problems among students preventing the development of new bullying problems and achieving better peer relations at school

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8 perkiomen valley school district 3 iron bridge drive collegeville pa 19426 board of directors lori snyder president randy bennett vice president gerry barnefiher lynn bigelow john king diane landes bonnie neiman capt sam schweigert david warren brian allebach nonmember secretary amy hurd non-member treasurer brian subers solicitor clifford l rogers ed.d superintendent non-profit org u.s postage paid collegeville pa permit #7 the community communicator is available to all residents of the perkiomen valley school district please send all comments and suggestions to michelle brown school community relations coordinator at 610 489-8506 or mbrown@pvsd.org the perkiomen valley school district is an equal opportunity education institution and will not discriminate on the basis of race color national origin sex or handicap in its activities programs or employment practices as required by title vi title ix and section 504 calendar of events february 2/19/09 symphony orchestra wind ensemble concert high school auditorium at 7:30 p.m 2/27/09 2/28/09 middle school east spring musical high school musical middle school east auditorium at 7:30 p.m march 3/2/09 school board work session high school media center at 7:30 p.m 3/9/09 school board business meeting high school media center at 7:30 p.m 3/12/09 3/14/09 spring musical into the woods middle school west auditorium at 7:30 p.m 3/13/09 in service day no school for students 3/16/09 pssa math and reading tests begin grades 3-8 and grade 11 3/16 to 3/27 april 4/2/09 high school spring musical pippin middle school east auditorium at 1 p.m free to senior citizens 4/3/09 4/4/09 high school spring musical pippin middle school east auditorium at 7:30 p.m 4/5/09 high school spring musical pippin middle school east auditorium at 2 p.m 4/6/09 school board work session high school media center at 7:30 p.m 4/9/09 4/13/09 spring holiday schools closed 4/13/09 school board business meeting high school media center at 7:30 p.m 4/24/09 high school prom 6 p.m to 11 p.m 4/27/09 pssa science tests begin grades 4 8 and 11 4/28/09 high school art show celebrate the arts auxiliary gym from 6 p.m to 9 p.m 4/28/09 high school band concert middle school east auditorium at 7:30 p.m 4/29/09 high school art show celebrate the arts auxiliary gym from 8 a.m to 1:45 p.m 4/29/09 middle school west orchestra concert middle school west auditorium at 7:30 p.m 4/30/09 middle school east band concert middle school east auditorium at 7:30 p.m.

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