Schools

Three state lawmakers were in the hot seat Thursday night as the North Penn School District held a community forum about the challenges it faces putting together a budget for the next school year.   State Representatives Matt Bradford, Todd Stephens and and Kate Harper were on hand as administrators laid out in detail the impact property tax assessment appeals, slow growth in earned income tax revenues and other baggage from the recession has had on finances.    The escalating cost of funding the state pension system was also a hot topic.   The district streamed the community forum live on its web site and viewers at home were able to submit questions for the three state lawmakers.

The North Penn School Board later this month will formally vote to apply for another million dollar Keystone to Opportunities grant.   The idea behind the federal program is to promote student literacy at all levels.   This is a competitive five year grant only available in six states that the district must qualify for annually.   The money is used at the high school level to help students struggling with reading while children in pre-school are introduced to the district kindergarten experience through a virtual classroom.   District officials say reading assessment data for the first year of the program looks promising so far.

It’s a Big Weekend For Some Students in Quakertown. Strayer Middle School students are headed out to take their music road bound. Cynthia Teprovich is the Director and founder of Messa di Voce, the Acapella choir at Strayer Middle School. Teprovich says the students will perform in Hartford, Connecticut on Saturday. “This year, Messa di Voce was selected through blind c-d auditions to perform for the National Association for Music Education at their Eastern Division Conference. It’s an honor. We were the only middle school selected to perform this year.” Teprovich adds, the students have connected with excellence. Messa di Voce has 26 members, but the total amount in the choir is 250. Under Terpovich’s direction, the students have learned correct pitch, rhythm and the ability to sight read.

The Souderton Area School District will soon have a job opening for a position that offers some power and pressure. Fred Johnson, who held the position of Superintendent in the Souderton Area School District recently announced that he’s leaving. Johnson says, when he looks back on his three years, he hopes he brought a level of kindness to some tough times with budgets during the recession. “No matter where you would have gone, across the country as a school district leader you would have those challenges. So, the ability to move and keep the educational program moving forward so the students aren’t hurt by any of the cuts or the things that you’ve had to do. I think that when I look back that’s what I’m going to think about the most, that we were able to continue the educational programs in a most difficult time to be a school leader.” Johnson says, the people of the Souderton Area School District made his job a joy, including his staff, teachers, and the students, who he referred to as “exceptional students, just a great student body…really good kids.” Johnson’s last day is July 7th. His new job will take to him to Edinboro, Pennsylvania, as Executive Director of Intermediate Unit-5, which is a liaison between school districts, the state and federal government in planning out educational objectives.