Dear Community,
In February of 2010, the North Penn School District
(NPSD) Board of School Directors appointed me to the position of
Superintendent. Nearly two and half years later, the school board extended
my contract for an additional five years. I am honored and grateful to have
a contract to serve this community until June 30, 2017.
My time as superintendent and before that as NPSD’s assistant superintendent have been
marked with some of the most professionally challenging and rewarding experiences of my
30-plus year career in education. The 2011-2012 school year was no different. Unprecedented
economic influences continued to focus our efforts on cutting operational costs and increasing
revenues so that the core mission of educating students would be protected – and it has been!
Once again, North Penn High School was named as one of the top high schools in the country by
renowned magazines. Student achievement results continue to climb and, most notably, North Penn
High School met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status for all subgroups of students; not an easy task.
We are also extremely proud to have been named a recipient of a Keystones to Opportunity grant.
NPSD is the only district in the county to receive this grant, which supports the improvement of literacy
in our schools and community with $1.17 million.
Time and time again, as I look back on the year and those before it, I have to thank the people that made
NPSD’s accomplishments possible. We are fortunate to have talented students who are committed to
success, a staff that is dedicated and focused on students, a school board with foresight to ensure a
financially stable school district, and parents and community members who know the importance of
investing not only money and resources but also time and expertise to help NPSD reach its goals.
I hope you enjoy the 2011-2012 Annual Report. Please know that the efforts of this entire
community are reflected in the accomplishments that we focus on in this report.
Sincerely,
Board of Directors
Board members may be
contacted using the following
phone numbers & email addresses:
Curtis R. Dietrich, Ed. D.
215 -853-1001
dietricr@npenn.org
A MESSAGE
FROM THE
BOARD OF
SCHOOL
DIRECTORS
Dear Community,
The theme of this annual
report emphasizes NPSD’s
commitment to being on
the forefront of learning,
innovation and success
for all. These three things
are interwoven and cross
over between instruction and operations. They pertain
to the commitment we have to all of our stakeholders,
including students, staff, families, taxpayers, and community
organizations.
The challenging economic situation facing all school districts
has required significant leadership from superintendents and
school directors. But we haven’t been alone. The North Penn
community, including staff and students, has been engaged
along the way.
2
Vincent Sherpinsky—President
(215) 361-9778
sherpiva@npenn.org
From attending board meetings and community forums,
to helping to raise money for individual schools and
activities, to staff working harder and smarter than ever, this
community has once again shown our North Penn Pride.
Public education will never be the same financially because
of economic pressures and mandates out of school districts’
control. However, NPSD will continue to focus on what’s most
important to the success of our students and, consequently
the success of this community. This annual report showcases
some of our most recent accomplishments
in this endeavor and also includes
a glimpse of what’s to come.
Sincerely,
Vincent Sherpinsky
President,
NPSD Board of School Directors
In October
2011, Board President
Vincent Sherpinsky achieved
Master School Board Member
accreditation from the Pennsylvania
School Boards Association.
Accreditation is awarded to school
board members for service,
community engagement,
advocacy, and teamwork
skills.
Timothy Kerr—Vice President
(215) 361-9101
kerrts@npenn.org
Stephen Hladik
(215) 855-3775
hladiks@npenn.org
Suzan Leonard
(215) 699-1967
leonards@npenn.org
Rick Miniscalco
(215) 368-4371
miniscalcor@npenn.org
Carolyn Murphy
(215 ) 362-7527
murphyc@npenn.org
Frank O’Donnell
(215) 361-6017
odonnellf@npenn.org
John Schilling
(215) 368-6921
schillingjt@npenn.org
Joseph Sullivan
(215) 412-3190
sullivanj@npenn.org
B
y 2014, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates
first in the county with the highest percent proficient
that all students must achieve proficiency on
in mathematics, as well as second in the county with
state assessments. North Penn School District
highest percent proficient in reading. At the secondary
district-wide scores for 2012 Pennsylvania System of
level, co-teaching occurred across multiple content areas
School Assessments (PSSAs) show we are making necessary
as a result of intensive professional development on the
strides to reach this goal.
co-teaching model. Overall, 64% of North Penn students
“Not only does No Child Left Behind tell us that
with IEPs are included in the regular education class
every child must be proficient, but so does the educator
80% or more of their day. This is an increase of 3% from
in all of us,” said Dr. Curtis R. Dietrich, superintendent,
the previous year.
