COUNCIL ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT
GOODNOE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
298 FROST LANE
NEWTOWN, BUCKS CO., PA 18940-1699
TELEPHONE: (215) 944-2100
August 14, 2015
Dear Goodnoe Parents,
I hope that you and your family are having a fun filled and relaxing summer. This summer is flying by and it’s hard
to believe that we are already in the middle of August. Once again, my family and I enjoyed our annual vacation in
Ocean City, New Jersey and it was especially nice running into some Goodnoe families again either at the beach or
on the boardwalk. The shore for us is always a special place. The next couple of weeks will also include preparing
my oldest son Kevin for Kindergarten. Am I really the parent of a Kindergartener?
Obviously, school is not the same during the summer months without our students. This was the third and final
summer undergoing major construction. If you drove past the school, no doubt you could see that this is a busy
place! Contractors are working hard to prepare the building for opening day. With the exception of the Gym, all
areas will be completed prior to the start of school. The gym and stage areas will be completed within a couple short
weeks of our opening.
Be advised that there is a new procedure in place for car riders as you can see in the attached diagram. All parents
dropping off/picking up their children will do so by entering the parking lot located adjacent to our new wing. Once
you enter the parking lot from this entrance, continue until you reach the car rider loop. There is now a sidewalk
that winds around to the right of the car rider line. This will allow several cars to drop off/pick up children
simultaneously and should help expedite this process. All vans will enter the site through this same entrance. One
important change that has been made is that van riders will now be dropped off/picked up near the entrance of the
new wing. Buses will follow the same procedures as in previous years. All buses will enter and exit through the
access located in front of the main entrance of the school. As in previous years, students will enter/exit the buses
from the blacktop area located near the gym. Visitor parking will be located by the main entrance of the school.
As always, there will be staff outside assisting students during our arrival and departure times. They will also be
present to assist parents as they learn this new procedure. Signs will be present as well.
Our building Rededication Celebration will take place on Friday, September 25th. I have attached a Save the
Date invitation to this email. Goodnoe Elementary families and community members are invited to attend our
celebration. The formal portion of the celebration is planned in the gym from 6:00-6:30PM. Following this, all
families are invited to continue the celebration on the back fields with a DJ, dancing, and playing. More
information is to come!
I am excited to share some staffing news with you:
1. Mrs. Mazzolla (2nd Grade) recently gave birth to a baby boy.
2. Mrs. Lieberman (6th Grade) had a baby boy at the end of our last school year.
3. Just recently, Mrs. Kleppinger, literacy specialist, decided to retire. I know you will join me in wishing her
well in retirement. As a result, I have recommended Mrs. Della Polla (1st grade teacher) for this position.
She will now be serving as the part time literacy specialist at Goodnoe and her remaining time will be at
Churchville Elementary.
4. Mrs. Sinisi will be returning from leave.
5. Mr. Marcus will be moving from teaching fourth grade to fifth grade this coming year.
Please join me in welcoming the following new staff for September:
Miss Nicole Birkbeck
Miss Danielle Gleason
Miss Katrina Wright
Mrs. Christine Dyszel
Ms. Samara Witte
Ms. Rebecca Lichtner
Ms. Hilary Adams
Mrs. McDonald
Mrs. Kitty O’Connor
Mrs. Kristin Mangan
Mrs. Rachel Kupferschmidt
Mr. Brendan Kozub
Kindergarten Teacher
1st Grade Teacher
2nd Grade Teacher (In for Mrs. Mazzolla’s maternity leave)
6th Grade Teacher (In for Mrs. Lieberman’s maternity leave)
Special Education Teacher (In for Mrs. Bojanowski’s maternity leave)
Library (Part-time)
Library (Part-time)
Humanities (Part-time)
Music (Part-time)
Teacher Assistant
Teacher Assistant
Teacher Assistant
On Monday, August 17, 2015 the Home Access Center (HAC) will be open with your child’s homeroom
information. Supply lists can be found on the front page of the school website. You will have opportunities to learn
about your child’s teacher through their summer correspondence, classroom websites, as well as during our Back to
School Nights in September.
This fall, our staff will continue its work on the Olweus Bullying Prevention Training Program that began two
years ago. This program consists of the following components:
 Posting school-wide rules about bullying.
 Organizing classroom meetings to pro-actively address student issues.
 Responding to bullying (or inappropriate student behavior) in a consistent manner.
We spent the 2013-14 school year instructing students concerning the effects of bullying. We have also posted
general policies for student behavior throughout the school and we built on this by implementing Grizzly Grams.
Students in grades K-6 had the opportunity to earn these Grizzly Grams when demonstrating outstanding behavior,
exhibiting the pillars of character. We plan to continue this work and build upon what we have already learned. If
you are interested in knowing more about the Olweus program, please click on the following LINK.
Staff professional development this year will include collaborating on ways to engage students in authentic
engagement. Teachers and staff will also continue their work on the integration of iPads, and will research
additional methods of integrating the STEM (Science, Technology Engineering, Math) disciplines both in and
outside our classroom learning environment. Several teachers will team up to create a space where students can
gather to initiate, invent, and learn with projects that link STEM to our core curriculum.
I plan to keep you informed of these and other school initiatives as the year progresses. Please mark your calendars
with some important forthcoming school events and dates:
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Kindergarten Orientation:
 9:00AM - Morning Kindergarten Students & Parents
 10:00AM - Afternoon Kindergarten Students & Parents
New Parent & Student Orientation (Grades 1-6):
 2:00PM in the Library
Meet & Greet (Grades 1-6):
 3:00PM in Classrooms
Monday, August 31, 2015 - First Day of School
Tuesday, September 1, 2015 at 7:00 PM - Grades K-3 Back to School Night
Wednesday, September 2, 2015 at 7:00 PM - Grades 4-6 Back to School Night
I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Mrs. VanKuren, Mr. Gramlich, and the Aramark team for all of their
hard work during the summer. They are doing a wonderful job, tirelessly preparing our building for the coming
year. I sincerely appreciate all of their efforts.
Your feedback is very important. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me during the
school year. I can be reached by phone at 215-944-2107 or by email at ncrawford@crsd.org. You will find me
attending the monthly PTO meetings and I maintain a Goodnoe Elementary Twitter feed at
https://twitter.com/GoodnoeEl. However, please keep in mind that list serve messages will remain our primary
format for parent communication.
I am looking forward to welcoming new and returning students to school in just a few short weeks. Have a joyful
and safe conclusion to your summer season.
Respectfully,
Nicole M. Crawford
Principal