Dear Community ,

As I write this letter, we are just one week away from the beginning of a new school year. I hope everyone has had an enjoyable summer and has had a chance to spend time with family and friends to make some great memories.

Although we had a reduced meeting schedule for the summer, the NPSB of Directors  has still been busy. Some of the highlights are as follows:

At our Facilities & Operations Committee, we continue to update our lengthy Capital Project plan. We are wrapping up the renovation of Knapp Elementary School, a project which I am happy to report that despite the pandemic supply chain issues, has remained on schedule and on budget. The landscaping work still needs to be completed as well as some punch list items, but we’re looking forward to everyone having an opportunity to see the upgraded facility. 

Our Safe Schools Committee has been working on several projects, including a comprehensive safety & security program assessment with our School Safety Consultants, Margolis Healy. Margolis Healy is a nationally recognized school safety and security firm that we engaged in January to evaluate our existing safety, security and emergency preparedness practices at NPSD. I am happy to report that while there is always more work to be done and ways to improve, that NPSD did very well.  In addition, our Coordinator of Emergency Management & Safe Schools, Mr. Chris Doerr presented his annual report to the committee. Both of these can be found here: NorthPennDistrict-PSMS-EXEC SUMM.pdf (sharpschool.com)    Public Report 2022 - Act 44 (sharpschool.com) and I encourage everyone to take some time to read through them. 

Our Education/Curriculum/Instruction Committee had a presentation on the Homework Administration Regulation Review. This committee included 15 administrative team members. They conducted ten meetings to recognize the impact of student workload on their mental health and to assess the effectiveness of homework on student learning.  They presented their recommendations for revising the regulation to develop a clearer and more concise expectation of homework and they will continue to monitor and adjust as necessary. ECI Homework Review 6-14-22.pdf (boarddocs.com)

The start of the school year is always a hectic time with everyone getting  back into the swing of things, so I’d like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that all of our Board and Committee meetings are held virtually and are videotaped for later viewing. We encourage and welcome all those who wish to participate in these meetings. Our meeting schedule is posted on www.npenn.org.

On behalf of the board, I would like to give a huge shout out to two groups for the work they’ve done over the summer months: the School Nutrition Services (SNS) department and the NPSD Custodial staff.  SNS once again supported our community this summer with their free Meal Bundles. Too often school is the place where a child will receive their only meals of the day, so summer time can be a difficult time for these children. Our SNS Department recognizes this and has done a fantastic job, particularly over the last several years with the pandemic, making sure kids do not go hungry. 

(Please note: the federal USDA free lunch program has ended, so lunches will no longer be free for all students.  There is still the free and reduced lunch program for our qualifying students. Additionally, breakfast meals will continue to be free for all students for the 2022-2023 school year.

To apply for the free & reduced meals, click here: School Meal Application - North Penn School District (npenn.org))

As for the custodial staff, I would like to thank them for all the cleaning, painting, repairing, and setting up of our schools – it is truly a herculean job every year to get our facilities ready for the upcoming school year, and we appreciate all their hard work!

Finally, while I am always optimistic at the beginning of a new year, I want to also be realistic about the fact that COVID is still a factor for us.  We have an updated Health & Safety plan 2022-23 Health and Safety Plan 8-18-22.pdf (sharpschool.com).  There may come a time, especially during the winter months, when cases tick up again, that we may experience staffing shortages or some of the other issues that we’ve had to deal with over the last two years. I ask that we please all remember to show each other some patience,  grace and support, if that does occur. 

In the meantime, on behalf of the NPSB of Directors, I wish everyone a nice last week of summer break and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Sincerely,