Welcome back to the new school year at Neshaminy! I sincerely hope that you had a relaxing and fulfilling summer. This is one of my favorite times of the year as our buildings come back to life, we reconnect with our staff and returning students, and I get to see the excitement on the faces of our newest students as they begin their educational journey at Neshaminy in kindergarten. I look forward to the buzz of excitement in our hallways and classrooms, the sights and sounds of fall sports, and the promise of a fresh start as we begin what I believe will be a stellar school year.
It is our goal to make every student feel welcome at Neshaminy, and to provide them with the individual support they need to succeed academically and socially. We are firmly committed to ensuring a safe, healthy learning environment and are constantly evaluating our programs, resources and facilities to better meet these goals. I want to thank our administrative, curriculum, technology, and facilities staff for their hard work that started last year and continued into the summer to get everything ready for the first days of school.
Excellence isn't something that just happens year after year but must be constantly earned. That only happens with a great team, and I am proud to be part of what I think is the best team of educators and support staff in Bucks County, or anywhere else for that matter. We are also blessed with a very supportive community, which is also essential to our success. For that, I am also grateful.
Please keep an eye out for important communications from your schools, teachers and the district in the upcoming weeks. I also encourage parents and guardians to consider getting involved volunteering through our PTO and HSA groups. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your child's school Main Office, our Neshaminy hotline (215-809-7777) or my office at 215-809-6500.
Enjoy the rest of your summer, we look forward to seeing you soon!
Jason Bowman,
Substitute Superintendent
Who are your teachers? When and where will the bus pick up and drop off your student? Below are the dates that demographic, class schedule, teacher and transportation information will be released in Home Access Center:
Wednesday, August 16:
- HAC will go live with 2023 / 2024 demographic information
- Elementary student class assignments and homerooms will be viewable to parents
Monday, August 21:
- Transportation information for all students will open in HAC
- Middle school student schedules will open in HAC
*Any student that registers after 8/21 will receive a phone call from Transportation with bus assignment / information. All new students, incoming kindergarten and ELD students will receive a bus card in the mail.
Wednesday, August 23:
- Neshaminy HS schedules will open in HAC (afternoon)
Please review all Home Access Center contact information to be sure that all your data including phone numbers, emails, home address and spelling of names is correct and up-to-date. This will ensure that your family receives important updates from your child's school, the district and emergency alerts throughout the school year.
HERE COMES THE BUS
The free Here Comes the Bus app is available for the entire District. You can track your student's bus using up-to-the-minute GPS data using the app, which is available at the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. It can also be accessed on the web here. Neshaminy's school code is 29378. For the start of the 2023-2024 school year, individual student tracking will not be implemented, and students will not have to swipe cards to board buses. That feature may be added at a later date.
Neshaminy School District has been awarded $1.5 million from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to continue providing the Pre-K Counts program in our district. This award will fund 150 full-time slots in the preschool program for three and four-year-olds during the school year.
Pre-K Counts provides a FREE, high-quality pre-kindergarten education to families who meet the generous financial guidelines (household income as high as $90,000 for a family of four) and student age requirements.
Neshaminy is pleased to host this program in several classrooms located at Albert Schweitzer ES, Walter Miller ES and the Lower Southampton Learning Center (the former Lower Southampton ES).
Please visit www.neshaminy.org/pkc to learn more about the Pre-K Counts program and to apply.
If you're looking for the summer reading packets and math learning opportunity information, you can find them here: https://www.neshaminy.org/site/default.aspx?PageID=45865
It is important to encourage children to engage in both reading and math activities throughout the summer to reduce the “summer slide.” Summer slide is the loss of academic skills and knowledge over the course of a lengthy break. To ensure students are engaged in learning during the summer break, Neshaminy is pleased to offer activities and incentives for all students. While the summer reading is required for certain students, the math tutorials are optional but highly recommended. Please visit the link above for more information.
Neshaminy School District does not carry medical insurance for students, but we are pleased to offer an optional low-cost group plan for those families that desire extra coverage. Registration for supplemental, optional plan opens on August 30, 2023. Click here for more information about the plan and how to register.
We love our school volunteers! For the safety of our students, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requires that ALL parents, guardians and community members who plan to serve as field trip chaperones and/or volunteers at school must have current clearances on file with the school district. For additional information on clearances, including who must apply, please visit the district volunteer web page. Please be sure to read all the information carefully. Volunteer applications can be completed online and will enable volunteers to register for multiple buildings at the same time.
Don't miss out! Clearances can take 2-4 weeks to process. All clearances must be renewed at a minimum of every five years to remain valid.
Every year, Neshaminy School District requires each returning student entering fifth and ninth grade to re-register for the 2023-2024 school year. The purpose is to ensure that all student information, including home addresses and contact information is correct and current as the students move into new buildings for the next phase of their education at Neshaminy.
If you have a child entering fifth or ninth grade and have not yet completed this process, please visit www.neshaminy.org/rv59 or scan the QR code at the right with a mobile device.
Re-verification must be completed by the first day of school.
In 2017, Pennsylvania's Department of Health established requirements for school vaccinations. Please review this document from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and consult with your child’s healthcare provider. Communication from the District will continue as a reminder of this PA Department of Health requirement.
District Policy 203 requires that “a certificate of immunization shall be maintained as part of the health record for each student, as required by the Pennsylvania Department of Health.” Further, the Policy states that “a student who has not been immunized per state regulations shall not be admitted to or permitted to attend district schools unless exempted for medical or religious reasons or provisionally admitted by the Superintendent or designee after beginning a multiple dose vaccine series and submitting proof of immunization or a medical certificate on or before the fifth school day of attendance.”
