The Abington School Board appointed Mr. Daniel File to be principal of Overlook Elementary School and Ms. Julianne Peterson to replace him as assistant principal of Abington Junior High School at its meeting last night.  Mr. File replaces Principal Mrs. Carla Greene, who Is retiring this year.

According to Superintendent Dr. Amy Sichel, Mr. File brings a wealth of experience and will support Overlook to continue in the positive direction set by Principal Greene and the Overlook staff.   Mr. File has been assistant principal of Abington Junior High School since July, 2013.  He had been a middle school assistant principal in the Central Bucks School District, an assistant principal at Pennsbury High School, and prior to that, an English teacher for nine years at William Penn Middle School and at LaSalle College High School.  He earned his BA in Secondary Education and English at LaSalle University and his MS in Education and Educational Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania.

Ms. Petersen, according to Dr. Sichel, has been a long-time skilled and dedicated educator at the Junior High School.  She has been the Supervisor of Social Studies in the district since July, 2013, had been the Social Studies Department Chair at the Junior High School for 11 years, a Social Studies teacher for 12 years, and has been very active in many school district committees.  Ms. Petersen earned her BS in Education and Secondary Social Studies at West Chester University and her MEd in Educational Leadership at Arcadia University.

Ms. Kelly Lambert, Assistant Director of Special Education, reported at the School Board meeting this week on the new A.C.T.I.V.E. Academy, an educational program for Abington’s young adults aged 18-21 years old at the high school with special needs.  The Academy stands for “Accessing Community, Travel, Independent Living, and Vocational Education.”

Currently there are nine students in the program; projections for next year include 20 or more students.  The Academy is designed to provide students with assessments, vocational training, and life and work experiences to develop skills that are necessary for adult life.  Experiences are gained in the classroom as well as with organizations in the Abington and Rockledge communities.  The Academy provides opportunities to learn new skills as well as the application of skills learned in the high school classrooms.  The experiences in the community – which include cooking, travel and transportation, and work rotations – provide excellent opportunities for students to learn transferable employment skills while gaining confidence and developing strong self-concept as successful, responsible workers.  Current worksites include:  the Abington YMCA; Abington/Jefferson Hospital; Chartwells Food Service; the Registrar’s Office at the High School; and the Pupil Services Department.

Ms. Lambert reported that Dr. David Bergman oversees and supports the program; Ms. Kathleen Rafter and Ms. Caroline Gimbel are the creative, fantastic teachers, and paraprofessionals Ms. Karen Whittaker, Ms. Robin Bowman, and Ms. Elaine Rose are the “job coaches.”

A.C.T.I.V.E. Academy students shown here – Avery Shaw, Francis Nguyen, and Kaitlyn Carney – did a terrific job of working the Coffee Cart and introducing themselves at the meeting.  Ms. Lambert presented a wonderful video that illustrated the program and the work in the community performed by A.C.T.I.V.E. Academy students.  The video can be viewed on our website and with the materials for the April 19, 2016 School Board meeting.

Click below to watch the A.C.T.I.V.E. Academy video.

Congratulations to the Abington Senior High School students who participated in the 2016 Greenfield Youth Film Festival.  This festival is the largest and most competitive  in the Philadelphia/Montgomery/Bucks county area, with over 20 schools submitting about 200 films that are judged by industry professionals.  Abington students did extremely well at this prestigious competition.  The following students received awards at the film screening and awards presentation this week.

• Joseph DeStefano won the Best Editing category for his film “Cleanse Me”

• Owen Byrnes won the Best Comedy category for his film “VRA6000”

• Ilya Rake placed second in the Best Narrative category for his film “Time and Again,” which Owen Byrnes co-produced

• Morgan Allen and Joseph DeStefano were awarded an Official Selection (finalist) in the Best Narrative category for their film “Fate”; they also were recognized in the categories of Best Actor, Best Production Design, and Best Screenplay.

• Leah Simmons was awarded an Official Selection (finalist) in the Best Comedy category for her film “Truth, Knowledge and Certainty.”

