Haverford Happenings

On Monday, January 23rd, Chestnutwold Elementary School kicked-off the 12th annual Great Kindness Challenge. Presented by Kids for Peace, a California-based global nonprofit, this one-week bullying prevention program provides an opportunity for every student to actively create a culture of compassion, inclusion, unity, and respect at school and beyond. Using a provided kindness checklist, students are “challenged” to complete as many acts of kindness as possible. To elevate and amplify the kindness experience, students and teachers will engage in thoughtful and interactive discussions around kindness to self, others, and our world, decorate the school with positive messages and images that celebrate the diversity that makes up our amazing school community, participate in a philanthropic effort to support the clean-up of our world’s oceans, and celebrate, and continue to celebrate this year’s school theme, “Be You”.

Chestnutwold Elementary has been an active participant in The Great Kindness Challenge since 2018. This positive, proactive, and powerful week will mobilize students worldwide to create communities that are respectful, compassionate, happy, and kind. Collectively, these students will complete over 1 billion acts of kindness!

Our school counselors are an integral part of the educational process. They work in partnership with teachers and families to help students explore their abilities, strengths, interests, and talents to achieve school success and plan for a career. The Elementary Counselor's Connection is a tremendous source for a variety of resources and is published monthly to help navigate school and life.

Students from Haverford High School's gifted program served as Science Fair coaches for 4th and 5th-grade students at Coopertown Elementary School on February 1, 2023. High school students were paired with elementary peers in order to help prepare for the Science Fair presentation which takes place in early March.

Elementary students were asked to describe their project proposal using what they have learned about the scientific method to discuss their hypothesis and project plans. High School coaches provided input, encouragement, and feedback regarding the project ideas.

We are looking forward to learning more about these interesting topics: Animal Senses: Who has a better sense of smell?, Blow Up a Balloon Without Blowing, Egg Dropping, Elevation & Impact to Baseball Distance, Grass Growing using different soil variables and How to train your chicken and more!

Emma Carroll is an eighth-grade student at HMS and a member of Girl Scout Troop 5393. She enjoys volunteering and going on trips with her troop. Emma was preparing to earn the Girl Scout Silver Award, the highest award a Girl Scout Cadette can earn, and working with Dennis Pantry/Grands Stepping Up was a project that would lead to lasting change. She and her family have been involved there since her dad participated in a canned drive with his Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) group. Emma has sewn homemade masks, ran a book drive, stocked the pantry, and organized other donations they received.

When helping at Dennis Pantry/Grands Stepping Up, she noticed that a lot of the food items are not always very interesting and people might be unsure what to do with them when they take them home. Her Gigi suggested that she make a cookbook for the food pantry because she knew how much Emma loved to cook. So Emma created a cookbook using all the ingredients stocked in the food pantry and also tasted good!

The cookbook is available on SmallThingsPhilly.org and hard copies are available at the pantries for those who need them. "Dennis Pantry is always in need of food donations, toiletries, baby items, etc. Anyone that can help out, definitely should! It is a great organization and they can always use additional donations and volunteers," said Emma.

Emma was featured on 6ABC's Be Kind, you can find the interview here.

With so much media and information coming at us through the television, phones, social media, and more, it's more important than ever for kids to understand the basics of media literacy. When tweens and teens can identify different types of news and media and the methods and meanings behind them, they're on their way to being critical thinkers and smart consumers. Check out these 5 tips.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education neither identifies nor classifies family trips as an excusable absence from school; however, the District recognizes there may be situations when students receive educational benefit from travel opportunities that cannot otherwise be scheduled during regular breaks in the school calendar. In order for a student to be excused for educational travel, parents/guardians must submit a written request to the building principal prior to the absence.

Educational Travel Request Form

Policy 204 Attendance (Approved 02/02/23)

Policy 204 Attendance - Administrative Regulations (Approved 02/02/23) This regulation is intended to provide guidance when implementing Board Policy No. 204 "Attendance."

All 9th, 10th and 11th grade students were invited to an Electives Fair to learn more about courses that are available to them. Math, English, Social Studies, Science, Language Arts and Unified Arts, including Physical Education, Art, Music, Technology, Business and FCS, set up displays, interactive activities and more to showcase their departments and engage students.