NPSD. “As a district, NPSD is committed to ensuring that
Special education students at the elementary level
every student succeeds and we have district-based and
are supported in regular education classes through a
school-based action plans to make that happen.”
variety of models including consultation/collaboration
As school districts move closer to 100 percent
between the regular education teacher and the special
proficiency, it becomes increasingly more difficult to make
education teacher, para-professional support, and
large gains toward the goal. More aggressive progress must
Response to Instruction and Intervention (RtII).
be made in student subgroups in order to reach Adequate
During the 2011-2012 school year, the district
Yearly Progress (AYP) across all schools. Next year’s
partnered with the Montgomery County Intermediate
goal of 89% percent proficient in mathematics and 91%
Unit and the Pennsylvania Training and Technical
proficient in reading will be even more difficult to achieve
Assistance Network (PaTTAN) to implement the
across all subgroups.
Membership, Participation, and Learning (MPL)
With programs and strategies in place and staff
initiative for students with complex support needs.
equipped with successful instructional strategies, NPSD
This initiative is a collaborative model that includes
students continue to improve academically. In particular,
school teams and parents to plan strategies, resources,
special education students have made great strides.
and supports based on individual student needs.
On the PSSA for the 2011-2012 school year, the 11
th
grade Individual Educational Plan (IEP) students ranked
Six of the 13 elementary schools participate in the
MPL project. The MPL initiative is currently in year
two and has been received with much success.
S
ince NCLB was enacted in 2002, NPSD has improved
on this foundation. RtII is a comprehensive, multi-tiered
overall student proficiency as it moves toward 100
regular education intervention strategy used to enable
percent. The 2011-2012 school year was no different
early identification and intervention for students at
as overall student achievement continued to increase.
academic risk. The training embedded in the district’s
Eleven NPSD elementary schools did
implementation of RtII has allowed
meet AYP status. However, Inglewood
educators to hone their instructional
and A.M. Kulp elementary schools
missed the mark in one or two of its
student subgroups. These schools wrote
a state-mandated improvement plan so
that achievement of these subgroups is
accelerated during the 2012-2013
school year.
“It is critically important that we
are providing a range of interventions
for struggling students,” said Dr. Diane
Holben, assistant superintendent, NPSD.
“Students with different needs must be
provided different interventions to meet
and address their challenges.”
North Penn teachers, support
Keystones to
Opportunity
FOCUS ON ELEMENTARY
During the 2011-2012 school year, NPSD
received a Keystones to Opportunity
(KTO) literacy grant from the state worth
$1.17 million to improve proficiency for
all subgroups, birth through 12th grade.
During the 2012-2013 school year, new and
expanded programs funded by the grant
will directly impact elementary students’
success in the areas of reading and writing.
Strategies will include expanding RtII to
grades 4 through 6 and implementing data
review protocols to match interventions
and student needs.
practice to support students with
their fundamental reading skills.
Using RtII, educators have learned
techniques to use to intervene
and monitor the impact of their
interventions.
As we have completed the threeyear project of RtII implementation
in grades K-3 at the elementary
level, we have experienced continued
growth in our student achievement
in the foundational skills of literacy.
Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early
Literacy Skills (DIBELS) results from
all of our elementary schools indicate
staff and administration have
our training and implementation of
worked diligently to develop a
the RtII components are producing
solid foundation in instructional
positive results for our teachers and
strategies for teaching language arts.
students. Through RtII data analysis
The implementation of Response to
discussions, teachers have been
Instruction and Intervention (RtII)
provided with ongoing professional
at various grade levels helps to build
The grant will also fund NPSD’s efforts to
engage pre-kindergarten students, their
families and child care providers so these
young learners are better prepared to
succeed in kindgergarten and beyond.
