Methacton School District

Thank you for your continued support of what’s important!

Dr. David Zerbe
Superintendent of Schools   

Dear Methacton Community,

This month brings forward two main matters before the district, the adoption of a strategic plan and adoption of proposed final budget. The budgeting process begins in October for my administration and the budget has undergone many changes since its first public presentation in December. This process is challenging in that each year it becomes more difficult as the process commonly known as Act 1 continues to squeeze school district resources by limiting revenue against mandatory costs increases, thus forcing difficult conversations about preserving programming. While this is an annual process, it is one that we are making reasonable progress on and anticipate that we will be prepared with a balanced budget for adoption as a preliminary final budget at the May 24, 2016 meeting.

A strategic planning process that began in the fall of 2015 has produced a draft document which was presented as our “Blueprint for Success” during the April 27 School Board meeting. This document represents the contributions of more than 80 individuals, including community members, business leaders, students, faculty, school board directors, and staff. The document is now presented for a public review period that will conclude on Monday, May 16. 

Following the incorporation of any necessary changes resulting from this feedback, the strategic planning document will be presented to the Board of School Directors for their final approval during their regular meeting on May 24. Please share your feedback by completing this online form.

Having these two critical items cross paths calls to mind the difficult balance between providing our students with the best possible educational experience, and the need to be stewards of the taxpayer’s dollars. 

I am grateful that our community continues to convey their unwavering support for our students, even in the face of budgetary challenges. As such, no budget that we can prepare will satisfy all of our constituents.

We will however, continue to seek alternative sources of revenue, through initiatives like the capital campaign, and with the support of our own Education Foundation for the Methacton Community. It is my goal, through continued fiduciary responsibility in budgeting and with a supportive community such as ours – we continue to be the example of excellence among Pennsylvania public school districts. 

As always, I am grateful for your support as we continue to learn, lead, and succeed – together.

Dr. David Zerbe
Superintendent of Schools

Dear Methacton Community, 

Extracurricular and co-curricular activities are designed to enhance or compliment the curriculum and are an integral part of a well-rounded school experience. These activities provide students with opportunities to explore their talents, interests, and abilities outside the classroom. The Methacton School District offers its students an array of activities and athletic programs to engage in, as well as co-curricular programs in music and other expressive arts. 

Tailored to the needs and interests of our students, these programs reward hard work, commitment to excellence, grit, teamwork, and drive. They teach valuable life lessons of leadership and endurance. More than half of the Methacton School District’s students elect to participate in one or more of these activities. 

Most recently, Methacton High School’s campus was enhanced with two new synthetic turf fields with lights, and softball and baseball fields. The warmer weather will allow us to welcome the community to our schools to cheer on our athletes. As is tradition this time of year, each of our schools will present spring music concerts throughout the months of April and May.  

Look to the weekly “Methacton Happenings” e-newsletter, as well as the Warrior Athletic website at www.methactonwarriors.org to find an event that fits your schedule.

The Methacton High School junior and senior prom will take place on Friday, April 29, followed by the amazing 17^th Annual Methacton Post Prom Party – an all-night event that is completely community supported and run by parents. The community is invited to view this spectacular one-of-a-kind event during the annual Community Walk-Through event, beginning at 6:30 p.m. This much-anticipated event is free for students, and provides them with a safe, fun place to celebrate prom night.

The support of our community is central to the culture in the Methacton School District. I’m looking forward to attending many of these fantastic events, enjoying a part of what makes Methacton such a unique and special place to live and work. I hope you will join me!

Dr. David Zerbe
Superintendent of Schools  

Dear Methacton Community,

Methacton’s school counselors design programs to assist students with career awareness, preparation, acquisition, retention, advancement, and entrepreneurship. This process begins at the elementary level, where fundamental skills, socialization, and team work are integrated with math, reading and science to pique student interest, talents, and knowledge development. Students write their first resume in elementary school.

The career discussion becomes more apparent and direct as students progress into Skyview and Arcola. There, counselors help students explore the world of work, and post-secondary options through classroom lessons and career days. Special activities include evening programs for financing and planning for college. 

Arcola counselors organize a College and Career Awareness Week in March including a College and Career Readiness Night event for parents. The goal of the week is to inform students about post-secondary options, motivate them to set and achieve academic and career focused goals, and to increase their awareness of the process of attending a post-secondary school. These events culminate with the annual STEAM Career Day on March 22 at Arcola, designed to promote opportunities in the fields of science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics; followed by the annual Skyview Career Day on April 29.

In grades 7-12, counselors, teachers, students, and parents utilize Naviance, an online tool to facilitate the career programming and college planning process. Students are introduced to Naviance in seventh grade when they begin building their career interest portfolio that follows them up to and including graduation. This same tool is used to facilitate and streamline the college search and application process, with support from faculty and counseling staff.

Beginning in eighth grade, students learn about programs and opportunities offered through the North Montco Technical Career Center (NMTCC). Counselors from NMTCC visit in January to describe opportunities and answer student questions while helping students explore potential career paths. Students visit NMTCC in February and participate in an open house with their families. Interested individuals can attend this year’s open house on Thursday, February 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. at NMTCC.

Integral to this process is the development of a Student Success Plan. All Methacton High School students complete this portfolio-based project as a requirement for graduation. The project centers on each student’s individual aptitude, interests, and desired career pathway. The process of developing and accumulating information for this culminating project begins in grade seven and continues throughout high school. These resources include the writing of goals, resumes, and the completion of on-line assessments designed to help students connect their interests to careers.

