In The Q

Richland dominates QCSD's elementary school tournament

Richland Elementary School was the place to be Wednesday morning as its Math 24 team received a well-earned Champions Parade through the hallways with their peers holding up signs and cheering. One of the team members said to another, "Wow, this is amazing!" as they walked past the adoring kindergarteners.

For the fifth time in seven Math 24 Tournaments, Richland took home the Quakertown Community School District gold medal trophy Tuesday night. Richland dominated the final four round with the tournament’s top four finishers.

Richland’s Ryan Richwine won the individual championship, and his teammates followed right behind with Jailian Meer second, Quinn Mack third and Milo Toro fourth in the competition among fourth and fifth graders at Quakertown Community High School, where district families filled the upper gymnasium. In addition to the top four finalists, Richland had four additional team members reach the top 16: Luke Farnese, Andrew Mutu, David McBride, and Bowie Halvorsen.

Here's more about the Math 24 Tournament.

Congratulations to Quakertown Community High School sophomore Collin Gaj for being named Wrestler of the Year by The Intelligencer and Courier Times newspapers.

Collin completed the year with a perfect 49-0 record and 145-pound state championship.

Here's the Wrestler of the Year story.

Purchase QCHS wrestling merchandise.

5 QCHS musicians chosen for PMEA All-State Festival

Students from the QCHS Music Program have reached the highest level a high school musician can achieve by earning a place in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) All-State Festival music ensembles. The students earning this opportunity are Richard Strader (Euphonium, 1st chair - Concert Band), Dan Juszynski (Tuba, 1st chair - Concert Band), Zachary Polek (Bass 1, Chorus), Phillip Rotzell (Bass 2, Chorus) and Otani Ekpe (Bass 2, Chorus).

Frank Parker (QCHS Director of Bands) and Erin Camburn (QCHS Director of Choral Activities) are incredibly proud of their music students who participated in the PMEA Ensembles at all levels. “The PMEA festival experiences are vital to the growth of the individual students who earn that performance opportunity and are also key to the development of our classroom ensembles. When PMEA participants bring back what they have learned at the festivals, all of our students and performing groups benefit from their experience,” say the directors.

The student musicians who qualify will perform at the annual PMEA All-State Festival at the Kalahari Resort in The Poconos April 19-22. Nationally recognized conductors at the convention direct the groups who rehearse for two days and conclude with a performance.

SGC students win STEM Design Challenge

A team of students from the Sixth Grade Campus won the "Most Environmentally Friendly" award at the 2023 STEM Design Challenge at the Bucks County Intermediate Unit. Debbie Adebayo, Bode Bishop, Molly Felten, and Zwadi Mwangi - part of Kathryn Panny's math extension class - formed one of 65 teams in the middle school competition.

“That’s a pretty amazing accomplishment,” Sixth Grade Campus Assistant Principal Adam Smith said. “Our students showed great leadership.”

The students created a urine-powered "Hunger and Pollution Plane" that is eco-friendly and prevents pollution since it is a renewable resource and fossil fuels are not required. The plane flies around the world, delivering food to those who are in need.

Here's more on the STEM Design Challenge.

Meet Ozzie and Sammi

A new policy in the Quakertown Community School District allows for Therapy Dogs in schools.

QCSD’s Therapy Dogs will have handlers who, as described in the policy, are “trained, evaluated, and registered with the therapy dog to provide canine-assisted activities, canine-assisted therapy, and canine-assisted interactions within a school or other facility. A handler is responsible for the therapy dog's care, behavior, and suitability for interacting with students and others on school district property.”

So far, Quakertown Elementary's Eileen Bruchak’s Ozzie, a Bernedoodle, and Pfaff Elementary’s Lynne Benninghoff’s Sammi, an English Setter, are QCSD’s Therapy Dogs, certified by an organization recognized by the American Kennel Club.

Here's more on QCSD's Therapy Dogs.

Dr. Matthew Friedman to begin on July 1

The Quakertown Community School Board is pleased to announce Dr. Matthew Friedman as the new Superintendent to lead the District. Dr. Friedman will replace Dr. Bill Harner, who is retiring after nearly a decade of service.

Dr. Friedman, who signed a four-year contract that begins July 1, was hired after a four-month national search. The search included a community survey that received hundreds of responses, multiple interviews with the School Board along with stakeholder group interviews with parents, community leaders, principals, administrators, teachers, professional office staff, and support staff.

Here's more on the new Superintendent.