Partnering with the North Penn United Way,
these efforts include training pre-k partners
in pre-literacy skills, training NPSD staff in
early-intervention services, providing books
to families with young children, developing
parent workshops and literacy, and
providing opportunities for pre-k providers
and kindergarten teachers to collaborate.
development on teaching techniques
to enhance their core language arts
2012 Science highlights –
instruction. Tiered instructional groups
• Bridle Path, Gwynedd Square, Inglewood, Knapp,
have also focused on the foundational
Montgomery, Nash, North Wales, Walton Farm and York
skills of literacy. Primary teachers are
Avenue exceeded 90% proficient in science.
seeing an increase in student achievement
in the areas of phonemic awareness, phonics
and accuracy rates which will lead to stronger
readers and writers in the later grades.
NPSD - STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Fall 2011
Spring 2012
Kindergarten
54% established
83% established
in the Phonemic
Awareness Target
1st Grade
65% established in
the Phonics Target
78% established in
the Phonics Target
2nd Grade
93% average
reading accuracy rate
98% average
reading accuracy rate
3rd Grade
93% average
reading accuracy rate
98% average
reading accuracy rate
in the Phonemic
Awareness Target
The foundation established in grades K-3 and the
knowledge of the RtII process will be used to support and
guide the implementation of RtII in grades 4-6, where
we will continue to plan targeted instruction to meet the
needs of our students during the 2012-2013 school year.
Some highlights of the 2011-2012 PSSA results at the
elementary level include:
2012 Reading highlights –
• Montgomery exceeded 90% proficient in reading.
2012 Math highlights –
• Bridle Path, Gwynedd Square, Montgomery, Nash,
Walton Farm and York Avenue exceeded 90% proficient or
advanced in math.
• 63% of elementary students scored in the advanced range.
• 61% of elementary students scored at the advanced level
on the PSSA science assessment.
2012 Writing highlights –
• Bridle Path, Kulp, Montgomery, Nash, Walton Farm and
York Avenue exceeded 90% proficient or advanced in writing.
Examples of Excellence
• The Olweus Bullying
Prevention Program kicked off
in the last remaining elementary
schools. The program now
supports all elementary schools
in reducing and preventing
bullying problems and
achieving better peer relations.
• The North Wales Elementary
School Select Choir auditioned
for and performed at the
Pennsylvania Music Educators’
Association Conference.
• The Bridle Path/Montgomery
Elementary Schools’ Select
String Ensemble auditioned
for and performed at the
Pennsylvania Music Educators’
Association Conference.
• The Montgomery Elementary
School Odyssey of the Mind
Team placed 2nd at the
Regional Competition and
qualified and competed at the
State Competition.
• Hundreds of fourth and fifth
grade students from NPSD
elementary schools participated
in the 25th annual Young
Authors’ Conference. Various
workshops were presented by
local experts in the fields of
writing, illustrating, publishing
and more.
• Montgomery Elementary
School received the “ADL No
Place for Hate” award from the
Anti Defamation League.
• 600 students from NPSD’s
13 elementary schools
participated in the first “IRON
Knights” Elementary Triathalon.
N
PSD secondary students and staff worked hard
“This is a great moment for North Penn High School
during the 2011-2012 school year to continue
and everyone should feel the pride of accomplishing an
their upward academic trend. In particular, it
extremely challenging goal.”
was a banner year for North Penn High School. For the
Another point of pride is in the area of Advanced
second year in a row, NPHS earned the recognition of
Placement (AP) classes and exams. In 2012, 644 NPHS
being named one of the top high schools in the nation by
students took one or more AP tests at a total of 1,304 tests
both Newsweek and The Washington Post.
taken. Of those tests, 30% scored a 5 or higher and 83%
Maybe the best news of all, though, is that NPHS
scored a 3 or better.
achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status on the
PSSA. For the past several years, NPHS engaged in
state-mandated school improvement planning due to
one or more subgroups not achieving AYP. The school’s
administration and staff have implemented interventions
and programs to improve achievement for all students.
Their hard work has paid off as the high school met
all AYP targets for the second consecutive year, an
accomplishment that will release the high school from
state-mandated corrective action planning for these
SAT scores are also well above state and national levels.
S A T M E A N S C O R E S F O R 2 012
College-Bound Students
Critical Reading
NPHS:529
Pennsylvania:491
National:496
Math
NPHS:552
Pennsylvania:501
National:514
Writing
NPHS:524
Pennsylvania:480
National:488
subgroups.
