Quaker Valley School district teachers and staff to welcome students Aug. 21

Sounds of squeaky sneakers and clanging lockers will soon fill the halls of Quaker Valley schools as district teachers and staff get ready to welcome students once again.

First day of school for the estimated 1,820 young Quakers is Wednesday, Aug. 21.

Superintendent Tammy Andreyko said excitement continues to build as opening homeroom bell time draws near.

“This year feels really special,” Andreyko said. “I really feel as though the covid years are behind us. We have seen tremendous growth in student achievement. We really are very fortunate. We did not experience learning gaps and learning losses that many of our counterparts did.

“What we’ve been able to do is really focus on having students be as well-prepared for their next grade level as ever.”

An annual report of student achievement will be released in December.

This will be Andreyko’s seventh school year as head administrator.

There were no cuts to programs or staffing as part of this school year’s budget. There are 323 district employees, including 164 teachers.

A calendar is expected to be sent out to district families this month. It will have information about student events, public events, holidays, school breaks and other activities.

Curriculum additions and review

There were a few curriculum changes made for the 2024-25 school year.

Susan Gentile, district director of instruction and learning, said two College in High School courses have been added: Spanish 5 and French 5. Students enrolled in these courses can earn college credits through Duquesne University.

The middle school has a new eighth-grade STEM courses (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) called automation and robotics. Students will take on the role of interns and work in teams to identify design requirements and create prototypes that meet the needs of clients.

Elementary social studies and secondary English Language Arts will have some new lessons as well.

Andreyko said literacy and English Language Arts continue to be key components of teachings districtwide.

“Every teacher is a teacher of reading. Every teacher is a teacher of writing,” she said.

Staff will be analyzing multiple curriculum sections this year to help make decisions on education for the next five to seven years.

Areas include libraries, health and physical education, math K-8, music K-12, computer science K-12 and art K-12.

“It will be a busy year,” the superintendent said.

Facility upgrades

All schools received some building repairs and upgrades over the summer.

Osborne Elementary received new carpeting, sidewalk and skylight repairs.

Edgeworth Elementary received some painting, HVAC repairs, music room carpet, sidewalk and skylight repairs as well as stage lighting upgrades.

New audio and visual equipment will be coming to Edgeworth courtesy of a Sewickley Valley Community Fund grant and some fundraising. It will be used for morning announcements as well as other student media productions.

The middle school received new music room carpeting, sidewalk and HVAC repairs as well as some office and auditorium equipment upgrades.

Furnishings for a high school prototype classroom are expected to be added shortly before the school year starts.

“Prototype” classroom

Social studies teacher Jennifer Matthews’ classroom was selected to be remodeled into what may be the future learning space of the proposed high school in Leet.

Classrooms would have grey “marmoleum tile” flooring. North walls would have windows while the south walls would have storage areas. Accent colors include green-grey mist, a shade of green and a shade of tan.

The goal is to give every high school teacher and student an opportunity to use the room at some point this school year and get their feedback.

“This is the time to make the change before we make the major purchases and the installations later,” Andreyko said. “This is an investment of how the floors work. It gives our cleaning staff a chance to see how they clean up, how we can care for them before we would outfit a whole school.

“This is a commitment to our staff and our students as a prototype for the future. We might make some changes based upon their feedback.”

School year theme

The theme for the year is “Where Everyone Belongs.”

Andreyko plans to form three advisory councils to help with inclusionary efforts — one each for parents, students and teachers. All schools will be represented.

“It’s going to be a three-prong effort to have people exchange ideas and a dialog of things happening in the district and our community,” the superintendent said. “We feel as though it’s a great place to call home. … That feeling is really special to our community.”

Several events are being planned to help promote the theme. Plans are very preliminary.

Team building

Quaker Valley principals and other administrative leadership team members recently spent time working on team building and professional development with a local franchise that knows a few things about creating champions: the Pittsburgh Penguins.

They met with team executives, including president of business operations Kevin Acklin and vice president of partnership marketing Steve Kelley at PPG Paints Arena.

Andreyko said they found a lot of common ground at the exclusive event Aug. 6.

“We talked about how important a new season or a new school year is,” she said. “The summer time, people think things are slow. We treat it as ‘no off season.’ We have a lot of work to do just like they do a lot of work. They were so amazing to spend time with us.

“Their goal is to win a Stanley Cup. Our goal is to help kids learn, grow and graduate from a tremendous school district. We were so graciously welcomed by their team, and their appreciation for public education was overwhelming.”

District officials are looking to hire more bus drivers.

Monark Student Transportation Corp. is Quaker Valley’s service provider.

More information about this employment opportunity is available on the transportation section of the district’s website, qvsd.org.