EdTech awards honors QCSD technology director

Joe Kuzo, Director of Technology for the Quakertown Community School District, has been named a finalist for The EdTech Awards 2023. Mr. Kuzo’s recognition came in the category of School Leader.

“The submission was focused on post-COVID technology and sustainability,” Mr. Kuzo said. “We are truly lucky in Quakertown to have been ahead of the technology curve for almost two decades thanks to support from our School Board and community. I'm proud to be considered amongst a worldwide group as a finalist for the award. I'm looking forward to continuing to push technology in the years to come.”

Celebrating its 13th year, the US-based program is the world’s largest recognition program for education technology, recognizing the biggest names in edtech.

Here's more on the EdTech awards.

Jayson Halteman: UBCTS Student of the Month

Jayson Halteman, a Diesel Technology student and Quakertown Community High School senior, has been named Student of the Month of March by the Upper Bucks County Technical School.

Jayson has worked at Matt’s Heavy Duty Truck Repair in Sellersville since January 2022 and began the cooperative education program with them in October 2022. He is a general truck mechanic who diagnoses and troubleshoots mechanical problems, including swapping engines and transmissions. His employer and mentor, Matt Caroluzzi, is happy to have Jayson as a valued employee.

Here's more about Jayson.

Students earn cash awards in Rotary Speech Contest

Quakertown Community High School students Alyssa Tampone and Madilyn Weiss each received cash prizes in the Rotary Four-Way Test Speech Competition, held at QCHS on March 23.

Alyssa, a senior, took first place in the event along with a check for $150. Madilyn, a freshman, finished second, good for $100.

“It’s so important that kids learn their words matter,” said Nicole Moreno, the high school’s public speaking teacher. “Today, we had people outside of the school saying we want to hear what you have to say.”

Here's more on the Rotary Speech Contest.

Spanish 3 classes at Quakertown Community High School enjoyed a fun learning opportunity as they worked on vocabulary for traveling on the highway and parts of a car as part of a Car Show.

Students were provided Hot Wheels cars or brought in their own car to display, and wrote a short paragraph describing their cars using the targeted vocabulary. They also created videos describing their vehicles, which they linked to QR codes that were displayed on their posters for the Car Show.

During March, QCSD celebrated Music In Our Schools Month. There were many awesome performances by students, including:

Special Elementary performances on the morning announcements.
Special morning announcements, including "Name That Tune" and fun music facts.
Jazz festivals, competitions at the middle and high school levels. Strayer Jazz band also did its "around the world tour" and performed at each elementary school.
Music March Madness competitions
Strayer Wind Symphony hosted a concert with special guests, North Penn Middle School Wind Ensemble on March 22
Second Grade Performances
QCSD Orchestra Showcase Concert

Enjoy the photo and videos, shared by Pfaff and Trumbauersville Band Director Lara Cifelli.

Adria Retter, 2019

Swarthmore senior Adria Retter is tops in the nation among Division III athletes throwing the discus.

Adria recently finished first in a field of 32 athletes with a mind-boggling mark of 49.22 meters, nearly 10 meters better than the second-place finisher at Widener University's Danny Curran Invitational.

Jordynn Cheatle, 2020

Jordynn Cheatle is a third-year Schreyer Scholar double majoring in comparative literature and global international studies.

Penn State recently posted a story about the Quakertown Community High School graduate titled "Schreyer Scholar learning to harness the power of conversation."

Here's the story about Jordynn.

State Rep. Staats speaks to students as part of Anna Neamand series

State Rep. Craig Staats, R-145, spoke with Quakertown Community High School students Friday about politics, leadership, and education. Mr. Staats, whose district includes the Quakertown, Palisades and Pennridge school districts, is a member of the House Education Committee and chairman of the Education Subcommittee on Career and Technical Education.

“As a society and as parents we tend to push kids to four-year degrees,” he said. “And those are great but they’re not the only option.” He said the trades and the military are options that should be considered.

The representative was brought to QCHS as part of the Quakertown Community Education Foundation’s (QCEF) speaker's series in honor of the respected social studies teacher Anna Neamand, a 1931 Quakertown graduate. The Anna Neamand Memorial Fund was established by QCEF in honor and recognition of Miss Neamand's 44 years of service as a social studies teacher in Quakertown. Because of Miss Neamand's abiding belief in the importance of social studies in the education of students, the fund provides students with unique opportunities related to contemporary social issues.

Here's more on the event.

Her message reinforces QCSD's PBIS program

Julie Henning of the Pearl S. Buck House recently spoke with students at Strayer Middle School and the Sixth Grade Campus - and later with parents - as part of the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) to reinforce expectations of being safe, responsible, respectful, and kind/courageous.

