Renovations on time, on budget

Neshaminy's Back to School profile.

Renovations on time, on budget
This year, administrators said they’re working on implementing a writing program for all grade levels.
By RACHEL CANELLI

A brand new two-story classroom wing will be opening at Neshaminy High School to begin the school year. The building includes new desks and flat screen televisions. Crews will continue to work on another new two-story wing for science, which should be equipped with new labs and updated tools by the spring, officials said.

The Middletown school is more than halfway through a major construction and renovation project, which is adding more than 250,000 square feet to accommodate 2,800 students, including ninth- graders who will move there from the middle schools next year, administrators said.

The whole $82 million project, which remains on time and on budget, is expected to be finished in September 2009. The district borrowed $77 million to fund it, officials said.

Elsewhere in the district, officials said they’re implementing a literacy framework for kindergartners through first-graders this year, and including a writing program in all grades, according to spokeswoman Sandra Costanzo.

Meanwhile, Neshaminy Middle School, which recently closed, received the Bronze Level National Recognition Award from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation for its health initiatives. The Middletown building was one of 43 schools in the country and the only school in the state to receive the recognition. Former President Bill Clinton and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation presented the honor to the school’s former principal, Karen Wychock, administrators said.

The Neshaminy School District serves more than 9,000 students in 13 schools throughout Middletown, Langhorne, Langhorne Manor, Penndel, Hulmeville and Lower Southampton. The district employs more than 1,500 people and has adopted a $190 million annual budget, officials said. For information, visit www.neshaminy.k12.pa.us.

WHO’S WHO IN THE SCHOOLS
Superintendent:
Paul J. Kadri, 215-809-6500
Assistant Superintendent:
Louis T. Muenker, 215-809-6606
Director of elementary education:
Jacqueline Rattigan, 215-809-6510
Director of secondary education:
Geeta A. Heble, 215-809-6510

Principals:
Tawanka Learning Center: Joann Holland, 215-809-6240
Neshaminy High: Alex Menio, 215-809-6100
Maple Point Middle: Mark Collins, 215-809-6230
Poquessing Middle: Ronald Sayre, 215-809-6210
Carl Sandburg Middle: Dawn Kelly, 215-809-6220
Pearl Buck Elementary: Paul Mahoney, 215-809-6300
Samuel Everitt Elementary: Andre Modica, 215-809-6320
Joseph Ferderbar Elementary: Judy Brown, 215-809-6370
Oliver Heckman Elementary: Brian Kern, 215-809-6330
Herbert Hoover Elementary: Karen Wychock, 215-809-6340
Lower Southampton Elementary: Matthew Walsh, 215-809-6350
Walter Miller Elementary: Joan Chak, 215-809-6360
Albert Schweitzer Elementary: Stephanie Miguelez, 215-809-6380

School board:
Joseph Blasch, Kim Koutsouradis, Irene Boyle, Susan Cummings, Richard Eccles, Frank Koziol, William Spitz, Ritchie Webb and William O’Connor. The board meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 7 p.m., except in July and August. The board does not normally meet in July. It meets on the fourth Tuesday in August. Work sessions are held in the administrative boardroom of the Maple Point Middle School in Middletown. To reach the school board, visit www.neshaminy.k12.pa.us and follow the links.

2008-09 SCHOOL CALENDAR
Sept. 3, first day for students Sept. 30, Rosh Hashana, no school Oct. 1, Rosh Hashana, no school Oct. 9, Yom Kippur, no school Nov. 4, Election Day, no school Nov. 11, Veterans Day, district closed Nov. 26-28, Thanksgiving holiday Dec. 24-31 Christmas recess Jan 1-2, Christmas recess Jan. 19, Martin Luther King Jr. Day Feb. 16, Presidents Day Feb. 25, no school Apr. 6-10 Spring recess May 19, Election Day, no school May 25, Memorial Day June 11, graduation June 19, last day for students

FAST FACTS ABOUT NESHAMINY
2007 Average SAT Scores: Verbal — 499
Math — 511
Writing — 490
Average teacher salary: $81,480
AP courses: 12
Student/teacher ratio: high school, 14 to 1; middle, 12 to 1; elementary, 14 to 1
Cost per student: $15,680
2008 Adequate Yearly Progress status: did not meet AYP goal

Partnerships with businesses:
more than 500 community partners
Information provided by the Neshaminy School District