BUTLER

Kindergarten enrollment: 440

Senior class enrollment: 439

New staff members:

Lesley Fidler, Summit Elementary principal

Hope Hull, Connoquenessing Elementary principal

Henry Arch, special education

Amanda Scholar, special education

Clare Teti, special education

Brent Piccola, junior varsity golf coach

Kyle Heller, assistant football coach (9th grade)

Kerry Miller, p.t. Latin

Mark Pappal, JROTC instructor

Rachel Varner, special education

Travis Shingleton, M plus

Facility upgrades/changes: A new basketball court floor, roof replacements/repairs at Northwest and Center Township elementaries, new high school cafeteria furniture, additional security cameras.

Program changes: New weekly STEAM classes for elementary school students, including engineering concepts and coding classes. Kindergarten is on a full-day schedule now.

FREEPORT

Kindergarten enrollment: 134

Senior class enrollment: 146

New staff members:

Cara Masters, special education teacher at South Buffalo Elementary

Trista Graham, special education at the middle school

Mallory Heinle, special education at the middle school

Alesha Lindo, second grade at Buffalo Elementary

Jennie Youell, licensed professional counselor

Marcie Marasia, teacher’s aide

Dawn Arrington, teacher’s aide

Facility upgrades/changes: Replaced student furniture in the high school; replacing window blinds in classroom windows at the high school; full resurface of the district track; replaced 85 feet of high school main sewer line; replaced the walk-in refrigerator, freezer and ovens at the high school cafeteria; replaced external doors on the north side of the high school.

Program changes: Hired a full-time counselor for prevention of incidents related to mental health.

KARNS CITY

Kindergarten enrollment: 88

Senior class enrollment: 129

New staff members:

Nicholas Stockert will teach fourth grade at Sugarcreek Elementary School.

Facility upgrades/changes: Partial roof replacement, new HVAC, gym renovations, new indoor batting cage and painting at the high school. Parking lots at all three schools have either been sealed or repaired.

Program changes: More than 250 new Chrome books, 100 new desktops and 30 new laptops have been purchased. The wireless network in all three buildings has been upgraded and the district’s website has been refreshed.

Students will be introduced to coding at both the elementary and secondary levels.

At the high school level, a junior high programming course and a senior high robotics and 3-D printing course have been added.

The bell schedule has been changed to allow extended homeroom period time of about 40 minutes to provide opportunities for enrichment and intervention. Clubs and organizations will have time to meet and tutoring will be available daily.

A goal is to have all students participate in at least one activity during this extra morning time.

MARS

Kindergarten enrollment: 236

Senior class enrollment: 251

New staff members:

Jennifer Connelly, a special-education teacher at Mars Centennial.

Sara Coon, a health and physical education teacher at Mars Centennial and primary center.

Carla Dillner, school nurse at the Centennial.

Greta Huggins, first-grade teacher at the primary center.

Shannon Kayode, a speech and language teacher at Mars Elementary and primary center.

Katie Masiura, multi-tier system of support reading intervention specialist at the elementary.

Megan McCaul, districtwide guidance counselor.

Angela McCoy, guidance counselor at the Centennial.

Kayla Pittser, special-education teacher at the elementary and an afternoon kindergarten teacher.

Summer Weinheimer, a long-term substitute art teacher at the Centennial and elementary.

Kelly Frantz, paraprofessional at the middle School.

Jennifer St. Clair, paraprofessional, at the Centennial.

Facility upgrades/changes: None

Program changes: Taking steps to curb bullying. The district is starting Rachel’s Challenge, a program based on writings by Rachel Joy Scott, the first victim in the 1999 Columbine High School shooting. Scott’s work advocates for kindness to end bullying. The district started a school safety hot line in May. The phone number is 724-625-2720.

MONITEAU

Kindergarten enrollment: 73 students

Senior class enrollment: 100 students

New staff members:

Meghan Guntrum, fourth grade teacher

Staci Bettencourt, elementary librarian

Jennifer Walters, elementary school nurse

Brad Koscinski, Tom Palla and Garrek Lapusnak, full-time police officers.

Facility upgrades/changes: Skyward (new student management software), metal detectors, Google Domain for staff and students, 180 Chromebook computers and School Dude (maintenance and technology work order software)

Program changes: College and career class.

SOUTH BUTLER

Kindergarten enrollment: 131

Senior class enrollment: 199

New staff members:

Melissa Barton, fourth grade teacher, intermediate elementary school

Gina Bishop, special education aide

Megan Bosko, learning support teacher, primary school

Casey Carreiro, orchestra

Emily Cramer, German teacher, middle and high schools

Brenda Friel, MTSS/instructional support, primary school

Lori Gregory, curriculum and human resources secretary

Nicole Heidenreich, reading teacher, middle school

Greg Hess, school counselor, high school

Brittany Koman, third grade teacher, primary school

Marisa Panzer, school counselor, middle and high schools

Adam Purdy, technical education teacher, middle and high schools

Mary Sweeney, nurse, middle school

Vanessa Zanoli, teacher aide

Facilities upgrades/changes: Renovation of the high school library into the Legacies Learning Commons. Replacement of the cooling tower that helps to regulate the air temperature in the middle and high schools.

Program changes: Adoption of a new reading series for kindergarten through fifth called “Wonders,” a series that uses technology to provide a learning experience.