Dream Big, Achieve Greatness 

North Penn E-Matters

A Monthly Newsletter from the North Penn School District

Volume 5; Issue 10
April
2015

NOT YET FAMOUS ARTISTS

 

You are cordially invited to the
AP STUDIO ART SHOW
April 24, 2015
North Penn High School
 
Opening Reception
6 p.m. - 8 p.m. in the Art Pod
Table of Contents
NPHS Theatre Presents Titanic

 

Mark your calendars now for NPHS Theatre's spring musical Titanic the Musical by Peter Stone and Maury Yeston and produced by permission of Tams-Witmark Music Library, Inc. Titanic the Musical is the story of the real people who set sail on the "Unsinkable Ship of Dreams" and how these ordinary human beings responded to an extraordinary situation.

Like Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables, Titanic the Musical is set to thrilling music and tells an unforgettable, moving, and uplifting story. Some special displays, including a North Wales connection to the ship, are being planned.

Performances are scheduled for April 29 (Gold Card Matinee at 1:00 p.m.); April 30, May 2, and May 2 at 7:30 p.m.; and the special Sunday Matinee on May 3 at 2:00 p.m..

Tickets are on sale now.
Avoid long lines at the door or the chance of a sold out performance and order your tickets now! The show is suggested for children 10 and older, but parents should use their discretion.

For a ticket order form and more information go to   www.npenn.org and follow the link to NPHS Theatre's web page or order directly online at http://nptheater.ticketleap.com/titanic/ . Fees and handling charges will apply for on-line orders. Gold and Silver cards are honored, but cannot be ordered online, please go to the www.npenn.org webpage for information.


 

Keep up-to-date with NPSD Board Meetings

  

NPSD Board of School Directors Meeting

 

 

To view agenda attachments and minutes from past meetings, please click here.  

 

 NPHS School Store is Online!

  
Stock up on all your NPHS apparel by ordering online. To visit the School Store's website, please click here.  

 

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Dear Community,

 

I am extremely proud to announce that NPSD has been recognized by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with a 2015 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year - Sustained Excellence Award. We achieved this great honor for our continued leadership in protecting the environment through superior energy efficiency achievements.

 

Congratulations to staff and students who worked extremely hard on our energy management program, one that is focused on improving district-wide energy efficiency and educating students on the value of saving energy. This year's successes include achieving ENERGY STAR scores of 75 or higher for all 20 buildings, with 14 buildings exceeding a score of 90, and reducing energy use by 37 percent compared to our 2010 baseline.

 

The North Penn School District truly values our partnership with ENERGY STAR, and it is exciting to see the positive impact we've made on both our finances through controlling energy costs and protecting the environment. As Earth Day approaches, this entire community can take pride in NPSD's strong commitment to energy efficiency and to preserving a healthy planet for future generations."

 

Sincerely,

 

Curtis R. Dietrich, Ed.D.  
Superintendent, NPSD
dietricr@npenn.org 
 
Join us for a discussion with Local Legislators to Learn About Basic Education Funding at North Penn Community Forum -
Thursday, April 23

The North Penn School District invites all families, staff and community members to its Community Forum featuring Superintendent Dr. Curtis Dietrich and local legislators. This special presentation will include discussions basic education funding and will be held on Thursday, April 23 at 7 p.m. in the Penndale Middle School auditorium, located at 400 Penn Street in Lansdale, PA.

 

The evening will feature NPSD Superintendent Dr. Curtis R. Dietrich who will moderate a discussion about public education funding. He will be joined by Tina Viletto, Director of Community and Legislative Outreach for the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit, and local legislators including State Representative Kate Harper and State Representative Todd Stephens.

 

The North Penn School District administration believes that it is very important to educate the community about school finances, which their tax dollars fund. The issues to be discussed at the forum include:

*           Property tax;

*           "Hold Harmless;"

*           the funding formula;

*           The state budget;

*           and more.

 

As done in previous successful community forums, Dr. Dietrich will act as moderator of the Community Forum and will manage questions from the audience as well as the community who will be viewing it live and posting questions online.

North Penn High School Academic Decathlon Wins State Competition

The North Penn High School Academic Decathlon team edged out Collegiate Academy by 727 points to win the Pennsylvania Academic Decathlon Championship for the third year in a row.  

 

The nine-member team included Jerry Zhao, Yang Yue, Serena Jiang, Chris Marchini, Noah Lamb, Parth Nigam, Chris Sibel, Oscar Armas-Luy and Kathleen Bogert.

 

Of the nine high scorers honored during the competition, four were North Penn students. Students Jerry Zhao, Noah Lamb, Chris Sibel and Oscar Armas-Luy were all honored for receiving high schools.

 

The team won 34 individual medals in various categories. The NPHS Academic Decathlon Team will compete at the national competition held this year in Garden Grove, California in mid-April.

Classroom Spotlight on Health and Physical Education at NPHS

The North Penn High School Health & Physical Education department offers students a variety of classes that help shape the students into self-sufficient young men and women. The numerous physical education offerings in the high school include: Aquatics, Lifetime Fitness, Personal Fitness, Team Sports, Racquet Sports, Adventure Education, and Lifeguarding. 


The goal of the Aquatics class is to provide every student with an opportunity to improve swimming skills and achieve success at his or her ability level, from novice to competitive swimmer. The aquatics class focuses on a number of activities that include: various strokes mechanics (freestyle, elementary backstroke, side stroke, backstroke), circle swim used in fitness swimming, the use of fins, dives, rescue skills, water safety, canoeing, and boating safety.

