Happy First Day Of School, Central Bucks

Monday is the first day of school for students in the Council Rock School District.

Superintendent David Weitzel wrote the following letter to parents and students earlier this month in anticipation of the start of school:

Dear Central Bucks Families,

I hope that you have had a relaxing and fulfilling summer, and that our students are ready to take on the challenges and opportunities of another school year.The summer months are a busy and productive time in our school district! You may have seen the updates on our website regarding some of the summer construction projects going on in our schools. Our facilities and operations crews are working hard to have all work completed by August 31st.

Throughout the summer months, our teachers have been busy as well, attending curriculum meetings and professional development workshops on such topics as: reading and writing strategies, math problem-solving instruction, and the effective use of educational technology to increase student motivation and engagement, to name a few. Approximately 90 teachers, staff, and administrators attended the International Society for Technology Educators Conference(ISTE) in Philadelphia this past June. The lessons learned by the group will help shape our professional development focus for the 2015-16 school year and beyond.

CB’s Information Technology Department has used the summer to: replace the phone system throughout the entire district, replace desktops throughout the district as part of the regular replacement cycle, add more wireless access points and interactive projectors in our buildings, upgrade network software, firewalls, power supplies, and switches, upgrade the GPS tracking functionality for the district buses, and supply student laptops to support the QUEST program. In this coming school year, IT will further CB’s Educational Technology Initiative by providing greater access to student laptops at all grade levels.

I hesitate to talk about snow days while the weather is still so nice; but I do want to let you know about our new snow make-up policy in advance of this year’s winter weather. In an effort to help families better anticipate changes to our calendar, I have created a matrix illustrating what the district’s strategy will be in the eventuality of snow days this school year. (Click here to view the matrix)

I hope this will help families with their personal calendars.

In closing, I hope you and your family enjoy the last few days of the summer vacation, and that you are looking forward to the first day of school, Monday, August 31st.

Best wishes for a successful school year.

David Weitzel, Ed.D.