• Leader of the Pack - Meet Brad Bentman, Director of Pupil Services
• New Faces in New Places - Get to Know Our Team
• Listening Sessions: Feedback from Families is Heard and Appreciated
• A Heart Full of Memories - North Coventry Paraprofessional Retires After More Than 30 Years
  
• Upcoming Events

Brad Bentman has been serving children, staff, and families in Pennsylvania public schools since 2000. During his 23-year career, Brad has fashioned his drive for school community success based on what is best for students. Through each child’s learning path, he strives to push for maximum growth each year, so students compounded learning goals prepare them for the next stage of their schooling. Brad believes that schools are not separate entities, but a piece to a larger community and he takes pride in investigating the educational, social, and emotional well-being of each child.

Brad attended West Chester University where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Education and later earned his MSED from Temple University. In addition to his experience as a teacher, Brad has served as a dean, assistant principal and principal, prior to be named Director of Pupil Services.Brad is currently a doctoral student at Immaculata University, and is enjoying the journey. He resides in Limerick, Pennsylvania with his wife Tanya and his three teenage daughters.

District Office

Mr. Brad Bentman - Director of Pupil Services

High School
Megan Harpold - Special Education

Margaret Duffy - Special Education

Emily Shick - Special Education

Emily Gerhart - Special Education
Dan Walsh - Board Certified Behavior Analyst

Victoria Iwanowski - Licensed Mental Health Counselor

Silvan Civetta - Licensed Mental Health Counselor

Middle School

Victoria Fuentes - Special Education

North Coventry

Axel Lopez-Domena - Special Education

Jessie Cates - Special Education

Samantha Curran - Special Education

West Vincent

Mary Ellen Duffy - Autistic Support

Rachel Sofia - Autistic Support

East Vincent

Jessica Sozio - Special Education

French Creek

Kaylyn Richards - Learning Support

Lindsey Gray - Life Skills Support

Elementary Cross-Building Support

Shannon Mooney - IEP Facilitator

Related Service Providers

Carrie Miller - Registered Behavior Technician

Lavonda Roberts - Registered Behavior Technician

Sienna Schwartz - Occupational Therapy

Kelly DeWan - Physical Therapy

While clear and consistent communication is a key component of the trust shared between families and the OJR School District, it is vital to the collaborative relationship families expect from the district’s Pupil Services Department.

This past December, Pupil Services hosted a pair listening sessions where parents and guardians were invited to share opinions, feedback, and ideas about special education, gifted education, and section 504 plans with members of the OJR Board of School Directors and district administrators. We sincerely appreciate everyone who took the time to join us and share their experiences with us. Your experiences are helping us to design strategies that will better serve your children and that will drive our ongoing efforts to continually evolve with the needs of our students.

The listening sessions yielded positive and constructive feedback, with several clear themes emerging from both meetings. Overall, families expressed positive sentiment about the services we are able to provide in our schools. In addition, many participants shared inspiring stories about school staff and the role our teams have played in their child’s progress.

We received strong feedback about our referral process and the role we can play in helping to communicate about pathways for your child. Parents expressed concerns about the screening process for support services and the potential loss of valuable time due to a lack of knowledge regarding options.

As part of better supporting students, we’re also going to focus on best practices for training OJR staff and ensuring staff is equipped with the knowledge, training and tools they need to prioritize the unique needs of our children. We also understand that transitions are key component we’re going to re-vitalize as we move forward, including consistency across all classrooms and grade levels.

We know that quite often our schools serve as second homes for our students. Teachers, staff and administrators serve as trusted leaders for students and are instrumental in helping to shape the adults our children will someday become. Trust, inclusion and forging stronger connections will continue to be a priority for our staff and a focal point of any and all strategies and trainings we implement.

Time is of the essence, and that is why we have already begun to dive into your feedback, develop action plans and are moving forward with members of the Pupil Services Board Committee to finalize our strategies, trainings and next steps.

Once again, we thank you for your partnership in helping to uplift and support our students. For us, the listening sessions were a crucial step toward providing students with the highest levels of support. If you were unable to join us at either of the listening sessions, we invite you to reach out to your school principal or special education supervisor with your feedback and questions.

We look forward to sharing additional updates in the future, including here in The Wildcat Way newsletter.

After more than 30 years serving OJR School District, there was simply no way students and colleagues at North Coventry Elementary School were going to let paraprofessional Holly Ham leave for the last time without letting her know exactly how much she meant to them.

During a cold afternoon on January 6, Students poured in from every direction for hugs, high-fives and heartfelt goodbyes. Teachers, administrators and staff offered warm hugs and expressed their appreciation. Even a local Pennsylvania state trooper made sure to offer his sincere thanks for everything Holly has done for the community’s students.

“My time with OJR has been such a wonderful experience,” Holly shared. “There are so many amazing people I’ve had the chance to work with in my career. I’m very thankful.”

For Holly, OJR has long been synonymous with her professional life, as well as her personal life.

An OJR graduate, Holly began working for North Coventry in 1991. In addition to a lifelong love of helpings kids, working for OJR enabled Holly to have the same schedule as her own children. Even after her family moved, Holly’s connection to North Coventry would span more than 30 years and include serving students at both the old and new school campuses.

Serving in multiple positions in her career that spanned several grade levels, Holly impacted thousands of lives and fell in love with the experiences she’s shared with her school family.

“I have a heart full of memories from throughout my career of watching students grow and accomplish things that they sometimes did not think were possible,” Holly said. “I loved being there for those moments and feeling the affection and appreciation of students. Whether a student got a new puppy, went fishing with their dad or simply ordered pizza the night before, those stories mean the world to our kids and I was happy to share those moments with them.”

Now, as Holly’s career with OJR comes to close, she hopes a new generation pursues the many rewarding opportunities to serve as paraprofessionals.

“I know the thought of working in a classroom can be intimidating for some people, but this is essential work in our community,” Holly said. “Our children need supportive staff members who might not always have the answers, but are good listeners. For anyone with compassion, empathy and a desire to better know our community’s children, serving as a paraprofessional in OJR is a rewarding experience.”