450
500
550
“The fact that we have made AYP with the bar at the
highest it has ever been is a testament
Some highlights of the 2011-2012 PSSA
to the hard work of our entire staff,”
results at the secondary level include:
said Burt Hynes, principal, NPHS.
Keystones to
Opportunity
• North Penn High School achieved 83.1%
proficient in mathematics and 83.8%
proficient in reading, meeting AYP.
• Over five years, IEP students at the high
FOCUS ON SECONDARY
school closed achievement gaps in reading
The KTO Grant also supports literacy at the
secondary level. Specific strategies include
expanding programs such as Read 180,
Language!, Wilson and the Reading
Apprenticeship model. It will also support
co-teaching training and support.
and mathematics by at least 16%.
2012 Reading highlights:
• Pennbrook exceeded 90% proficient in reading.
• 60% of middle school students and 51% of high school
students scored at the advanced level on the PSSA reading
assessment.
• North Penn High School increased from 81.2% to 83.8%
proficient in reading, an increase of 2.6%.
2012 Math highlights:
• Pennfield exceeded 90% proficient or advanced.
• 67% of middle school students and 55% of high school
students scored in the advanced range.
• The percentage of high school students scoring in the
advanced range has increased 16% since 2008.
2012 Writing highlights:
• NPHS exceeded 90% proficient or
advanced in writing.
• NPHS has exceeded 90% proficient in
writing for the past five years.
Examples of Excellence
• The National Merit
Scholarship Competition
recognized 10 NPHS
students as Finalists and 28
students as Commended
Students.
• NPHS’s dual enrollment
program expanded to
provide opportunities for
students to earn college
credit at Penn State Abington
and at Arcadia.
• The NPHS Thespian Troupe
Team Shakespeare received
a 1st place trophy at the
5th Annual High School
Shakespeare Competition,
hosted by the Pennsylvania
Shakespeare Festival at
DeSales University.
• 25 NPHS individuals placed
at the Regional and State
Competitions at the Future
Business Leaders of America
Conferences.
• 28 NPHS students auditioned
and were selected to perform
in the Pennsylvania Music
Educators’ Association
District/Regional/All State
Bands, Choruses and
Orchestras.
• Nine NPHS students were
selected through audition to
participate in the prestigious
Montgomery County Honors
String Orchestra.
• The NPHS Wind Ensemble
auditioned and was selected
to perform at the prestigious
Music for All National
Festival.
• The NPHS Mock Trial Team
competed and finished in the
top ten out of 300 schools at
the Pennsylvania Mock Trial
Tournament.
• The NPHS Academic
Decathlon Team placed 1st
at the Eastern Pennsylvania
Academic Decathlon
Competition, won the
Large School Division of
the Pennsylvania Academic
Decathlon and placed 2nd
in the entire Pennsylvania
Academic Decathlon
competition.
• Three NPHS Knight Crier
staff members received 1st
place in the “Best Website”
category in the 2012 Student
Keystone Press Awards
Contest.
• NPHS NPTV Crew earned
high honors from the MidAtlantic Chapter of the
National Academy of
Television Arts & Sciences.
• The Marching Knights placed 1st in the Group IV Open Category of the USSBA Pennsylvania State Championships
and placed 1st in the
Group IV Open Category
of the USSBA National
Championships.
• The Technology &
Engineering Education
Association of PA named
NPHS teacher Mike Voicheck
as High School Teacher of
the Year and recognized
NPHS teacher Bill Michael
for exemplary leadership.
• Athletics: North Penn High
School athletics had another
stellar year, with NPHS teams
achieving high accolades
in their respective sports.
The NPHS Football Team
won the 2011 AAAA
District One Championship
and played in the 2011
AAAA State Championship
game, and the NPHS
Varsity Cheerleading Team
won the title of Advanced
Grand Champions at the
Cheer and Dance Extreme
National Competition. The
NPHS Boys’ Cross Country
Team placed 1st at the PIAA
Finals AAA Boys’ 5K with the
NPHS Girls’ Cross Country
Team placing 6th in the PIAA
Finals AAA Girls’ 5K. The
NPHS Boys’ Swimming and
Diving Team placed 1st at
the Suburban One League
Continental Conference
Championships, 2nd in the
District One Championships,
and 6th at the PIAA State
Championships and the
NPHS Girls’ Water Polo
Team won the Suburban
One League Championship
and the Pennsylvania State
Championship.
