REMINDER: No school for students and 10-month employees on Monday, September 25, 2023. To our friends who celebrate, we wish you a meaningful Yom Kippur.
National Merit Commended Students
The following 21 students were named as Commended Students in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program. This means that these students were among the 34,000 high performers who scored in the commended student range out of more than 1.5 million students taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) test last October. They are therefore being recognized for their “outstanding performance on the qualifying test used for program entry.”
Congratulations to Miguel Paolo T. Alvarez, Emma F. Lorch, Mayank Das, Alexis Y. Luo, Gayatri S. Gumaste, Sean R. Mcguigan, Arhan Kaul, Brooke S. McPike, Naman Khandelwal, Siena L. Miller, Sumit T. Laha, Taylor Mungin, Dorian J. Lee, Nanditha L. Paila, Ishaan D. Patel, Rebecca L. Riley, Harjas Singh, Aryan Srivastava, John P. Stanick, Zoey K. Tran, and Matthew W. Yeager
The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). To be considered for a National Merit Scholarship, Semifinalists must advance to Finalist standing in the competition by meeting high academic standards and all other requirements explained in the information provided to each Semifinalist.
Upcoming QPR Training - Register Today!
QPR stands for Question, Persuade, Refer: 3 simple steps that anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide. Join the Montgomery County Suicide Prevention Taskforce for a virtual QPR Training on September 27 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Gatekeeper Training prepares attendees to:
- Recognize the warning signs of suicide
- Ask someone about suicidal thoughts
- Offer and connect to help
This training will be held virtually via Zoom- information will be sent to all attendees prior to the training. This training is hosted by the William Jeanes Library and in partnership with the Montgomery County Suicide Prevention Taskforce and the Montgomery County Office of Community Information and Education. Click here to register.
Student Spotlight: Noah Ott
Noah Ott, Spring-Ford Senior, earned a perfect score on a college-level Advanced Placement® (AP®) Exam in spring 2023! Noah was one of only 357 students in the world to earn every point possible on the AP Research Exam.
“We are so excited that Noah had the opportunity to pursue a research topic that was of great interest to him. We are incredibly proud of the hard work and dedication he gave to the research and writing process that earned him a perfect score.," said Jaclyn Ritter and Julie Korchowsky, AP® teachers.
The Advanced Placement Program is committed to ensuring that students have access to the opportunities they have earned. Students who succeed in AP are not only more likely to succeed in college, but have the chance to save a significant amount of time and money by earning college credit or placement.
Colleges and universities around the world received AP scores for college credit, advanced placement, and/or consideration in the admission process. To learn more about AP, please visit exploreap.org.
Congrats, Noah!
Join us - 2023 Homecoming Parade and SFEA Picnic
Saturday, September 30, 2023: Spring-Ford students will continue a longstanding tradition of parading through the streets of downtown Royersford starting at 12 p.m. Main Street will be closed to traffic during the parade. The parade will feature the talents of Spring-Ford’s award-winning Golden Ram Marching Band, the chorus and the Spring-Ford Middle School Band, and will include various high school clubs. Athletic team members, School Board members, local dignitaries, local fire companies and the Rowdy Ram will all make appearances. The parade will end with a community picnic, provided by the Spring-Ford Educators Association (SFEA).
Finally, join fellow Ram fans as Spring-Ford Area High School's football team takes on Owen J. Roberts at 2 p.m. in Coach McNelly stadium. Gates will open at 12:30 p.m. for pre-game festivities, including musical performances, as well as the introduction of the Homecoming Court. Click here to tell your friends that you're going.
SEPAC Meeting - Date Change
Please join the Spring-Ford Special Education Advisory Committee (SEPAC) for a presentation on OT and Social Skills, given by Maria Slavin, In-Sync and Social LLC.
Marie Slavin, MS, OTR/L, has over 15 years of experience as an occupational therapist. She has been providing social skills therapy and individual sensory processing/fine motor therapy to children and adults with behavioral health diagnoses such as autism, ADHD and anxiety disorders. She spent the last 8 years specializing in social skills and self-regulation. Ms. Slavin has worked with children and families across a variety of OT settings including early intervention, hospital, school and private practice. She is the founder and president of In-Sync and Social, LLC, an occupational therapy-based social skills program for children and adults with behavioral health diagnoses who often exhibit sensory systems that are imbalanced or not 'in-sync'.
