Fresh paint, new playground to greet Lewisburg students

LEWISBURG — Fresh paint on the walls, a new playground at one school, and several new learning opportunities await students in the Lewisburg School District as the district prepares for opening day.

"We are opening our doors with staff on Monday, Aug. 21, with our traditional full-staff convocation," Superintendent Cathy Moser said. "With two days of pre-service for teachers, we then welcome all students Wednesday, Aug. 23. Each building level has orientation/student and parent welcome events scheduled in our early days of the school year, and all dates and times have been communicated out to families.

"We will also open our elementary school doors to hallways, classrooms, gymnasiums, cafeterias, and libraries having received refreshed appearance with new paint applied over the summer."

Kelly Elementary students also will have a new playground, as the district has worked with Playworld to bring new play equipment to the facility.

"We are pleased to have playground pieces that encourage all children to play together with pieces that are accessible for every student," Moser said."We appreciate the financial assistance we have received from the Degenstein Foundation and our elementary PSA in this venture."

Students will also have the chance to take new programs and courses at their schools.

Moser said the new courses in the high school include: Broadcast media, piano lab, guitar, ukulele and AP advanced computer science courses. The new Farm to Table course features a new greenhouse structure.

Work is wrapping up on the greenhouse. According to the district, the $251,845 cost of the greenhouse is being funded by the Green Dragon Foundation.

Thus far, the foundation has submitted $130,000 for the project, with fundraising continuing to cover the remainder of the cost.

At the middle school, new courses are being offered in math, business, computer and information technology.

Moser noted a change in the district's transportation provider.

"Our bus and van transportation system is new for us this year, as we begin to use Adam Transportation," said Moser.

The district formerly used Rohrer Bus Services as its primary transportation service.

Another change coming is in the district's dining program prices.

"We have new lunch prices this year: Elementary lunch is $3.60 each day, and secondary daily lunch price is $3.90," Moser said. "Families who may qualify for free/reduced lunch must be sure to complete the application for the program. The district does not qualify for providing free lunch to all students."

A new sport is being offered at the high school level, PIAA Interscholastic Girls Volleyball.

Moser said staff have been busy over the summer.

"Many teachers have taken professional development work in LETRS, a framework to approaching reading and language understanding through Structured Literacy," Moser said. "We have hosted this training on site in the District.

"Teachers have also engaged in professional development to work with new standards in science, known as STEELS (Science, Technology and Engineering, and Enviornmental Literacy and Sustainability)."

Moser said some faculty used the summer to take graduate classes, and attend workshops and conferences.

"A final new I would draw attention to is our new administrators in the district," said Moser. "We have Mr. Vince Hoover joining us as our assistant superintendent. Mr. Eric Wetzel’s role expanded to be elementary principal K-5. Mr. Brett Hoffmaster is serving as assistant elementary principal K-5. And Mr. Michael Sokalzuk is serving as our middle school principal."

Hoffmaster and Sokalzuk have previously served as teachers in the district.

Jim Diehl can be reached at 570-742-9671 ext. 114 or [email protected].

Log In

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,racist or sexually-oriented language.PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.Don't Threaten. Threats of harming anotherperson will not be tolerated.Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyoneor anything.Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ismthat is degrading to another person.Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link oneach comment to let us know of abusive posts.Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitnessaccounts, the history behind an article.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

Would you like to receive our daily news? Signup today!

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.