West Word
An Update from Perkiomen Valley Middle School West
A Word From Mr. Creeden
On Thursday evening of this week our amazing musicians performed in our West Band & Orchestra Winter Concert. Our West band members performed pieces such as Hanukkah Highlights and Christmas Patrol. Our West orchestra members performed pieces such as Holiday Hoedown and Adirondak Sleighride. The evening concluded with our 7th and 8th grade Orchestra performing a song choreographed to lights. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful concert. Thank you to all family and friends who were able to come and support our music program. Please see a link below to the program from the evening.
Quick Snapshot📸
- What's Up @ West
- November West Students of the Month
- Middle School West Winter Concerts
- Club & Activity Info @ West
- Homework Club
- After School Activity Transportation
- Power Packs
- Quick Reference Guide for Parents/Guardians
- PV West Athletic Update
- West Home & School Information
- Guiding Good Choices
- Be Part of the Conversation - Upcoming Programs
- PV West Attendance Information
- PVSD Food Service Updates
- December Breakfast/Lunch Menus
- Safe2Say
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
- PV West on Social Media
- Community Bulletin Board
- West Weeks At A Glance
- HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!
What's Up @ West
Belonging Conversations
Gear Ratios Math LessonStudents in Mrs. McCloskey's 6th grade math classes are putting their knowledge of calculating unit ratios to practice with a bike lesson. Riding and understanding how to use gears on a bike requires more math knowledge than we think! Students find out why gear ratios with lower gear inches are easier to pedal and understand the benefits of shifting gears while riding. What about distance? This can be calculated as well by converting our feet and inches to yards. Students calculated gear ratio math problems. They found unit rates, simplified fractions, rounded, and converted unit measures all in one math lesson. Ready for a bike ride?? | Mystery Bag! Students in Mr. Patterson's eighth grade science classes were introduced to the wonderful world of simple machines this week! A simple machine is a device that makes work easier with only one movement. The six basic types are the lever, wheel and axle, pulley, screw, wedge,and inclined plane. During the Mystery Bag activity students had to guess the types of simple machines within the bags by touch. Afterwards, they grouped the contents by type and discussed their findings as a class. | Here's Your SignStudents in Dr. Weir's seventh grade Technical Education classes put their knowledge of electrical circuits to the test by manufacturing their own LED desk signs. The novice electricians learned wiring and soldering skills in addition to the printing, cutting and drilling needed to complete this novel project. |
Gear Ratios Math Lesson
Students in Mrs. McCloskey's 6th grade math classes are putting their knowledge of calculating unit ratios to practice with a bike lesson. Riding and understanding how to use gears on a bike requires more math knowledge than we think! Students find out why gear ratios with lower gear inches are easier to pedal and understand the benefits of shifting gears while riding. What about distance? This can be calculated as well by converting our feet and inches to yards. Students calculated gear ratio math problems. They found unit rates, simplified fractions, rounded, and converted unit measures all in one math lesson. Ready for a bike ride??
Mystery Bag!
Here's Your Sign
Students in Dr. Weir's seventh grade Technical Education classes put their knowledge of electrical circuits to the test by manufacturing their own LED desk signs. The novice electricians learned wiring and soldering skills in addition to the printing, cutting and drilling needed to complete this novel project.
November West Students of the Month
Middle School West Winter Concerts
Club & Activity Info @ West
Chess Club Chess, which requires wit and intellect, is played by millions of people across the globe. It is one of the finest indoor games. Chess is played on a 64 square board of black and white. The aim of the game is to conquer the opposite king. On both sides, there are pawns, knights, bishops, rooks, and the queen to formulate a strategy to attack the opposite army in a war. Once the opposition king is blocked and doesn't have any option to make a move, the game ends. West students from all three grades are welcome again this year to join eighth grade social studies teacher Sean Murphy for Chess Club! The novice Bobby Fischer's will meet every other Wednesday, after school for friendly competition where they will gain experience and skill. | Debate Club Join the PV West Debate Club. Learn the art of constructing, supporting, and discussing arguments. These skills are an integral part of life in a free society. In Debate club students will engage in a variety of discussions centered around group selected topics. They will learn to argue both their own perspective and the perspectives of others. Students will use evidence based practice to back up arguments as well as learning about logical fallacies and cognitive biases that may lead to poor argument construction. Debate club will take place on the second and last Tuesday of each month. Join us for our first organizational meeting on December 13th from 2:30 - 3:45. We hope to see you there. | Ski/Snowboard ClubWest is planning another year of the Ski/Snowboard Club. Students in the club will travel to Bear Creek on 1/12, 1/26, 2/9 & 2/16. If your child is interested in joining, please join the Google Classroom with the code: bblr4n4. All of the paperwork required is attached to classwork and should be turned into Mrs. Corr or Mrs. Ferlick as soon as possible. Space is limited - there is room for only 10 more students. |
Chess Club
Debate Club
Ski/Snowboard Club
West is planning another year of the Ski/Snowboard Club. Students in the club will travel to Bear Creek on 1/12, 1/26, 2/9 & 2/16. If your child is interested in joining, please join the Google Classroom with the code: bblr4n4.
