Oley Valley School District
Digital Newsletter - November 2019
Elementary School News
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Twitter: @ElemOley
Author Visit
By Dawn Conrad
Middle School News
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Twitter: @OleyMS
High School News
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oleyvalleyHS/
Twitter: @OleyValleyHS
Fall Sports
By Julianna Hornig
During the fall season, Oley Valley High School thrived in the athletics department. Several teams were able to participate in post season games, and many kids ranked on the league all-stars.
Wrapping up the fall season, Golf placed third in Division 2. Gunnar Wegscheider qualified for the District 3 Tournament following the season. Nick Thompson and Gunnar Wegscheider were the BCIAA All-Division 2 All-Stars. Also, Jonas Hoch and Garet Blankenbiller were BCIAA Division 2 Honorable Mention All-Stars.
The Boys Cross Country placed 2nd in Division 2, while the Girls Cross Country were the Division 2 champions. Ava Lottig continued her season, finishing by placing 12th in the District 3 Championship, qualifying and placing 87th in the PIAA Championship race. Wes Martin, Parker Sarge, and Mason Shirey were the BCIAA All-Division 2 All-Stars, along with Ava Lottig, Danielle Trimbur, and Candice Gallardo.
The Girls Volleyball team with Muhlenberg has had a great season, qualifying for the BCIAA and District 3 playoffs.
The Boys Football Team with Fleetwood broke the school record with 8 wins, and qualified for the District 3 playoffs for the first time in program history. League All-Stars TBD, but the season ended with great school spirit.
Girls Soccer had a good playing season, Elaine Mortimer was named BCIAA All-Division 3 All-Star. Meredith Groves and Madison Reinert were named BCIAA Division 3 Honorable Mention All-Stars.
Boys Soccer wrapped up a great season becoming the Division 3 Champions, BCIAA Champions, and District 3 Semi-finalist. The team broke the school record with 17 shutouts in a season. Michael Peirce was named All-State. Matt Knowles, Alex LaVerdure, Michael Peirce and Evan Solley were named BCIAA All-Conference All-Stars. Dakoda Gundy and Daniel Turchi were named BCIAA All-Division 3 All-Stars. Caleb Fatkin and Eddie Standhardt were named BCIAA Division 3 Honorable Mention All-Stars.
Also, Coach Shawn Meals was named the BCIAA Coach of the year.
Field Hockey wrapped up a beautiful season being the Division 3 Champions, BCIAA Champions and District 3 Runner-up. Sophia Gladieux became the 5th player in NFHS history to score 200 career goals, and with 202 career goals, she is now 4th all-time on the National Federation career goals list. Sophia Gladieux was named the BCIAA Player of the Year for the 3rd consecutive year. Sarah Beers, Sophia Gladieux, Paige Graber, Sophia Mackrella and Samantha Vaccaro were named BCIAA All-Conference All Stars. Bailee Christman, Cassidy Drobek, Alexandra Lopez, Kayla Maciejewski, Jordan Wilkinson and Tetje Williamson were named BCIAA All-Division 3 All-Stars. Along with winning on Saturday, November 15th, the Lynx won against New-Hope Solebury. The girls continued their season, winning the Semi-Finals on Tuesday, November 12th, and ended their season Saturday, November 15th with an incredible fight against Wyoming Seminary.
FFA Events
FFA Members Busy at the Fair
By FFA Faculty
September 19, 2019, marked the 73rd annual Oley Valley Community Fair! This year’s fair was filled with activities for people of all ages! Thanks to all of the help from our FFA members, we were able to have another successful “Farmer for a Day” tent at the fair. In the tent, people gain hands-on experience with agriculture in several different ways. Typically the tent contains two types of animals this year being a miniature donkey and ducklings. The ducklings are placed into an incubator where they hatch and then moved to a pen once they are stable enough. Once in the pen, FFA members are allowed to hold them and allow visitors to pet them. Along with the ducklings, we had a miniature donkey, Cody, who belongs to Oley Valley graduate, Lexie Scheirer. The tent also includes several agriculture-based games for children. The grocer game consists of several food items that need to be categorized into what they come from. The farmer for a day station involves gathering eggs, picking apples, and digging for potatoes, and the wheel allows children to understand what animal their food comes from. The last activity in the tent allows kids to learn how to milk a cow and understand the different breeds of cows and their purposes. Although the tent is a big hit, it’s not the only thing keeping our FFA members busy at the fair. Several members also got involved in some healthy competition! Marshall Kerper, Wyatt Kerper, Rebecca Kugler, Grace Prout, and Haley Weidman competed against each other in the sheep show at the fair! Sarah Berger, Autumn Gammler, Morgan Hillegas, Ethan Sterner, and Colby Templin showed their cows and Matthew Walters showed his goats. Several students taking the animal science course participated in the Dairy Management Contest for a chance to win a cash prize! Other members participated in the tractor pull and other fun events and competitions. Make sure to come out next year for the 74th annual Oley Valley Community Fair and stop in the tent to visit our FFA Members!
