Schools

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.

A one-time Vice Principal at Pennbrook Middle School sentenced to 30-to-60 months in prison for his actions with two boys between January of 2009 and August of 2010 will get a new sentencing hearing. 39-year-old Charles Hurst was convicted on charges of asking the boys about sex and texting them about sex. a superior court ruled that Hurst was eligible for a non-violent offender program, an incentive he was denied at the time of his sentence in 2011 his new sentence cold reduce his term to 22 1/2 months.

Taxpayers will have an opportunity to weigh-in with lawmakers and officials with the North Penn school District concerning the 2013 budget. Superintendent, Curt Dietrich will be on hand to discuss various topics about the budget, among them, transportation, charter and cyber schools, public school employees’ retirement system reform, special education, sequestration and a host of other issues. A community forum will held at the Penndale elementary school on April 11 at 7pm.