The Greenfield Youth Film Festival is a forum for young filmmakers from the metropolitan Philadelphia region to collaborate, create and showcase their work while expressing their creativity through film. It includes a full day academic workshop taught by university professors, high school teachers, and professionals in the film industry to provide the students with skills and relevant film-based education in a hands-on environment. The year culminates with the academy-style awards night when students are highlighted and recognized publically for their expression and effort and given prizes in the form of cash, trophies (known as “Greenies”), experiences, and other film-related gifts.

Shown here are the Abington winners, participants, with faculty advisor Mr. Bryan Quigley.

Copper Beech Elementary School recognizes Earth Day by designing grocery bags that are used at local O’Neill’s Food Market with earth-friendly messages and tips to help the planet. Students in grades K-6 participate in this favorite community project to show how much they care about our environment.

In conjunction with the Holocaust Awareness Museum and Education Center (HAMEC), the Pennsylvania Department of Education, and Deanne Comer –  former Abington School District teacher and developer of an internationally recognized Holocaust Curriculum and awareness/educational programs – Abington School District presented a comprehensive professional development program on Holocaust Education that included the subjects of genocide and human rights violations.  Participating in this program were Abington School District librarians and the English, Reading and Social Studies teachers from the junior high and the senior high schools.

The program agenda included:

Welcome: Ms. Julianne Petersen, Supervisor of Social Studies

Act 70 Guidelines: Ms. Sally Flaherty, PA Department of Education

Overview of Abington’s Elementary Holocaust Curriculum: Ms. Deanne Comer

Historical Perspective: 

Mr. Geoffrey Quinn, HAMEC Education Director and Ms. Deanne Comer

• Why Teach the Holocaust?
• Key Holocaust Vocabulary
• Factors that Contributed to a Climate that Permitted a Holocaust
• Guidelines for Teaching the Holocaust

Lost Childhoods:

• Introduction:     Ms. Deanne Comer
• Return to My Roots:     Child Survivor – Ms. Ruth Kapp Hartz
• Using Survivor Testimony in the Classroom:    Mr. Geoffrey Quinn

Ms. Sally Flaherty, from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, reviewed guiding principles developed by an Advisory Council comprised of an impressive list of experts and organizations.  She reviewed Act 70 and provided guidelines and resources useful in developing the content of a local curriculum.

Ms. Deanne Comer reviewed how Abington became a leader in Holocaust education beginning in 1985/1986 with the creation of the Abington School District Holocaust Curriculum Committee.  She stated that Abington was a “trailblazer” in Holocaust education and she presented a range of methodological considerations in teaching the Holocaust.

Mr. Geoffrey Quinn presented an historical perspective, including mention of the many areas of the world in past and recent history where genocide and human rights violations have occurred.

Ms. Ruth Hartz recounted her experiences as a “hidden child” survivor in Nazi-occupied France.  A graduate of the Sorbonne and later a French teacher in the U.S., she and her family had to travel from location to location to hide from being taken to detention camps.  She has been the subject of a book on her experiences and she related marvelous stories about survival and the people who helped hide children and families.

Mr. Quinn wrapped up the program by providing information about utilizing survivor testimony and stories in the classroom.

Staff members received information packets that included the factors and setting that contributed to the climate that permitted a Holocaust; methodological teaching considerations for the classroom; facts about the Holocaust that are often asked by students; and forms to request classroom programs from the Holocaust Awareness Museum and Education Center. This program is part of ongoing activities in Abington School District to enhance existing instruction related to the Holocaust, genocide, and human rights violations.

The mission of the Holocaust Awareness Museum and Education Center is to educate Delaware Valley students and adults, personalizing the Holocaust so that they learn the consequences of racism, ethnic cleansing, and intolerance. 