All of the paperwork required is attached to classwork and should be turned into Mrs. Corr or Mrs. Ferlick as soon as possible. Space is limited - there is room for only 10 more students.
Homework Club
After School Activity Transportation
- 4:00pm Departure (outside main office) - Monday through Thursday
- 5:00pm Departure (outside gym entrance) - Monday through Thursday
For each day students intend to take either the 4:00pm or 5:30pm activity bus, they are asked to inform the school district and bus company for routing purposes using the electronic form provided. The form links are below and also available to students via the PV LaunchPad - Classlink. Students must submit their information each morning by 10:00 am if they intend to ride the afternoon activity bus that day.
Power Packs
Registration for Power Packs will remain open until Monday, December 19th at noon.
PV Power Packs is a weekend food program for students experiencing food insecurity. Bags of food, including 2 breakfast items, 2 lunch items, 2 snacks, and 2 fruits, are sent home with students prior to every weekend. There is no financial information required to participate in this program and students pick up their bags from their counselor or designated person every week.
Sign up for your child(ren) to receive a Power Packs bag by filling out this form: 2022-23 Power Packs or by emailing PowerPacks@pvsd.org.
Please click the link below if you are interested in receiving a meal box with all the fixings for a family of 6 this winter holiday. The boxes will be available to pick up on Thursday December 22nd between 11AM and 1PM at the high school cafeteria loop. If families are not able to pick up their box, we can arrange to have it delivered.
Learn more about Power Packs at https://www.pvsd.org/families/pv-power-packs/ and follow us on Facebook @PVPowerPacks.
Quick Reference Guide for Parents/Guardians
PV West Athletic Update
Perkiomen Valley Sports Network
Welcome to the Perkiomen Valley Sports Network inaugural podcast featuring student-athletes and coaches from within the Perkiomen Valley School District. The production team is a collaboration of our Sports Marketing & Management classes, PVTV, and the Athletic Department here at PVHS. Our mission is to shine light and positive stories on impactful players, coaches, and teams within our school and discuss their experiences as student-athletes and coaches. This is the first of many podcasts that will be shared throughout the school year.
In this our first episode, our host Evan Kenny will be interviewing three PVHS Varsity golf team members: Ayush Patel, Abigail McCorkell, and Nadia Yackanicz. These golfers have all had very successful seasons and recently qualified for the PIAA District One Golf Championships. In the podcast they discuss their experiences and thoughts on being a part of the PV Golf Team this season.
We look forward to sharing more podcasts with you throughout the year.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C9DqaLOYJTMlKLvrtxTzafVvFeLd3QHK/view
Meet The Winter Sports Coaches
Middle School West Girls' Basketball Coach: Steve Faella
Steve Faella is entering his 3rd season as Head Coach of West Basketball; 2nd as the head of the girls program. He lives in the area with his wife of 19 years, Kristin (PV alum) and his daughter Sammie, a freshman PG at The Hill School. A fixture at PV West the past 2 years, he spends his days as a substitute teacher and paraprofessional, covering all grade levels. When asked his favorite part of coaching, Steve replied, “I love seeing the improvement in a player, whether an experienced player who takes their game to a level they didn’t know they could achieve, or a new player who falls in love with a game they only casually liked before. I love the game of basketball; more so, teaching the girls to play with Heart and Hustle. I love the look on someone’s face when they master a skill after working hard to develop it.”
Middle School West 8th Grade Boys' Basketball Coach: Rey Frederick
Coach Rey is going into his second year at Perkiomen Valley West. He graduated from Pottsgrove High School and always played and loved basketball. He is new to the PV community but hasn't felt out of place at all, everyone has been great. The staff, the students, and the parents have been very kind and welcoming. This past year was his first time having a coaching position and it was amazing. He learned a lot and he hopes to continue to grow as a coach and be a part of the community.