School Board Reports
Oley Valley Elementary School
Elementary FYI
November 2019
Matthew Broskey
Elementary Principal
1.) The elementary school hosted over 150 Veterans during the annual Veterans Day Luncheon. Parents, family members, and community members attended lunches, many in their military uniforms, enjoying the time with OVES students. Boy Scouts in grades 2-5 assisted with greeting and ushering veterans to the cafeteria. Thank you to Mrs. Vinanskie for organizing this wonderful event.
2.) Members of our Multi-Tier System of Supports (MTSS) team attended Heggerty training through the BCIU. Heggerty is a supplemental program that teaches phonemic awareness skills. The program is a quick intervention that occurs within the classroom or small group setting.
3.) A team of OVES staff attended 2 out of 3 conference sessions on Equity in Education. The conference is hosted by the BCIU and led by Dr. Tyrone Howard. The conference has provided valuable and real time information on the equity discussion in education.
4.) OVES will be raising money for the Berks County Food Bank through the annual Buy a Pilgrim campaign. The food bank is able to acquire $20 worth of food for every $1 raised by OVES students. Fifth grade student council organized the event.
5.) The OVES community met local author Kevin McCloseky at the annual Family Math and Reading Night. Families heard the author talk about his love of writing, illustrating, conservation, and animals. After the author presentation families enjoyed the opportunity to complete fun reading and math centers. Thank you to the staff who organized this event.
6.) Class Dojo is a communication app used to connect parents and teachers at the elementary school. Class Dojo is one of several communication methods used throughout the school year. Last week the elementary school sent 914 messages, had over 1,250 views from parents, and sent a combination of 70 videos or photos from the school and/or classrooms. The app is used by all classroom and Essential teachers and we are proud to have many classrooms with 100% of their parents connected to the app!
7.) Please come out and enjoy the holiday concerts in the upcoming weeks. The fifth grade chorus concert will take place on December 5th and the band and orchestra concert will take place on December 12th. Both concerts begin at 7 p.m. and take place at the middle school auditorium.
Oley Valley Middle School
Board Update
November 2019
Scott Rohrer
Middle School Principal
1.) The middle school has done much to analyze data and begin the process to raise academic rigor. Four times over the last month tested-subject teachers have met to “dig-in” to their data. Instruction on specific data programs such as PVAAS, CDT’s, etc. were examined in order to ensure staff understood what to do and how to interpret the data. The Middle School MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support) committee met to identify interventions students need, based on their specific/unique data. Nearly 50 students will begin interventions addressing reading, math and executive function/organizational skills on November 20th. These students will begin a two to eight-week process that will focus on their specific skill deficits.
2.) The MTSS committee also identified SLO’s (Student Learning Objectives) for staff to address this school year. Of particular note, non-tested subject area staff will address text-dependent analysis. Thus, all staff are being encouraged to provide instruction that supports student PSSA assessment growth. The committee will meet monthly.
3.) Students of the month for October are: 6th grade: Cati Lynn Fegely & Ian Snyder. 7th grade: Valerie Palmiotti & Nathan Guy. 8th grade: Austin Moyer & Korra Sanders.
4.) A parent advisory was held on November 5th @ 6:30 pm to discuss communication, extra-curricular happenings, digital citizenship and other areas of interest. The discussion was positive and productive.
5.) On November 5th the Central Berks Regional Police Department conducted a canine drug search at the middle school. No drugs were found.
6.) A teacher will be selected monthly to spotlight in our building newsletter. The teacher of the month for October was Mrs. Courtney Anoia, ELA.
7.) On Tuesday, November 5th the Oley Valley Jr. Envirothon team participated in Junior Environmental Forum. Oley, along with Tulephocken and Governor Mifflin middle schools, learned about invasive species. Amy Marsch of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Evan Corondi of Berks County Conservation District led the discussion and service project.
8.) This year, OVMS celebrated Red Ribbon Week by highlighting the importance of 'Listening to Your Heart' and living a drug-free life. Students received their own personal set of earbuds, participated in various theme days and engaged in a friendly door decorating competition with a Halloween spin to 'Scare Off Drugs' in homeroom. The winners from each grade were Mrs. Tulone for 6th grade, Mrs. Anoia for 7th grade and Mrs. Nigrini for 8th grade.
