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Twin Valley School District: Developing Empowered Global Citizens
 
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 Dr. Robert Pleis
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TVSD > Superintendent > Superintendent's Blog

6/2/2010

Summer Reading, Summer Not....
Summer is almost here and that means that many of our students will have some extra time on their hands. One of the great ways of making sure this summer is a great summer and not a lost summer is to have your child read. Richard Allington (2001) noted reading expert, proposes some ideas you should keep in mind when engaging your child in summer reading:
1. Access to interesting texts and choice - Students need easy access to a large supply of texts that they can read and are interested in reading.
2. Matching kids with appropriate texts - Students cannot learn from texts they cannot read. Make sure your child has appropriate leveled books in their hands when reading.
3. Writing and reading have reciprocal positive effects - Writing and reading are linked together. When at all possible have your child use a journal to record their thoughts about what they read.
 
This summer our libraries will be open the following times so that you may access books for your child:
 
Twin Valley Elementary Schools
Honey Brook Elementary Center
Tuesdays, July 20 to August 10 (10:30 a.m.  to 12:00 noon and 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.)
Twin Valley Elementary Center
Wednesdays, July 21 to August 11 (10:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.)
Robeson Elementary Center
Thursdays, July 22 to August 12 (9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon)
 
Look also on your building's website under library for lists of books that are good for summer reading after the last day of school. Have a reading-filled summer!
 
Posted at 10:58 AM by ROBERT PLEIS | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

4/19/2010

Parenting for Prevention - April 28th at 7:00 p.m.
The Twin Valley Middle School will be offering a parent workshop on Wednesday, April 28 at 7:00 p.m. in their library. The workshop is entitled "Parenting for Prevention" and is a free program facilitated by professionals in the field of addiction. The goals of the program are to educate parents and caregivers on drug trends, on consequences of gateway drugs, and to empower parents with effective communication skills when talking with their children about drug and alcohol use. Parents will also learn the importance of establishing clear rules and consequences regarding substance abuse and resiliency factors that help protect children. If you are interested in attending, RSVP by calling the Middle School at 610-286-8661 or email Rhonda Farmer at rfarmer@tvsd.org by April 26th. I hope you will be able to join us on Wednesday, April 28th for this very important workshop.
Posted at 12:17 PM by ROBERT PLEIS | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

4/16/2010

 Standards Aligned System - SAS
Approximately one year ago the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) released their online student information system known as the Standards Aligned System or SAS. The purpose of SAS is to support both educators and parents in six critical areas that effect student achievement: Clear Standards, Fair Assessments, a Curriculum Framework, Instruction, Material and Resources and Interventions. But don't worry if you have never heard about SAS because it is still a work in progress. To learn more about this online student information system visit the link to SAS  through the PDE website (http://www.education.state.pa.us). It may also be accessed directly by going to http://www.pdesas.org. Certain apsects of the system, such as the assessment builder, the portfolio, and the website builder are password protected, and may be visited by educators who create log-ins. Others, however, have access to viewing all of PDE's information about the six areas that contribute to student achievement.  
Posted at 4:51 PM by ROBERT PLEIS | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

3/26/2010

Citadel Heart of Learning Award

Congratulations to Josh Clemson, a learning support teacher at Honey Brook Elementary Center for winning the Citadel Heart of Learning Award for Twin Vaimage001lley School District! The award is presented by Citadel Bank and recognizes teachers who do exemplary teaching in their school districts. Josh will compete with other school district winners for the overall award at a recognition dinner at the Desmond Hotel on May 4th.

Posted at 10:33 AM by ROBERT PLEIS | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

3/23/2010

Saving Energy - Two Schools Win Energy Star Award

PPL Electric

On Monday our Director of Facilities, Keith Heckman, was notified that Honey Brook Elementary Center and Twin Valley Elementary Center have been officially  named Energy Star Label Award winners from PPL Electric Utilities. Winning an Energy Star Label Award means that buildings in your school district are conserving energy at a higher rate than other comparable school buildings. In addition to the award, students at each building will be given tree seedlings to plant the week of April 19th in time for Earth Day. Congratulations to principals, Gail Porrazzo and Jamie Whye, their students and our Director of Facilities, Keith Heckman for their accomplishment! 