• The Pennbrook Middle
School Odyssey of the
Mind Team placed 1st at
the Regional Competition
and qualified and competed
at the Pennsylvania State
Competition.
• The Penndale Middle School
Odyssey of the Mind Team
placed 1st at the Regional
and State Competitions and
placed 4th at the World Final
Competition.
• Seven Pennbrook Middle
School students placed 1st
at the Bucks-Mont Academic
Competition against 36 other
teams.
School Nutrition Services:
increased à la carte sales by $114,000 and state subsidies
In the 2011-2012 school year, School Nutrition Services
by $105,000, while decreasing food costs $140,000 and
(SNS) earned the Bronze Level Award for the federal
equipment repair costs $40,000.
Healthier US School Challenge (HUSSC) at North Wales
Elementary School. The award includes the Bronze Award
plaque as well as $500 to help promote nutrition education
at the school. As a result, School Nutrition Services is
applying for the
Bronze Level for
all our elementary
schools for the 20122013 school year.
SNS continued
to encourage families
to apply for free and reduced priced meals, providing a
wide variety of student-friendly meals while operating
a fiscally responsible program. SNS upgraded its Point
of Sale program to increase accountability and expand
capabilities in program reporting.
During the 2011-2012 school year, SNS absorbed
approximately $220,000 in cafeteria assistant expenses,
Technology:
A Digital Resources and Options Steering Committee spent
much of the year developing a plan to best prepare students
for the demands of a competitive global economy and society,
as well as for 21st century learning skills. The committee
studied the use of mobile devices in NPSD schools. From
e-readers and tablets to cell phones and the concept of “Bring
Your Own Device” to school, the topics addressed the impact
on education and professional development.
Other successes of the NPSD Technology
Department include: the NPSD’s Brandywine Virtual
Academy opened for students; implementation of a power
management system to automatically shut down computers;
increased professional development opportunities in the area
of technology integration; development of an administrative
goal tracking system; and expansion of NPSD’s intranet for
better internal communication and sharing of best practices.
Human Resources/
Professional Development:
During the 2011-2012 school year, 923 professional
opportunities were provided to staff and more than 2,360
hours were spent on this important endeavor. NPSD
continued its efforts to improve staff understanding and
NPSD completed renovation and construction
application of cultural competency and strengthened
projects at North Wales and Nash elementary schools and
its commitment to attracting and retaining a diverse
began work at Inglewood Elementary School. Work at
staff through its Partners in Equity and Closing the
this school will continue through August 2013. This $14
Achievement Gap committees which merged into one
million project provides for renovations to the current
during the last school year.
building including accessibility upgrades, roof and
window replacements, kitchen alterations, classroom
Facilities & Energy
Management:
Continuous monitoring and adjusting
of energy use in NPSD’s 18 buildings
resulted in improved energy
performance and reduced costs by 25
percent from the previous year. All but
one building, the Support Services Center,
has achieved the Energy Star Label. The
Energy Star Portfolio Rating for NPSD increased
to 92 from 72 in June of 2011. Several curtailment
activities were conducted this year and the Alliance
to Save Energy was active with eight of our schools,
producing additional energy savings though their work.
renovations, HVAC and plumbing renovations,
electrical upgrades, and security upgrades.
The project also includes the construction
of additional areas to house a new main
office and health suite, a receiving area
and gymnasium storage.
In January 2012, the school
board approved new rates for rental of
NPSD facilities. Revenues increased from
just under $60,000 for 2010-2011 to nearly
$130,000 for 2011-2012. The revenues from outside
organizations, individuals and businesses who use NPSD
facilities help to offset the cost of upkeep, maintenance,
staffing, electricity, etc.
NPSD Fast Facts
• More than 90,000 people live in the North
Penn community, which spans approximately
42 square miles. The school district includes
children from boroughs of Hatfield, Lansdale
and North Wales, the townships of Hatfield,
Montgomery, Towamencin and Upper
Gwynedd, and the village of Line Lexington.
• Approximately 12,657 students attended
NPSD’s 18 schools last year, which includes
13 elementary schools, three middle schools,
one alternative school and one high school.
• 22 percent of students participate in the
free and reduced meal program.