When: September 27th
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: SFAHS Hurda Learning Center (Enter through the Cafeteria door in the High School and stay to the right)
The mission of the Spring-Ford Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SEPAC) is to work for the consideration, respect, support, inclusion, and appropriate education for all the neurodiverse children within the Spring-Ford community. Please come join us and get to know your community!
Professional Development Task Force
Spring-Ford Area School District’s Curriculum and Instruction Office is seeking participation with the Professional Development Task Force.
The Professional Development Task Force will meet three times this year to discuss the professional development needs of the district and to plan future professional development opportunities. The meetings will be on Zoom from 4-5 p.m. on October 9th, January 8th, and April 22nd. Zoom links will be sent before the meetings.
Please click here to record your interest in participating this school year. If you have any questions, please contact Catie Gardy, Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Educational Technology, cgard@spring-ford.net.
Annual Public Notice of Special Education Services and Programs
Click here to review the Annual Public Notice detailing how a student qualifies for special education and gifted services, programs available, the screening process, evaluation process, rights and protections of parents and confidentiality.
SFAHS Hispanic Heritage Month
The SFAHS Hispanic Heritage Month Periodic Table is back! The table features 90 individuals of Hispanic-American heritage who have left a legacy in our world. The table includes scientist, inventors, athletes, artists, entrepreneurs and more.
Thanks to Mrs. Smith-Wood for creating and updating the table each year! Click here to watch the 2022 Spotlight Video.
Free Tutoring in 2023-2024
Spring-Ford will offer two types of tutoring this year, On-Demand Homework Help and 1:1 Learning Loss Tutoring.
On-demand Homework Help (1:1; Live; Online; On-Demand): On-demand Homework Help is ideal for students who may be struggling with homework assignments or studying for an assessment and needs extra help. Click here for a brief overview of the On Demand Tutoring/Homework Help experience. You do not need to register for On-Demand Homework Help! Your student can simply log into their Canvas page, click on your desired course, and click on BRAINFUSE- ON-DEMAND TUTORING on the left navigation bar.
1:1 Learning Loss Tutoring (1:1; Live; Online; Scheduled in Advance): Registration is required for 1:1 Learning Loss Tutoring. 1:1 Learning Loss Tutoring is not intended for those interested in Enrichment or Accelerating through the curriculum. This is designed for on-going tutoring with the same tutor on specific topics in which a student is considered to be behind. Students would receive a set of hours to schedule at a time that works best for your family (evenings, weekends, summer etc.). Due to high demand, to qualify for this type of tutoring there must be a demonstrated learning need. Out of respect for those who truly need support, we ask that you please adhere to these guidelines. There is NO charge to the family for 1:1 Learning Loss Tutoring. Click here to learn more and complete an interest form.
Tutoring is being funded through ARP ESSER Learning Loss and ESSER 7% Set Aside Funding. Tutoring would be offered at no charge for the family.
Device Insurance Fee
Families with students in grades 5-12 are asked to pay a Device Insurance Fee annually for their school issued devices. Families who pay the annual $25 Device Insurance Fee will be covered for all necessary repairs unless it has been deemed by the technology department that damages were caused intentionally or by extreme negligence. Families who do not pay the annual $25 Device Insurance Fee will be required to pay for any repairs that are deemed necessary. This list also indicates the most common repairs and is not meant to be an all inclusive list. Repairs that do not appear on this document will require a quote from the vendor. All repairs must be completed through the district vendors. Students are not permitted to perform their own repairs or obtain repairs on their own from non-district vendors. Click here to learn more.
Log into Schoolpay.com pay the Device Insurance Fee before October 15, 2023.
Note: Due to a SchoolPay error, you may see Device Insurance Fee – Chromebook in your dashboard, even though you processed the payment. To confirm that your payment has been processed, please review either your History or Payment transactions. If you have paid the fee, you do not need to do anything further.
Free and reduced families must complete the Device Insurance Fee – Chromebook process on School Pay even if they are exempt.