Gina Finnerty
High School Principal
We are officially in the 2nd quarter and, as always, everyone is working hard. We had our first PAWS breakfast recognition on Friday, November 15th. PAWS stands for Promoting Academics and Worthwhile Success. We know that good grades are important; however, so are the other successes that our students have, like the success on the field, on the stage, or persevering through a difficult class or time in their life. At the conclusion of every marking period, each department selects four students, one in each grade level to be recognized. On Friday, we invited the students and their parents for a light breakfast where students were awarded a PAWS certificate. We aren’t just promoting academics, but also worthwhile successes in and out of the classroom.
We are incredibly proud of our all of our student-athletes as they all had wonderful season! Once again, our girls field hockey demonstrates what it means to be determined, to play hard, and to fight hard. They lost in double over time but we couldn’t be more proud of our girls!
In October, our guidance department met with all of our juniors and presented to them options available for after high school, employment, military, trade technical school, 2 year school and 4 year schools. We hosted a junior parent night to help support parents through the post secondary planning process as well as had a guest speaker from Kutztown University speak about the college application process. 10th graders participated in the college and career fair with mock interviews in October, they also took the PSAT’s. We had small group transition meetings with all 9th graders in October as well. Counselors continue to follow up with seniors, discussing college and career plans, as well as sending transcripts to colleges.
Teachers continue to dive deeper into the content, working collaboratively with middle school colleagues to adequately bridge our curriculum. All of the teachers were trained in schoology and will begin developing courses, using the calendar, posting assignments, giving parents and students one common platform. Parents will be given a tutorial soon to help them navigate the system.
Moving forward, our teachers continue to analyze their curriculum for gaps and repetitiveness. We recognize there is a gap between Alg 1A and Alg CP courses, as well as gaps in the biology curriculum between middle school and high school. The teachers are addressing those through articulation meetings throughout the year. The English department will also be enhancing their curriculum by adding resume and cover letter writing.
Our high school teacher-leadership team continues to meet monthly. The agenda is built by the teachers and addresses anything from teacher morale to curriculum to suggestions to administration for school improvement.
Lastly, we are getting ready for parent conferences on November 25, 26, and 27th!
IMPORTANT UPCOMING EVENTS
12/2/19 – SCHOOLS CLOSED
12/4/19 – SCHOOL BOARD REORGANIZATION MEETING 7:00 pm
12/4/19 – ATHLETIC BOOSTER CLUB MEETING 7:00 PM
12/5/19 – 5TH GRADE CHORUS CONCERT 7:00 PM
12/6/19 – GRADES 7/8 PTSO DRESS UP DANCE 7:00 TO 9:30 PM
12/7/19 – ES PTO HOLIDAY SHOPPE
12/8/19 – COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION WEEK
12/9/19 – SCHOOL BOARD COMMITTEE MEETINGS 6:30 PM
12/10/19 – MS CHORUS CONCERT 7:00 PM
12/11/19 – SCHOOL BOARD MEETING 7:00 PM
12/12/19 – ES BAND AND ORCHESTRA CONCERT IN MS AUDITORIUM 7:00 PM
12/13/19 – HS CHORUS AND ORCHESTRA CONCERT 7:00 PM
12/14/19 – ES PTO HOLIDAY SHOPPE (SNOW DATE)
12/17/19 – MS BAND AND ORCHESTRA CONCERT 7:00 PM
12/23/19 – STUDENT HALF DAY ALL BUILDINGS – NO LUNCH SERVED
12/24/19 THRU 1/1/20 – SCHOOLS CLOSED FOR THE HOLIDAYS
1/2/20 – FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL IN 2020
Oley Valley School District Board of Directors
David R. Pollock Jr., President
Stephen S. Burns, Vice-President
Carl J. Kubitz, Jr., Treasurer
Eric Clemmer, Member
Robert A. Heckman, Member
Darrell L. Markley, Ed.D., Member
Ralph Richard, Member
Stuart Salen, Member
Dawn Zackon, Member
John M. Stott, Esquire, Board Solicitor
Maria H. Jones, Board Secretary, non-member
Oley Valley School District
The Oley Valley School District is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Educator who fully and actively supports equal access for all people regardless of Race, Color, Religion, Gender, Age, National Origin, Veteran Status, Disability, Genetic Information or Testing, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity or Expression and prohibits Retaliation against individuals who bring forth any complaint, orally or in writing, to the employer or the government, or against any individuals who assist or practice in the investigation of any complaint, or otherwise oppose discrimination. Compliance issues/questions should be directed to the Office of the Superintendent.