• During the 2011-2012 school year, 1,992
staff members served NPSD students in our
18 schools, Educational Services Center (ESC),
Transportation Center and Support Services
Center (SSC).
• Just over 15 percent of our student body
claimed 69 different languages as their
home language, with the top five languages
(excluding English) being Bengali (395
students), Korean (357 students), Gujarati
(299 students), Vietnamese (159 students) and
Chinese (94 students).
E T H N I C C O M P O S I T I O N O F N P S D S T U D E N T S F O R 2 011 - 2 012 S C H O O L Y E A R
AM INDIAN
0.11%
ASIAN
BLACK
HISPANIC
MULTI
PAC ISL
WHITE
Total
19.52%7.34% 4.33% 0.99% 0.06% 67.65% 100.00%
Communication:
403 times. In addition, the NPTV YouTube site received
NPSD continued to provide opportunities for open
more than 252,000 individual views since 2009 and
and two-way communication. Superintendent Dietrich
2,764,031 people visited NPSD’s website viewing
held several types of community, staff and student
10,108,543 pages just this past year.
engagement events to provide district information and
receive feedback. In the spring of 2012, more than 400
community and staff members attended a Q & A session
regarding the budget. A second forum was held weeks
later to provide a budget update and poll via a text
messaging service on subjects such as advertising and
transportation. Those not present at these events were able
to watch live online and post questions for Dr. Dietrich.
Other communication efforts included a live
online chat with Dr. Dietrich conducted by The Reporter,
staff meetings with NPSD employees concerning the
budget, seven Community Conversations with the
Superintendent and 11 meetings with students through the
Fiscal Responsibility:
As always, NPSD focused efforts during the 2011-2012
school year on reducing costs on the operational side of
the school district so that resources could be targeted for
its core mission of educating students. Operating with
a 0 percent increase from the 2010-2011 school year,
NPSD tightened spending in all areas of the organization
to improve efficiencies and reduce costs. This included
living with staff vacancies, increased teaching schedules
at the secondary level, SNS efficiencies, transportation
consolidations and switching to self-funded health care.
Superintendent’s Student Council.
From September 1, 2011 to June 27, 2012, NPSD sent
196 press releases to local media outlets including print,
radio and television. Of those 196, 149 resulted in news
NPSD Financial Summary
2011-2012*
articles that have been linked to a specific press release.
North Penn Television (NPTV) covered 120 school district
events and posted 70 videos online. In 2011-2012, NPSD
received 58 Right-to-Know requests; this figure is up from
33 received the previous year.
In the world of online and social media, the NPSD
Twitter feed attained 1,232 followers by the end of 20112012. Since joining Twitter in 2009, NPSD has tweeted
Revenues
Local Revenue Sources.............. 161,546,320
State Revenue Sources................ 32,424,849
Federal Revenue Sources............... 6,019,197
Other Revenue Sources.................... 662,201
Total Revenues......................... 200,652,567
Expenditures
Instruction................................ 120,498,868
Support Services........................ 55,413,973
Non-Instructional Services............. 2,455,139
Other Financing Issues................ 18,240,338
Total Expenditures..................... 196,608,318
*Unaudited Results
Increasing revenues also took priority and NPSD
focused on disputing real estate assessments, changed the
facility usage fees and established a fee for student parking
at NPHS. Additionally, the school board established the
Alternative Revenue Committee (ARC) to study other
revenue enhancement possibilities. This small group of
community members moved forward concepts such as
advertising in schools and alumni development.
Examples of Excellence
• Hundreds of community and
staff members attended NPSD’s
Innovation Celebration II in
the spring of 2012. The event
featured ways NPSD could
raise revenues and decrease
expenditures as developed and
presented by staff, students and
community members.
• The Association of School
Business Officials International
(ASBO) honored NPSD Director
of Business Administration
Robert Schoch with the 2012
Pinnacle of Achievement
Award for NPSD’s Innovation
Celebration.
• The NPSD Community
Education Program offered more
than 500 courses and summer
camps during 2011-2012
school year. More than 4,621
participants enjoyed these
programs.
• The Extended School Care
Program served 1,173 children.
The program also achieved
Star 2 status from Pennsylvania
Keystone STARS at Hatfield,
Inglewood, A. M. Kulp,
Oak Park, and Walton Farm
elementary schools.
