8/13/2019 Spring-Ford High School Band

1/2

Spring-FordB OA R D N O T E S

Spring-Ford Area School District April 2009

199 BECHTELROAD, COLLEGEVILLE, PA 19426-2852 610-705-6000 WWW.SPRING-FORD.NET

Spring-Ford High Schools Honors Wind Ensemble

was honored by the School Board

April 27th for being one of the few

groups in the state to be invited to

perform at the annual Pennsylvania

Music Educators Association

(PMEA) conference on April 24th.

Every year several hundred groups

send CDs in hopes of performingthere, said Superintendent Dr.

Marsha Hurda, who attended the

conference. While I was watching

I saw people with tears in their eyes.

They were just in awe of the work

Not able to get to the Board meeting in person? Tune into RCTV-Comcast Channel 851, where work

sessions and meetings are broadcast monthly. For a channel schedule, visit www.spring-ford.net.

Spring-Ford High School Honors Wind EnsembleRecognized for Special Performance

the students and Mr. (John) Eckstine have done.

Mr. Eckstine, who directs the

ensemble, then led the group in a

performance of Stars and Stripes

Forever. He thanked Dr. Hurda

and the School Board for their

support of the music program.

It was an honor and privilege tocome not only to PMEA but to

play for the Board of Directors,

he said. I think the band students

should applaud the School

Board.

Spring-Ford Intermediate School student Morgan

Warchol was recognized by the Spring-Ford Area School

Board April 27th for being nominated for the Council for

Exceptional Childrens 2009 Yes I Can! Award.

Morgan, a fifth-grader, was nominated by her fourth-

grade learning support teacher, Michele D. Fonte.

Morgan has become an advocate not only for herself,but also for others faced with learning challenges,

Ms. Fonte said.

Because of her learning disabilities, Morgan struggled

with various school subjects, but discovered it was easier

for her to remember lessons and facts by using her artistic

abilities to draw or sing about what she was learning. She

soon began sharing her techniques with others and wrote

a narrative called My Cheating Mind, which she began

sharing with other students, teachers and principals so

that they can understand that everyone learns differently.

Morgan submitted her article to Advance, a nationalhealth care magazine, which resulted in an article about

Morgan in the publication. The school district cable

channel ran a feature program on her accomplishments,

and Morgan has been invited to return to Upper

Providence in May as a student advocate who will help

other students make the transition to fifth grade. She

(continued on back)

Student Who Makes a Difference Commended by School Board

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT ARE SUPERINTENDENTDR. MARSHAHURDA,

MORGANWARCHOL AND TEACHERMICHELE FONTE.

8/13/2019 Spring-Ford High School Band

2/2

The Spring-Ford Area School Board will hold its next work session

on Monday, May 18th. The next regular Board meeting will be

held on Tuesday, May 26th. Both meetings will begin at 7:30 p.m.and will be held in the high school cafeteria.

as well as textbooks for chemistry, math, history,

psychology and German classes.

In other programming and curriculum votes, the Board

approved:

A lease with ePlus Technology to replace desktop and

laptop computers to be refreshed during summer of

2009. Payments will be approximately $206,029

quarterly.

$19,000 to fund the refresh of computers for thedistricts support technicians.

The Cool School Program, which will be held from

July 6-24 at Royersford Elementary School and is open

to all elementary school students. All expenses will be

covered by student tuition fees.

The Summer Library Program, which will be held

at Royersford Elementary School and is open to all

elementary students. It will run from July 6-24 and the

cost to run the program will not exceed $606.

Board WelcomesNew Student Representative

Student Representative Samantha Wanner was thanked

for bringing her enthusiasm to the Board table and was

bid a fond farewell at the April 27th meeting.

Samantha told Board members that serving in the

position taught her about the needs and wants of a

growing community and gave her the ability to connect

with her fellow students on various issues. She also

thanked the Board for its efforts on behalf of students.

I would not have the vast opportunities I have as a

student were it not for you, she said.

Samantha will be replaced by Michael John, who was

welcomed at the April 27th meeting and will begin

attending as the Student Representative in May.

Student Who Makes a DifferenceCommended by School Board (continued)

has also spoken at parent nights to teach families about

different strategies to help students learn and reach

academic goals.

Thank you for this award. I really appreciate it,

Morgan said.

Architects Fees Discussed at Work Session

Proposed changes to the contract for an architect who

is responsible for the high school additions/renovation

project had several Spring-Ford Area School Board

members asking questions at the April 20th work session.

The proposed fee for E.I. Associates, the firm that is

carrying out the high school project, had been

approximately $1.6 million, a figure that was based on a

percentage of the overall estimate project costs. When the

project came in significantly below the original estimate,

the architects fees dropped to $1.3 million.

However, the administration has proposed maintainingthe original fee because E.I. Associates has agreed to

perform a number of duties that could prevent additional

expenses down the road for example, the firm will

provide an engineer to remain on site during the project

and limit the expense of possible change orders.

Board members Mark Dehnert and Michael Masciandaro

objected to the idea of paying the architect more. At the

following weeks meeting, E.I. Associates representative

Gary Bannon was scheduled to appear to discuss the

contract, but had to cancel due to an emergency. As

a result, the Board tabled the motion to amend the

E.I. Associates contract and agreed to revisit the issueagain in May.

New Textbooks Purchased forComing School Year

Next year, Spring-Ford Area High School students will

benefit from the approval of more than $300,000 worth

of new textbooks.

Board members approved the new books at the April

27th meeting, with Superintendent Dr. Marsha Hurda

commending Johnna Weller, Supervisor of Curriculum

and Instruction, and Dr. Kenneth Donahue, AssistantSuperintendent, for finding the best prices on textbooks.

The new books include literature anthologies for 11th-

and 12th-grade English classes, an early childhood

textbook for Family and Consumer Sciences classes,

SPRING-FORD AREA SCHOOL BOARD

PRESIDENTDONNA WILLIAMS

AND SAMANTHAWANNER

MICHAELJOHN