Her book, The One and Only Ivan, won the prestigious Newbery Medal in 2013. Inspired by a real gorilla, the novel tells the story of Ivan, a silverback who spent 27 years in captivity at a shopping mall. McKinley students and staff read The One and Only Ivan throughout March and April as part of the school’s “One Book, One McKinley” program. During this time, students also read and learned more about Katherine Applegate’s other books; researched gorillas in the wild; participated in a fundraiser to support gorilla conservation; and created art, poetry, and more in celebration of the book and its characters. During her visit, Ms. Applegate spoke with students in grades K-6 about the real Ivan, gorillas and their lives in the wild, what it’s like to be a writer, winning the Newbery Medal, and her other writing projects. It was an amazing, special experience for McKinley readers!

Photos show:

McKinley students raised enough money to adopt four gorillas in Africa, including a silverback! …  Sixth graders decorate a welcome banner with artwork and messages for the author … Second grade APEX students researched gorillas in the wild …  Katherine Applegate shares stories about the real Ivan with students in first grade … Author Katherine Applegate signed many books for McKinley readers! … Author and Newbery Medalist Katherine Applegate … Katherine Applegate answers questions from students in fourth grade … Katherine Applegate compares herself to a life-sized gorilla, courtesy of our interactive bulletin board … Katherine Applegate with McKinley’s librarian, Lauren Strohecker.

US News and World Report named Abington Senior High School one of “Americans Best High Schools,” winning another Silver Medal Award.

US News & World Report utilized data from 28,561 high schools nationwide and 676 high schools in Pennsylvania. Abington Senior High School ranked Number 1624 out of high schools nationwide, which is in the top 5.58% of high schools in the country, and ranked Number 48 of the high schools in Pennsylvania.

At the School Board meeting this week, Director of Curriculum Dr. Ann Bacon and Abington Senior High School Principal Mr. Angelo Berrios reviewed the methodology that resulted in the award.

RTI International, an independent, nonprofit institute that provides research, development, and technical services to government and commercial organizations worldwide, used a four step process to analyze the high schools under consideration:

Step 1 – School achievement data on state-administered reading and mathematics tests was analyzed and schools could meet the established criteria in one of two ways:

1. Score in top 10% of the state’s performance index distribution

2. When free/reduced lunch data, a measure of poverty, is used as a predictor of performance, score at or above one-third of a standard deviation above the predicted Performance Index.

Step 2 – Determine whether the school’s disadvantaged students (black, Hispanic, and low-income) were outperforming disadvantaged students in the state.

Step 3 – Schools with a graduation rate of at least 68% were permitted to proceed to Step 4.

Step 4 – College-Readiness Performance Indicator of at least 20.17 based on participation and on number of students earning a score of at least 3 on one Advanced Placement test or a score of 4 on one International Baccalaureate test.  Abington Senior High School’s College-Readiness score was 33.

Abington Senior High School’s US News & World Report profile can be viewed at:
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/pennsylvania/districts/abington-sd/abington-high-school-16766?district_id=102097

The presentation on the selection process methodology can be viewed at:
http://www.boarddocs.com/pa/abington/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=A99NN9582B1F

Highland Elementary School hosted a Multicultural Festival last week where faculty, students, and families celebrated various cultures represented in the school with a diversity fair, multicultural potluck, a Spanish language workshop, and exciting performances. Various cultures were represented through interactive exhibits, food samples, festive attire, traditional games and music, and live performances.     

Students explored multicultural exhibits and received a stamp on their “passport” for each country they visited. After participants completed their “passport,” they were invited to attend a Multicultural Potluck where they could try a variety of dishes representing different cultures and heritages at Highland.  Live performances provided entertainment for students and their families.

Copper Beech Elementary School had a fantastic Field Day last week. Students participated in field events, practiced teamwork and sportsmanship, and had tons of fun! As they say at Copper Beech – “Go Green and Gold!”