• Parent organizations raised
more than $500,000 to
support NPSD students, staff
and schools.
• The NPSD Educational
Foundation funded 59
innovative classroom projects in
NPSD schools worth more than
$33,000. During that same
time, the Foundation raised
another $100,000, including
an anonymous donation worth
$50,000 for an inclusion
specialist at the elementary level. Your Tax Dollars Spent Wisely
NPSD is proud that it was once again able to deliver a high-quality
education at a low cost to tax-payers. The district’s tax increase
for the 2012-2013 school year was once again one of the lowest
in Montgomery County. In fact, NPSD ranked as the 4th lowest tax
rate out of 21 school districts in Montgomery County. NPSD reports
the following:
NORTH PENN TAX RANGE FOR 2012-2013
1.7 % tax increase. Tax increases in Montgomery County
ranged as high as 4.25%.
NORTH PENN PER PUPIL COST RANKING
FOR 2011-2012
Cost per student at $15,709, the 3rd lowest in
Montgomery County. The county average is $18,188.
CLASSROOM INSTRUCTIONAL
EXPENSES
61%
11%
28%
Teachers and
Assistants,
Textbooks and
Materials,
Supplies
OTHER
CLASSROOM SUPPORT EXPENSES
Student Services: Curriculum Development,
Guidance, Health Services, Library,
Technology, Transportation
Operational Leadership: Administration,
Business Office, Human Resources,
Maintenance, Utility Costs
North Penn School District
401 East Hancock Street
Lansdale, PA 19446-3960
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Lansdale, PA 19446
Permit No. 286
NORTH PENN SCHOOL DISTRICT
Board of School Directors
PRESIDENT
Vincent Sherpinsky
VICE-PRESIDENT
Timothy Kerr
MEMBERS
Stephen Hladik Rick Miniscalco
Frank O’Donnell
Joseph Sullivan
Suzan Leonard Carolyn Murphy
John Schilling
NON-MEMBER BOARD SECRETARY
Robert A. Schoch, Director of Business Administration
NPSD SUPERINTENDENT
Curtis R. Dietrich, Ed. D.
NPSD ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT
Diane Holben, Ed.D.
Produced by the NPSD Office of School and Community Engagement
T
he 2012-2013
school year started
with important news
about how students will be assessed. The
Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) announced
that the 11th grade PSSA will not happen in 2013 and will
be replaced by the Keystone exams in Algebra I, Biology,
and English Literature -- and all 11th grade students in
2012-2013 are required to take them. Rolling out this new
measure this year and in additional grades and subjects
that are aligned to the Common Core state standards in
the years to come will be a major endeavor.
Another focus of the school year will be in developing
a plan to expand the use of digital resources and the
technological infrastructure to support the needs identified
in the plan. NPSD facilities and boundaries must also be
assessed and a plan developed to ensure our buildings are
equally equipped to educate 21st century learners.
In early 2013 the third edition of the NPHS Alumni
Directory will be published, and with that a way for NPSD
to better engage our graduates. With the information
gleaned from the directory, NPSD hopes to communicate
more frequently with alumni and develop an alumni
engagement plan.
NPSD will also step into the realm of advertising. The
newly-approved policy allowing advertising, sponsorships,
etc., will be further
detailed and implemented
with the goal of bringing revenue
into NPSD this school year. This annual
report includes the first advertising opportunity approved
by NPSD. Thank you to The Keeney Printing Group,
Inc., located in the North Penn
community at 816 W. 2nd Street
in Lansdale, for reducing the cost
of printing this publication in
exchange for ad placement.
For all of your printing needs, visit
www.keeneyprinting.com or call
215-855-6116.
As always, NPSD will continue to operate as
efficiently as possible. Living with the Act 1 index, NPSD
is committed to spending money where it matters most –
on our students. Efforts to decrease or maintain costs in
operational areas will continue. Although NPSD started the
2012-2013 year with approximately 100 less staff members
than just two years ago, the organization is better focused,
streamlined and working toward the common goal of being
in the top 5 percent of school districts in the state.
The 2012-2013 will include countless ways to be
involved. From board meetings, to volunteering in our
schools, to attending your child’s parent-teacher conference,
we welcome and encourage your participation.