Give Me 5! Five Fact about the Celebration:

1. Almost 100 years ago, Black History Month began as a weeklong event.

2. Black History Month themes change yearly. - 2023 Theme: Black Resistance

3. Carter G. Woodson, often referred to as the “Father of Black History,” he was notably the second African American to graduate from Harvard University with a doctorate degree, and was the creator of Black History Month.

4. Since the original weeklong celebration in 1926, other countries have joined in the month long celebration (Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands).

5. February was selected as the month because it coincided with the the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (2/12) and Fredrick Douglass (2/14).

Give Me 5! Five (Plus!) Fact about the Black History in Havertown:

1. Pvt. "Coach" Roscoe Draper, graduated from Haverford High School and continued on to be one of the first ten men of color selected to serve as flight instructor for the Army Air Corps, “Tuskegee Experiment.” He trained the the famed Tuskegee Airmen.
2. In the 1910 census, Preston Park Area (near Coopertown) and Ardmore Park Area (near Chestnutwold) were one of the first recorded places of black residence who owned property in the area.
3. Nolan N. Atkinson, Jr., Esq., from Bryn Mawr, was Lower Merion’s first Black Commissioner representing Ardmore and Haverford as well.
4. Around 1923, Oscar B. Cobbs of Buck Lane in Haverford started the first Boy Scout troop for young black men on the Main Line, referred to as Bryn Mawr Troop 2. Meetings were held at the Haverford Community Center (formerly the Reading Room).
5. Carole Plater-Restifo was the first black administrator in the School District of Haverford Township. By retirement in 2012, she had served 41 years as a teacher at Oakmont ES (1971-1980) and principal at Brookline ES (1980-1985), Coopertown ES (1985-2001), and Haverford MS (2001-2012).
6. The first black teacher of the School District of Haverford Township was Carolyn Goldsboro, starting before 1970, as a teacher at Chatham Park ES.
   

Congratulations to our students representing Haverford High School at the Pennsylvania Music Educator Association's District Festivals.

Chorus

Emilio Ovalle, Owen Krewson, Nicholas Borgesi, Keira Hornung, Max Keating, Ava Miller, Jocelyn Knorr, Sophia Politano, Annie Thompson, and Kateri Simmons

Band

Mackenzie Ailes, Natalie Polsky, Anastasia Westrate, and Caleb Uy

Orchestra

Mackenzie Ailes, Chloe Hyun, Christopher Lin, Abigail Lint, Emerson Simmons

We are incredibly proud of these Lady Fords! They had an amazing performance and took home third place in the state in the 3A large division!

Throughout the school year, student artwork is proudly displayed in the Superintendent's conference room. Haverford Middle School students in Jenna Gaasche, Janiene Andreoni-Kwoczak, and Dr. Silvino Alexander's classes were shown in January. Students and their families were invited to a reception with Dr. Reusche to discuss their work and learn about their inspiration.

The School District of Haverford Township utilizes BoardDocs, an online, paperless resource for all school board meetings. Here you can find the agenda, meeting minutes, video replay, and board policies. The meetings are live-streamed on YouTube.

Regular and Committee Board Meetings are held at Oakmont Administration Building.

Upcoming Meetings:

• February 6: Curriculum and Pupil Services Committee Meeting (Rescheduled from 1/26/23)
• February 9: Finance & Facilities Committee Meeting
• February 16: Regular School Board Meeting
• February 21: Policy Committee Meeting
• March 2: Regular School Board Meeting

All prior meetings, presentations and videos can be found on BoardDocs.

February 15: Middle School Theme Night at 7:00 PM

February 17: Teacher In-Service (early dismissal for all students)

February 20: President's Day Holiday (Schools & Offices Closed)

*January Concerts can be viewed here.

2022-23 School Year Calendar

• At-a-Glance
• A detailed schedule of activities and holidays
  
  

2023-24 School Year Calendar

• At-a-Glance

The mission of the School District of Haverford Township is to educate and to inspire a community of lifelong learners who become well-rounded global citizens.

Website: https://www.haverford.k12.pa.us/
Location: 50 East Eagle Road, Havertown, PA, USA
Phone: 610-853-5900
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haverfordsd.net

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haverfordsd/
Twitter: @haverfordsd