Children’s author, Cynthia Lord, visited Copper Beech Elementary School last week and spoke to 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students. Ms. Lord received the 2007 Newberry Honor Book and Schneider Family Book Awards. At Copper Beech, she described the things that helped her to become an author – Read, Write, Learn, and Dream. She also reviewed for the students the writing process that includes thinking story ideas, rules for a first draft, using sensory details, revision, and more. In preparation for her visit, Copper Beech students read some of her books such as Shelter Pet Squad, A Handful of Stars, and Rules. Thank you to the Copper Beech PTA for sponsoring Ms. Lord’s visit!

Congressman Brendan Boyle announced at a special local award recognition reception that Christopher Cho, a junior at Abington Senior High School, won the First Place Award in the 2016 Congressional Art Competition in Congressman Boyle’s district. The US Congressional Institute of Art promotes the arts and, since 1982, has invited high school students to submit artwork for the competition. In Congressman Boyle’s district, over 20 student entries were submitted. As the First Place Winner, Chris’ artwork will be displayed in the US Capitol Building over the next year and Chris will be invited to a special reception in Washington DC that will honor the winners from all the congressional districts. In addition, as the First Place Winner, Chris has received a full University of Pennsylvania School of Design scholarship for a four-week intensive studio art program at the Art at Penn summer program. Judges for Congressman Boyle’s 13^th District competition included art professors from colleges such as Penn State Abington, Arcadia University, as well as art professionals. Chris is a student of Abington Senior High School art teacher Nicole Caracciolo; this is the second year in a row that a student of Ms. Caracciolo has won First Place in the Congressional art program.

During the day of the Reading Night Roslyn teachers and students enjoyed dressing as their favorite book characters or creatively represented book styles and expressions.  Many families came out for the evening event to celebrate reading. Some fun activities that families enjoyed were listening to stories read aloud by teachers, collaboratively writing stories that they turned into songs, creating bookmarks, participating in reading games, and shopping at the Scholastic Book Fair. The night proved to be a fantastic way to inspire summer reading!

Last night at the School Board meeting Dr. Kelly Doyle, Supervisor of Communications Arts, presented the Abington Silver Pen Awards to outstanding student writers at Abington elementary schools. Each sixth grade teacher nominates a narrative writing selection from a boy and a girl and then a building committee from each school scores the entries. The highest scoring papers are selected as the winners. Ms. Marie Reynolds, Reading Teacher at Overlook Elementary School, helped organize the awards. The students received their engraved “Silver Pen” awards from Board President Mr. Raymond McGarry and were honored by the School Board. Students will meet for a Writers’ Guild session to share their essays in June. This year’s winners are: Sofia DiBello and Will Pickering, McKinley Elementary School; Jared Bowes and Mirical Brooks, Overlook Elementary School; Tyler Majewski and Fatmah Elsayed, Willow Hill Elementary School; Madison Hughes and Ben Markham, Highland Elementary School; Pablo Cairns and Talitha Cheng, Rydal Elementary School; Emma Ambrose and Owen David, Roslyn Elementary School; and Sagan Brinkert, Erika Forsstrom, Aidan Keller, and Finnegan McClellan, Copper Beech Elementary School. Dr. Doyle congratulated the parents and families and the students’ teachers. The program is funded, as it has been since its origin, by a generous grant from the Abington Educational Foundation.

On May 24th, students participated in McKinley Elementary School’s annual Field Day – but with a twist! This year, all of the events were inspired by the book The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, who visited McKinley earlier in the month.

Following the success of McKinley’s school-wide read-aloud of The One and Only Ivan and author Katherine Applegate’s visit, health and physical education teacher Megan Olinger worked in collaboration with librarian Lauren Strohecker to coordinate, plan, and host a literature-themed Field Day. In connection with the school’s “One Book, One McKinley” initiative, all of this year’s field day events were inspired by the book The One and Only Ivan, incorporating reading into one of McKinley’s most popular events. In this way, students practiced teamwork, sportsmanship, and athletics, all while celebrating reading and bringing some of the most memorable moments of Ivan’s story to life. It was a lively and fun-filled day for all!