The requirements allow for the following exemptions: medical reason, religious belief, or philosophical/strong moral or ethical conviction. Even if your child is exempt from immunizations, he or she may be excluded from school during a vaccine-preventable disease outbreak.
Communication from the District will continue as a reminder of this PA Department of Health and Policy 203’s requirements. Please contact your child’s School Nurse with questions.
- August 25, Friday: Kensington, Home, 7:00 PM
- September 1, Friday: Council Rock South, Home, 7:00 PM
- September 8, Friday: Downingtown West, Home, 7:00 PM
- September 14, Thursday: North Penn, Home, 7:00 PM
- September 22, Friday: Abington, Away, 7:00 PM
- September 29, Friday: Pennridge, Home, 7:00 PM *
- October 6, Friday: Central Bucks West, Home, 7:00 PM **
- October 13: Friday: Central Bucks South, Away, 7:00 PM
- October 20, Friday: Central Bucks East, Away, 7:00 PM
- October 27: Friday: Pennsbury, Away, 7:00 PM
* Homecoming
** Senior Night
Schedules for all Neshaminy HS JV and Varsity sports teams can be found at
NEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AT MAPLE POINT
Thanks to (mostly) cooperative weather conditions, contractors at the Maple Point site made a good amount of progress over the summer. As soon as school ended, a crew began demolition of half of the parking lot in front of the school. This lot will be re-aligned and replaced to match the footprint of the new school building and the bus access road that will run between the two buildings. This work is expected to be completed by the start of the new school year so as to not negatively affect traffic flow for the middle school. Utilities around the perimeter of the new building are about 90 percent complete. The two-story structural steel frame of the first half of the building (section A & B) is complete. The sub-structure footing for section C & D (which includes the gymnasium and cafeteria) is about 50% complete.
FIELDS PROJECT AT NESHAMINY HS
Fencing around the stadium was completed over the summer and a crew painted the lines on the track surface in an 8-lane configuration in early August. Work is continuing on preparing the tennis court surface. All of the turf fields are ready for use by the fall sports teams at NHS. The bidding process is under way for the field house entrance to the stadium.
CLASSROOM ADDITION AT POQUESSING MS
Bids for the four-classroom addition to be built behind Poquessing Middle School were received for plumbing, mechanical and general contracting in April. No bids were received in April for site work on the project. The site work package was rebid in June and one bid was received. Work on the addition will begin after the bidding process is complete.
NAME PROPOSED FOR NEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
After several months of discussion and community input, the Board Facilities and Planning Committee voted to recommend the name Core Creek Elementary School for the new building on the Maple Point campus. This was the most popular choice in a public survey conducted in the spring. The full School Board must approve the name before it is adopted and might consider it at their August Board Public Meeting. (See the construction update above)
NESHAMINY HS TARGETED SUPPORT SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN
Neshaminy High School has developed a Targeted Support School Improvement Plan based upon a thorough review of the essential practices to advance educational programs and processes and improve student achievement. This plan can be viewed here. The community is invited to comment on this plan until August 22 by filling out the form found here. The plan will be considered for approval by the Neshaminy School Board at their August 22 Public Meeting.
If you have a question about anything Neshaminy and don't know where to go for answers, call Trish at our Neshaminy Helpline at 215-809-7777 or email questions@neshaminy.org. If she doesn't have an answer, she will find one for you!
Calls or emails received outside of normal business hours will be answered on the next business day.
Neshaminy Summer Stock returned for their 56th year hosting three shows at Neshaminy High School July 19 - 23.
The Main Stage show (grades 7-12) this year was Mamma Mia! This energetic Broadway hit is a celebration of love, friendship and the timeless music of ABBA. The show featured extensive choreography, an emotional story, a live pit orchestra seated on the stage and spectacular computer-controlled lighting.
During the pandemic, Poquessing MS principal Tim Hunt came up with a novel idea for a little-used outdoor courtyard space near the auditorium. Using funds provided by the Poquessing PTO, the school started building an "outdoor classroom" consisting of a gazebo, seating, and a most recently a vegetable garden. With some help from students and volunteers, Mr. Hunt, a gardening enthusiast for 30 years, set up several raised beds filled with dirt, added an irrigation system with an automatic timer, and planted tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and even a couple of blueberry bushes. Over the summer his efforts paid off and his gardens flourished. He says that the goal of the garden is to involve students in planting, maintaining and harvesting both as a learning experience and a way to provide serve as a source for the school's Food Bank. The PTO funded a refrigerator to store the produce, and this year plans are to purchase a hydroponic indoor garden that will allow students to start next year's crop from seed in January. The outdoor courtyard also provides a calming space that students can utilize when they need to take a break during lunch or other times.
Over at Albert Schweitzer Elementary School, their courtyard garden has been maintained over the summer by teacher Joellen Exner, the school's custodial staff, and some of the students enrolled in the summer program at Neshaminy Kids Club. Ms. Exner is the advisor for the school's Service Learning Club, which built the accessible garden with funds from a Lowe's grant in 2015.
On Saturday, August 5, the First Annual Neshaminy Cross Country Alumni & Friends 5K event was held on the new cross-country course at Neshaminy High School.
Graduating classes from the 1970s - 2020s returned to compete in either a 5K race or a mile walk. Congratulations to first-place finishers Rusty Kujdych (Class of 2018) and Leah Tomlinson (Class of 2026), 2nd place finishers Ryan Tarapchak (Class of 2022) and Rachel Lamb (Class of 2021) and 3rd place finishers, Bryce Keenoy (Class of 2023) and Bailey Rinella (Class of 2025).