Middle School West 7th Grade Boys' Basketball Coach: Robert Hinson
Head Coach Rob Hinson is entering his 2nd year as the head coach of our middle school basketball program (East 7th grade last season). He graduated from Upper Perkiomen High School. He currently resides in East Greenville with his wife, Jesse. He has one son (Roman 4) & one daughter (Hazel 5 months). He is excited for this upcoming season and ready to get to work.
Middle School Wrestling Head Coach: Kyle Barnes
West Home & School Information
If you would like to volunteer at any events that Home and School may have in the Spring, please email pvmswesths@gmail.com
Guiding Good Choices
GGC is an evidence based 5-session virtual program for parents with children ages 9-14. The program is a multimedia family-competency training program specifically designed to strengthen parents' family management skills, parent-child bonding, and children's peer-resistance skills. Most sessions are parent-focused, though children attend one session, focused on peer pressure.
The group will meet Monday-Friday December 12-16 from 6:00pm- 7:00pm. . Parents meet each night without children, but the children join their parent during the 3rd session for a discussion about peer pressure. Dinner will also be sent to families every night and incentives (gift cards) will be provided to the kids for participation. If interested, please see the information in the flyer below.

Be Part of the Conversation - Upcoming Programs
Be a Part of the Conversation equips families and communities in Pennsylvania with skills and resources to understand substance use, addiction, and related health issues. We provide community programs, foster supportive connections, highlight lived experiences, and challenge stigma.
We are a collaboration of community leaders, clinicians, students, school district representatives, and families who believe that having meaningful, inclusive conversations about substance use and addiction will support individuals and their families in their efforts to develop healthy coping skills and access support whenever there is a need. Learn more about us. See the link below for a number of programs that Be a Part of the Conversation offers.
PV West Attendance Information
If your child will be absent or missing any class time, please send an email (from the email you have listed in our new SIS system) to:
This will count as your call-out AND parent excuse. Please indicate in your email the date of absence, student’s grade and the reason for the absence. An absence is considered unexcused when the child’s school has not received an email or written parent note providing an acceptable reason for the absence, within a 3-day period.
You may also call our attendance line at: 1 (484) 977-7210, option 1. If you do this, you would still need to submit an email with the above information in order for it to be excused.
Any medical notes or Dr.'s notes should be placed in the Attendance Box, right outside the Guidance Department.
If you have any questions at all, please contact Lori Tropea at ltropea@pvsd.org or you may call her at x3540.
PVSD Food Service Updates
Parents/Guardians put money in their student(s) accounts electronically in SchoolCafe or by sending cash or checks in with their students. For more information about SchoolCafe please go to https://www.pvsd.org/departments/food-service/school-cafe-information/. If you are sending funds in with your students, please note the students’ names and account number on the envelope and ask them to give the envelope to their cashier in the cafeteria.
Upon entering the serving area, students make their selections and enter their 6 digit Student ID number on the pin pad or scanner. Our staff will be happy to help them become more comfortable with the system.
December Breakfast/Lunch Menus


Safe2Say
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
988 has been designated as the new three-digit dialing code that will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (now known as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), and is now active across the United States.
When people call, text, or chat 988, they will be connected to trained counselors that are part of the existing Lifeline network. These trained counselors will listen, understand how their problems are affecting them, provide support, and connect them to resources if necessary. Please see below for more information.
The previous Lifeline phone number (1-800-273-8255) will always remain available to people in emotional distress or suicidal crisis.
PV West on Social Media
We would love to have you join our social media accounts to stay updated on the latest West news and happenings. Please see below on where to find each of our accounts.
Community Bulletin Board
Want to find out what’s going on in the PV Community? Visit here for flyers about upcoming events in and around our area!
To submit an event for posting, please send a PDF version of your flyer to webmaster@pvsd.org for review.
Please note that Community Bulletin Board items may contain links to websites of organizations outside Perkiomen Valley School District. Items are posted to this bulletin board as a free service to the community, and should not be interpreted as being sponsored or endorsed by the district.
West Weeks At A Glance
Tuesday, December 13th - Homework Club @ 2:30pm in West Library; MSW Winter Choir Concert @ 7pm in West Auditorium
Thursday, December 15th - Homework Club @ 2:30pm in West Library
For more details on the 22/23 school year go to the 22/23 Instructional Calendar