 

The Lifetime Fitness course focuses on developing self-sufficient students who not only have an understanding of proper exercise techniques, but also the science behind it. Throughout the school year, students are engaged in numerous activities that include: spinning, strength training, yoga, core strength, interval training, and many more. Students not only participate in class, they play an important part as they design their own workouts using the information presented in class and with the guidance of the teacher.

 

As seniors, students choose two of the following four courses: Adventure Education, Team Sports, Racquet Sports, and Personal Fitness. The Team Sports and Racquet Sports courses specialize in not only having the students actively moving throughout the duration of class, but also teaching the skills necessary to participate in each activity. Skills are broken down into separate parts to help the students learn at their own pace and become proficient in each sport. This differentiated instruction allows every student, regardless of ability level, to participate in enjoyable lifetime activities. The Personal Fitness class builds on the students' current exercise knowledge from their Lifetime Fitness class. Students try out and reflect on current popular workouts such as Cross Fit and P90X. They go in depth with the science behind exercising and actively immerse themselves in a number of different exercise programs all while tracking their progress.

 

North Penn High School is lucky to have it's very own climbing wall and other challenge elements for our Adventure Education students. There are physical, mental, and social benefits to climbing. Climbing is great for improving one's muscular strength and endurance through the pulling and pushing motions used to climb. Students are challenged mentally in every class to push past their comfort zones. By taking on and overcoming one's fears associated with climbing, the participants begin to feel empowered to try new things both in climbing and possibly other areas of their life. Climbing also improves teamwork and communication within groups, building trust as everyone literally relies on each other to accomplish each task and overcome each obstacle.    

 

On March 26, over 400 NPHS students attended the 4th Annual Games Activities Sports (G.A.S.) night. This night showcased the great activities taught in the high school physical education curriculum. Students joined in on the fun for a free night of fun physical activity. The activities offered included: basketball, badminton, pickle ball, volleyball, table tennis, yoga, spinning, strength training, climbing the rock wall, a basketball dunk competition, and Just Dance. This annual event was another massive success enjoyed by hundreds of students who were actively involved in different physical activities for three hours.  

 

NPSD Odyssey of the Mind Teams Compete at District Level

Nineteen teams represented North Penn School District in the 2014-2015 Southeast PA Odyssey of the Mind (SEPOM) tournament on Saturday, February 28 at Pennsbury High School in Fairless Hills, PA. This included a team from North Penn High School, a team from each of the three middle schools and 15 from the elementary schools. All of these teams worked hard to prepare themselves to participate in the Odyssey of the Mind (OotM) regional competition and proudly represented NPSD.

 

Two North Penn teams are advancing to the OotM state competition.  Bridle Path Elementary, coached by Donna Ryabin, placed second in their problem/division  North Penn High School, coached by Joanne Wiernusz and Steve Ives placed first in their problem/division.  The NPHS team was also awarded a Renatra Fusco for the uniquely creative aspects of their technical devices and costumes.   

 

Congratulations to all the teams and good luck to the North Penn High School team and Bridle Path Elementary team  as they represent the district proudly in the state tournament! 

  

Save the Date for Upcoming Conversations with NPSD Superintendent

The North Penn School District (NPSD) and NPSD Superintendent Dr. Curt Dietrich are excited to once again offer its families and community members the opportunity to speak one-on-one about important issues involving NPSD schools. Community Conversations, a series of informal meetings, gives attendees the chance to talk freely with Dr. Dietrich and share their concerns and suggestions for the North Penn School District.

 

In addition to addressing participant concerns, Dr. Dietrich will give summarized updates on school district news and ask for feedback and input on important district issues while allowing time for open questions from parents/guardians and community members. NPSD is working on multi-year solutions that focus on student success, staff development, financial security and a safe, healthy and orderly environment.

 

Save the date for the next Community Conversation scheduled for Wednesday, April 22, 2015 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Educational Services Center, located at 401 E Hancock Road in Lansdale. To view the dates, locations, and times of the remaining Community Conversations of the 2014-2015 school year, please click here. For more information and to register, please contact 215-853-1020 or e-mail liberacd@npenn.org.

 

All North Penn community members, whether they have children in North Penn schools or not, are invited to attend these informative Community Conversations with Dr. Dietrich.

North Penn Alumni Association Creates Career Database
One goal of the North Penn Alumni is to connect North Penn School District students with alumni in their prospective career fields. The association has begun to build this connection through events like NPHS College/Career Fair, but they need your help in expanding this program!

Any interested alumni are invited to fill out this form regarding their current career, past vocational experience and post-high school education. They will be compiling responses into a database available to all NPHS students through the Future Planning Center. Please note, the North Penn Alumni Association will not be sharing alumni contact information with current students.

 

Thank you for your assistance in this very important endeavor!

  

 


March North Penn News Update from NPTV

North Penn Television (NPTV) students produced updates on what was happening around the North Penn School District during the month of March. This month's video update includes North Penn News Update, Inglewood Lends a Helping Hand, Flipped Classroom and Top O' the Showcase.

 

 

North Penn News Update 3-19-15
North Penn News Update 3-19-15


 

Inglewood Elementary Lends A Helping Hand
Inglewood Elementary Lends A Helping Hand

Top O' the Showcase!
Top O' the Showcase!

Flipped Classroom
Flipped Classroom