As we continue our District-Wide Strategic Planning process, we have considered the value of these current efforts and have discussed what more we can do to help students and families make these important life decisions. Our ability to accomplish this is tied to our ability to fulfill our mission. It is an enormous responsibility, and one that our School Board, administration, faculty, and staff share with parents, guardians, and students alike.

As I outlined back in October, I plan to continue updating the community each month regarding important matters impacting our students, our district, and our community. This December 2015 installment of my Community Conversations shall provide you with a summary of the Methacton School District’s strategic planning process to date.

The formulation of a strategic plan is a process designed to set priorities, focus our energy and resources, strengthen operations, and to ensure that all stakeholders within Methacton School District are working toward common goals aligned around intended results. This effort will outline fundamental decisions and actions that will shape and guide how Methacton School District can move in a direction commensurate with the community’s needs and desires.

I am pleased with the response from the community. This outstanding group of volunteers may need to hold additional meetings and or seek additional input via surveys or focus groups to drive out the high level goals. Once the goals are firm, the district administration, likely in March 2016, will address each of the goals with actions, responsibilities, resources, and timelines. The Strategic Planning Committee will then review and make comments, changes, or further recommendations to ensure that we can produce a document that inspires support from within our greater community toward accomplishing our goals. 

The final plan is to be presented to the Board of School Directors by April 30, 2016.

From my perspective, this process is critical to all that we do. It shall serve as a guide that determines where we focus our staff and our resources. It shall establish a fundamental focus for the following areas:

• Student Growth and Achievement/Staff Professional Development and Growth/Pupil Services/Educational Technology
• Safety/Operational Technology/Facilities/Infrastructure
• Co-curricular, Extra Curricular Activities, and Athletics
• District Operations/Financial Management/Human Resources
• Communications and Community Relations 

I sincerely appreciate the continued support of our community, and I look forward to additional opportunities for our wider community to participate in this important process.

The Methacton School District has a long history of success. Our success as a district can be witnessed in our many academic, music, arts and athletic accomplishments. As with any public school system, our fundamental business is based on providing a program of education centered on the core values of our community in concert with state education regulations and our collective desire to help our children grow into highly productive, responsible, and successful members of society.

Methacton students demonstrate many accomplishments as a result of our strong core curriculum supported by modern and traditional elective program offerings. They achieve as individuals and as members of teams as a result of our dedicated professional and support staff that truly cares for all of our children. Among the Commonwealth’s highest ranking public school districts, Methacton really prides itself on its ability to provide a high quality, well-rounded program of academics, music, arts, and athletics to meet the diverse needs of our community.

The foundation of this success, I believe, is rooted in the strong alliance built within our district and community among our parents and our teachers. This strong alliance exists in an effort to provide opportunities for our children. Our teaching staff is committed to helping each and every student reach his or her highest potential.

While we have much to be thankful for as a district, there remain many important topics before us that are core to our educational mission. As I mentioned in my letter to the community, I will be addressing several of these items in a series of communications centered on providing information to everyone as the district prepares to begin a comprehensive organizational strategic planning process. This week, I want to briefly address standardized testing, curriculum alignment with PA Core, technology integration, STEM, and career readiness. I then plan to follow up with more in-depth conversation on each of these matters in the coming months. 

The first of these areas, standardized testing, in one form or another, has been a constant reminder to our students, our parents, and our staff that we live in the age of accountability and that our performance is constantly being measured. I recognize that the frequency of testing is a concern of many. While our successes cannot be minimized to simple numbers or data, I am a firm believer that standardized testing can be an important tool for assessing understanding of curriculum. It can also challenge us to strengthen our weaknesses in a natural and healthy manner of business.

Critical to our success in standardized testing, specifically with regard to the PSSA and Keystone exams, is the alignment of our curriculum to the PA Core. The PA Core is the basis of what these exams are designed to measure. While we are instituting a curriculum revision and adoption cycle that is aligned with PA Core, we must constantly monitor our work to ensure that our students remain highly competitive.

In the coming months, I will also take aim at sharing information about all the technology initiatives in the district. It was just a few years ago that the Methacton School District was one of just several districts in our area without wireless network connectivity. In the last three years, the district went from being one of the few districts without, to a district that now has guest and “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) wireless networks that enable students to utilize their smartphones and other mobile devices to support their work at school. To a greater degree, the integration of technology in the curriculum can be seen through the use of Google Applications For Education (GAFE) programs and through the high school’s recent 1 to 1 computing initiative among many others.

As a result of my entry plan, it was clear that an organized focus in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) must be institutionalized in order to leverage the will of our community, the expertise of our teachers and parents, and to best prepare our students to be problem solvers. STEM can pay huge benefits in how our schools prepare students for future careers. While the STEM initiative has a set of core subject areas, its basis is centered on the scientific problem solving methodology which can be applied to just about any discipline or issue. This is an exciting initiative that I look forward to delving into in greater detail in the coming months.

Lastly, strategic planning is an organizational activity that is used to set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations, and to ensure that stakeholders are working toward common goals aligned around intended results. I have created a steering committee and plan to invite members of the community to assist me in setting the course for our future. More information on how to participate in this process will be provided soon.

We have a great deal of opportunity before us as a school district and community; however, seizing these opportunities will require a great deal of work. Our success will be achieved by working together - students, parents, teachers and the community. As you read this and future communications in this series – please consider how you may want to work with us to Learn, Lead, and Succeed – Together.