(The following submission is part of a monthly series of editorials, courtesy of our partnership with North Penn School District and the North Penn Board of School Directors.)
Dear North Penn Community,
As I am sure you have heard by now, Dr. Dietrich has announced his retirement as Superintendent of North Penn School District, effective the end of June. Dr. Dietrich has been our superintendent for 12 years, and while we wish him all the best in his retirement, he absolutely will be missed. As the North Penn Board of School Directors endeavors to hire a new superintendent, we know that there are big shoes to fill. To that end, we have hired a national search firm - Hazard, Young, Attea Associates (HYA) – to assist us in this process. Our goal is to have a new superintendent appointed by July.
It is our desire to be as transparent and collaborative with the search process as possible. HYA Associates will be developing a Leadership Profile Report by conducting focus groups with various stakeholders including administrators, North Penn Education Association (NPEA) leadership, North Penn Educational Support Personnel Association (NPESPA) leadership, Home & School representatives, Parents in Equity, Special Ed Alliance and most especially — student group representatives. A survey to gather North Penn Community input is available to all stakeholders who would like to participate, beginning this week. Please use this link to complete the survey.
This Leadership Profile Report will allow HYA Associates to identify and recommend potential candidates to the NPSB of Directors to interview for the position. We look forward to working together with HYA Associates and our community, to find the next leader of NPSD.
In other news, PSSA test results were posted by the Pennsylvania Department of Education this past week. Unfortunately, as expected due to the pandemic conditions last school year, the test results dropped statewide. One reason scores dropped overall was the requirement that students had to be in school in person to take the test. A record number chose to opt out of testing last year.
The better news is that the numbers are relative and compared to the rest of the state and to our Montgomery County counterparts, NPSD more than held its own. However, addressing the learning loss and effects of the pandemic does need to be our focus moving forward.
The federal government has provided school districts with additional Elementary & Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSR), funds to address learning loss, expand summer programs, expand before/ after school programs and student services, including mental health services. Teachers and administration are working to identify the students who would be eligible and benefit from participating in these programs.
This is the time of year for course enrollment for the following school year – our Education, Community & Instruction Committee received some exciting updates on the expansion of our Dual Enrollment and Internship programs for our high school students. NPHS has partnered with MCCC, Gwynedd Mercy and Adams State College to provide opportunities for 11th and 12th graders to earn college credits before they even graduate high school. They are also working to add the University of Pittsburgh and Temple University to the list of higher education partners. If your student is interested in finding out more about this program, please have them contact their guidance counselor for more information.
Additionally, a NPHS Community Hosted Internship Program (CHIP) is a new program that is available to students grades 10 through 12, to provide students the chance to explore careers of interest during their time in high school. As of early March, we have over 2,200 students enrolled in a dual enrollment course and 56 enrolled in the CHIP program. On behalf of the NPSB of Directors, I want to thank the staff and administration that have worked so hard over the past several years to put these incredible programs in place.
Some other highlights from our School Board Committee meetings this month are as follows:
To find out more information, our meetings are all available for viewing on the NPTV YouTube channel.
Spring is always a busy time at school – just this past weekend the NPHS hosted the Junior Prom and from all reports, it was a huge success. Our calendars are once again chock full of events – some of which we didn’t get to have last year because of the pandemic – so we are grateful to be able to resume these activities this year.
Speaking of spring events, a reminder that our April Action Meeting will be held in a virtual format, due to auditoriums being used for student activities.
Sincerely,
Tina Stoll
President, NPSD Board of School Directors
Term Expiration: 2025
See also:
Editorial: Summer School Programs Supply Educational Enrichment
North Penn High School Seeking Local Businesses to Host Student Interns
North Penn High School Students Participating in District and Regional Bands
North Penn Marching Knights Are 2021 National Champions