Last weekend Akayla Olibrice-Jones, a third grade student at Willow Hill Elementary School, was awarded a plaque for “Most Improved Reader” by third-grade Willow Hill  teacher Mrs. Shalon Doctor at a pre-game ceremony at Citizen’s Bank Park. The ceremony was part of the “Be a Phanatic about Reading Program” hosted by the Philadelphia Phillies team. The Phillies encouraged students at Willow Hill to read or be read to at least 15 minutes per day for the entire school year. Students kept track of their reading and are hoping for a visit from the Phillies Phanatic as well!  Mrs. Doctor nominated Akayla for “Most Improved Reader” based on her growth in reading this year, as well as from when she was in first grade, when Mrs. Doctor was also her teacher. Akayla is now even more enthusiastic about reading and enjoys reading to younger students. Ten students from across the Philadelphia region were chosen as winners and appeared on the field with Akayla,  As the award winner, Akayla and her family were invited to attend the ceremony and the game against the Atlanta Braves!

Photos show:   Akayla holding her plaque in the Phillies press room;  Akayla and other student award recipients on the field prior to the award ceremony and game: student award recipients with their teachers; and Akayla and Mrs. Doctor in the Phillies press room.

For the first time in eight years Abington Senior High School hosted a Special Olympic Track & Field Team. Fourteen students along with several general education peer mentors attended year-long mandatory practices, increased times and distances, and learned the value of hard work.

On Monday, May 23, 2016, these athletes competed at the first Lower Montgomery County Special Olympics Track and Field event held at Hatboro-Horsham High School. The athletes earned an overall 11-1st place, 11-2nd place, 9-3rd place, and 4-4th place.

Each student participated with enthusiasm, effort, and a high level of sportsmanship.

Go Ghosts!

McKinley Elementary School recently created an after-school program that functioned over the past six weeks designed to incorporate S.T.E.A.M. based clubs for students in grades kindergarten through third grade. By participating in these clubs, students were able to be involved in activities and learning experiences that focused on science, technology, engineering, the arts & athletics, and mathematics. Students were given the opportunity to participate in Gardening, Computer Club, LEGO Club, Arts and Crafts, Tumbling, Cheerleading, and an Engineering-based club called “The Challenger Club.”

This six week program was funded by a generous PTO grant and through an Abington Educational Foundation (AEF) mini-grant. Miss Barbara Greco and parent volunteers organized the curriculum for each club and students were highly engaged throughout the program.

Photo Descriptions: Students using laptop computers for coding programs; students using Ozobots funded by the AEF mini-grant; Challengers engineering the tallest tower with a helpful grandfather; LEGO club participants build with the help from sixth grader, Bridget Hogan;  Cheerleaders perform cheers after receiving help from Abington Varsity Cheerleaders and parents.

Roslyn Elementary School fifth-grade students truly came to life with the school’s “Wax Museum.”  Parents, faculty, and other students were able to “bring the wax figures to life” by pushing a special “start” button.  Right before everyone’s eyes, Roslyn students were transformed into famous Americans from the past, sharing interesting and important information about each person.  The well-informed student actors spoke confidently and clearly to share highlights of the life of each historical figure.  It was a very proud, instructive, and fun day for all!

Sign presentation at Highland Elementary School by the Audubon Society.

Highland Elementary School has worked diligently over the past two years to establish an “Audubon Bird Habitat.” Students from various grade levels have worked to clean out invasive plants and weeds and put in native plants and feeders to attract birds and butterflies. This was a group effort including parents, teachers, students from senior give back day, and volunteers from local organizations such as the Shade Tree Commission.

On Friday, June 3, 2016, Dr. Leigh Altadonna (former Abington School District Assistant Superintendent) from the Wyncote Audubon Society Chapter and Mr. Steve Saffier of Audubon PA provided an official sign from Audubon recognizing the work of Highland’s Audubon Adventure/ Garden Clubs.

A special thanks goes out to the Wyncote Audubon Society for all the support it provided, from materials to volunteers who come with their expertise.