Posted at 5:06 PM by ROBERT PLEIS | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

3/22/2010

Superintendent's Community Forum
Join me for my monthly Superintendent's Community Forum on Wednesday, April 14th between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. The Superintendent's Community Forum provides the community an electronic forum to ask me questions about issues in the Twin Valley School District. You will be able to see what others have asked and be able to comment on their questions and my answers. Hope you can join us at the next Superintendent's Community Forum!
Posted at 11:13 AM by ROBERT PLEIS | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

3/8/2010

March Events
March is an extremely busy month! One of the most important activities we have this month is parent/teacher conferences. Please make every effort to attend your child's conference. During conferences teachers provide parents with invaluable information about their child's academic and emotional growth throughout the year. They also provide insight to what students should be doing for the upcoming summer months to keep learning an on-going goal. March is also Kindergarten Registration month. On Wednesday, March 24th and Thursday, March 25th all our elementary buildings will be hosting next years' new kindergarten students and their parents. Students and parents will visit a kindergarten classroom, learn about the curriculum, and have a  snack in the cafeteria. If you have a student who will be five before August 15th this year make sure you call your child's school and register.
Finally, don't miss these coming events at our schools in March:
March 12th - The Middle School presents Family Bingo Night
March 13th - Robeson Elementary holds their annual Funfest
March 19th - Honey Brook Elementary hosts Family Fun Night
March 20th and March 21st - The High School performs their spring musical "Anything Goes"
March 27 - Twin Valley Elementary hosts their Spring Carnival
Posted at 10:11 AM by ROBERT PLEIS | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

2/19/2010

Superintendent's Community Forum
Join me once a month for the new Superintendent's Community Forum. The Forum provides community members an opportunity to ask me questions and make statements about educational issues in Twin Valley School District in real time so I'll be answering questions as they are asked. The first Forum is this Tuesday, February 23rd from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. All you will have to do to ask a question is go to Twin Valley's website and click the Superintendent's page. Once there you will see a button on the left-hand side of the page called, "Superintendent's Community Forum." Click that and ask your question. The Forum will not be active until the beginning of each session. The Forum for March is Thursday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m. I look forward to hearing from you on the Superintendent's Community Forum.
Posted at 2:35 PM by ROBERT PLEIS | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

2/17/2010

Pension Issues
One of the growing budget issues affecting schools across Pennsylvania has been the increase in the employee contribution rate for the Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS). According to PSBA (Pennsylvania School Board Association) this spike is in a large part due to an initial boost in retirement benefits for school and state employees approved by the General Assembly under Act 9 in 2001. The current 2009-2010 contribution rate is set at 4.78%. That will change next year in 2010-2011 to 8.22%, an increase of almost 72%. Future rate projections predict that by 2012-2013 the contribution rate will rise to 29.22% which is approximatley 6 times what our current rate is. Although legislators are working on the problem based on recommendations from the PSBA Pension Study Committee it is evident that there is no quick fix. If you would like to learn more about this issue and how it is impacting school budgets please check out the following PSBA Website: www.psba.org/issues-advocacy/issues-research/psbafocus.asp
 
 
Posted at 1:14 PM by ROBERT PLEIS | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (1)

1/22/2010

Budget Meetings
I have greatly appreciated the particpation of our staff and community members at our January School Board meetings. We have currently posted the 2010-2011 Preliminary Budget on the District website under the heading "Budget Information." As we have stated at our two recent School Board meetings, we will continue to work on the budget for the next four months until we adopt a final budget in June. If you have questions or hear rumors about the budget I urge you to contact me at rpleis@tvsd.org or to post your comments on the Superintendent's Blog. I will respond to any questions or requests within 24 hours. Also, if you are interested, we are still scheduling Coffee Klatches at community member's homes to answer questions about the budget and other school issues. Contact Rhonda Farmer at 610-286-8611 if you're interested in scheduling a Coffee Klatch.
Posted at 12:32 PM by ROBERT PLEIS | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (1)
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