Ms. Henning was born in Korea in 1953, a child of an unwed Korean mother and an American

soldier. Growing up, she lived in poverty, and suffered discrimination due to her mixed race.

But then her life turned upside down when, as a young teen, she was adopted by the

Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning American writer Pearl S. Buck, and moved to the US.

She shared her personal story and how she dealt with prejudice in a motivational, encouraging, and engaging way to capture the attention of her audience.

QCHS seeks businesses for 1st career fair

Quakertown Community High School is inviting local businesses seeking both full- and part-time employees to participate in the school's first Career Fair, first for students and then for the general public.

The event is scheduled for Monday, May 15. The Career Fair for students is scheduled for noon to 2:15 p.m. The general public will follow from 3:15 to 5:15 p.m.

“The focal point is getting job opportunities for all of our students,” said Pathways Administrator Jason Magditch. “Plus, it’s a good opportunity for us to give back to our community and help local businesses and residents of Quakertown.”

The event is a resume-building experience for students, who will need to have one to attend the job fair. “They’ll learn the importance of making a good first impression,” Mr. Magditch said.

For more information, please contact George Banas (gbanas@qcsd.org) or Rachelle Quinter (rquinter@qcsd.org).

AP boot camp returns August 15-17

Quakertown Community High School is again offering the highly popular AP Boot Camp for incoming ninth-graders who plan to take AP Human Geography.

The three-day session, scheduled for August 15-17 from 9 AM to noon at QCHS, will strengthen their academic foundations and refine their advanced learning skills. The focus is on team building, time management, AP-level reading, and note-taking skills. By performing the work to pass this college-level course, students learn the habits necessary to succeed in high school. Students will have time to ask questions and work on their Summer Assignments. In addition, students who have previously taken the course will also be attending to discuss their experiences in the class.

The Boot Camp will be taught by Sean Burke (sburke@qcsd.org) and Kevin Laboski (klaboski@qcsd.org). Here is the RSVP link.

QCSD Special Education Plan 2023-2026

Each school district in Pennsylvania is required to develop a Special Education plan aligned with its strategic plan. The plan reflects ongoing programs and services and incorporates anticipated changes in programming as a result of corrective action generated by cyclical monitoring and improvement planning and other factors.

Here is QCSD’s Special Education plan for 2023-26.

IEP Facilitated Professional Development Series, May 10, 1-4 PM

This half-day virtual workshop will prepare IEP team stakeholders and parents for full and valuable participation in a facilitated IEP meeting. Participants will leave with a clear understanding of their role in the meeting as well as how to prepare for active participation, ensuring the meeting process stays focused on the needs of the student. Participants strengthen their understanding of the power of a collaborative, non-adversarial, and compliant IEP meeting process. Additionally, participants will build skills to broker more effective and efficient communication among all team members.

Click here to register for this virtual workshop.

The Zoom meeting information will be sent prior to the start of the event.

The Science of Helping Your Child Manage Anxiety and School Avoidance

This event is scheduled for 6-8 PM on April 17

Is your child anxious about attending school or sometimes refuses to attend? Is your child anxious when confronting a developmentally appropriate challenge? Does your child have difficulty managing their fears and worries? Do you find yourself worrying about these things, too, and wonder how you can best help your child?

Dr. Katherine K. Dahlsgaard, a licensed psychologist, will share scientifically-based strategies to help better understand and manage your child’s anxiety and manage any school refusal As a board-certified clinical psychologist with expertise in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for child anxiety disorders, Dr. Dahlsgaard will describe what is normal versus problematic anxiety and detail effective parenting strategies that will help you and your child to connect and thrive.

Please click here to join the webinar: Passcode: 025598

Administrators in the Quakertown Community School District had a rare opportunity to present its best practices of using data to drive instruction at the recent University of Pennsylvania Center For School Study Council, a professional learning community of school superintendents in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The presentation included sharing how QCSD uses LinkIt at each building level.

In the photo are Superintendent Dr. Bill Harner, speaking, and seated, left to right, are LinkIt CEO and President Ryan Winter, Quakertown Elementary School Principal Dr. Greg Lesher, Supervisor of Elementary Programs Kelly Cramer, middle school Principal Dr. Jennifer Bubser, Supervisor of Middle Level Programs Dr. Erin Oleksa-Carter, high school Principal Mattias van 't Hoenderdaal, and Supervisor of Secondary Programs Dr. Michael Zackon.