All in WSSD

Hateful Vandalism at WES, Investigation Ongoing

Hateful Vandalism at WES, Investigation Ongoing

Swarthmorean Staff
WSSD

Superintendent Dr. Wagner Marseille began his remarks at the school board meeting on Monday, November 22, by expressing deep concern about graffiti recently found on Wallingford Elementary School property. He noted that the graffiti, which included a racial slur, was a “gross violation of the school district’s commitment, in its mission statement, to “respect for self and others” and “leadership in the global community” — and he assured those gathered that the district is conducting an investigation into the matter.

School Board Approves Equity and Curriculum Audits, Appoints Interim Member

School Board Approves Equity and Curriculum Audits, Appoints Interim Member

Swarthmorean Staff
WSSD

A recap of the September 13 Wallingford-Swarthmore School District school board meeting. Dr. Denise Citarelli Jones, WSSD’s Director of Education, led a focused discussion recapping the September 2021 meeting of the Educational Affairs committee, which resulted in the recommendation for an equity audit slated for fall of 2021, and a curriculum audit planned for the spring of 2022. The board also voted unanimously to appoint Republican Amy Caruso on an interim basis to fill the seat vacated by Chapin Cimino in August, 2021. Free to read and share.

Board Approves Health and Safety Plan

Board Approves Health and Safety Plan

Morgan McErlean
WSSD

On Monday, August 2, the WSSD school board and school superintendent convened a special meeting to discuss the health and safety plan for this coming school year. The plan was ultimately approved after a period of impassioned public comment. Free to read and share.

2020 in Review: Before and (Mostly) After

2020 in Review: Before and (Mostly) After

Rachel Pastan
Borough Council, Local Business, People of Swarthmore, Politics, Sports, Swarthmore College, The Swarthmorean, WSSD

Rereading articles from this past January and February is like peering through the wrong end of a telescope into a lost world. Here’s a review of what we were doing and thinking about in 2020, as it showed up in the pages (and website) of this newspaper — both BC (Before COVID) and AD (After Distancing). Free to read and share

Teachers Find New Ways to Connect With Kids, Each Other

Teachers Find New Ways to Connect With Kids, Each Other

Rachel Pastan
WSSD

COVID-19 has upended strategies teachers rely on to connect with kids and teach their subjects. In the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District, teachers have had to switch gears several times, going all-virtual last spring, then preparing over the summer for in-person school, only to learn that school would stay virtual after all. Then, in October, most teachers went back to school buildings, teaching cohorts of students in a hybrid of in-person and virtual instruction. Free to read and share

Schools May Reopen Soon

Schools May Reopen Soon

Rachel Pastan
WSSD

Will school buildings reopen later this month? Maybe. The Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board discussed the possibility — and what a reopening could look like — at a three-plus-hour meeting on Monday night. Also: concerns about screen time, sports, and more. Free to read and share

District Ponders how to Mitigate Risk

District Ponders how to Mitigate Risk

Rachel Pastan
WSSD

The Wallingford-Swarthmore School District plans to open schools for in-person instruction this fall, Superintendent Lisa Palmer wrote in a July 3 email to the school community. “However,” she continued, “we know school must look different.” Palmer went on to discuss the district’s tentative plans, which seek to balance the district’s preference for in-person instruction with concerns about the spread of COVID-19.

Board Adjusts Calendar, Approves ‘Teaching Tolerance’

Board Adjusts Calendar, Approves ‘Teaching Tolerance’

Rachel Pastan
WSSD

School in the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District will start one week earlier than originally planned. The school board hopes this modest but significant measure would mitigate effects of a second wave of the coronavirus by keeping people out of school buildings for longer periods this fall and winter. Also, the anti-bias organization Teaching Tolerance will conduct a series of professional development workshops for WSSD teachers and staff next year.

It Rained on Their Parade. It Was Joyous Anyway.

It Rained on Their Parade. It Was Joyous Anyway.

Rachel Pastan
WSSD

The Strath Haven High School Class of 2020 had a senior year like no other, and they had a graduation ceremony like no other. Class members never expected to finish their last high school classes remotely, and they never imagined watching their own graduation on a computer screen at home. But the one-hour commencement video produced by the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District is full of joy, energy, music, and humor. The video was released at 5 p.m. on June 5, after a slow stream of graduates, each accompanied by two family members or friends, received their diplomas one at a time in the SHHS auditorium.

WSSD and Community Respond to Racist Video

WSSD and Community Respond to Racist Video

Rachel Pastan
WSSD

Wallingford-Swarthmore School District Superintendent Lisa Palmer reported in an email to WSSD families on Sunday that “a hurtful and disturbing video...is circulating within our community.” School district officials forwarded the video to the Nether Providence Police Department on Thursday, May 28. The department is investigating. Chief David Splain said that the results of the investigation will be presented to the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office to determine if a crime was committed and whether to file charges.

District Prepares for Coronavirus, Parents Deplore Book Removals

District Prepares for Coronavirus, Parents Deplore Book Removals

Rachel Pastan
WSSD

Board president David Grande emended usual procedure to open the meeting with a statement. Over the past week, he said, the community had been dealing with a number of challenges — coronavirus, field trip anxieties, questions about sleep and school start times, and concerns over what the district is doing around diversity and inclusion. Many people had been in touch with the board about these and other issues, Grande said. “I want to make sure everyone knows that we receive your messages and read each and every one of them.”

Free to read and share

2019: An Inventory

2019: An Inventory

Guest User
Borough Council, Local Business, People of Swarthmore, WSSD, The Swarthmorean

How to inventory a whole year? What to remind you of, and what to skip? What would you rather forget, but maybe shouldn’t? What have you already forgotten that might interest you to recall? Collecting (recollecting) these happenings and lives and milestones is a way to consider what we have accomplished and aspired to and worried about as a community, as we take the first steps into 2020. To think about where we have succeeded, where we have more work to do, and where we might want to start all over again.

Free to read and share

Play More, Sleep Right, Learn Better

Play More, Sleep Right, Learn Better

Philip Host
WSSD

The Wallingford-Swarthmore administration has extended an invitation for interested parents to join the task force that will explore the issue of adolescent sleep and the consequences of sleep deprivation and the possibility of delaying school start times. Meanwhile, in a move likely to be celebrated by 3rd graders throughout the district, the School Board voted 8-0 at its September 9 meeting to eliminate loss of recess as a penalty for student misconduct.

Free to read and share