Board Adopts 2019-2020 Academic Calendar

By unanimous vote at the Tuesday, March 12 Legislative board meeting, the Board of School Directors of Cheltenham School District adopted the following schedule for the 2019-2020 academic year.

CBK Workshop Teaches Students to Create Cinematic Puppet Shows with Overhead Projectors

On Thursday, May 16, Sarah Fornace, one of the artistic directors of the Chicago-based Manual Cinema, conducted workshops for seventh-grade PBL Social Studies students in Isaac Stanford’s class about how to create cinematic shadow puppet shows with old-fashioned overhead projectors. Fornace concentrated on showing the students the narrative possibilities of cinematic shadow puppetry. Students learned about the different types of shots (close up, medium, tracking, over the shoulder) and terminology (motif, puppet, show versus tell) they will need to employ while working collaboratively to create their own “movies” about...

CBK Students Celebrate Brazil Day

Cedarbrook seventh graders enrolled in Isaac Stanford’s Social Studies class experienced the dynamic cultural experiences associated with the Land of the Palms at this past week’s Brazil Day celebration. Students observed and heard the dance and music representing the 208 million Brazilians and enjoyed traditional Brazilian food, including Guaraná Brazilian soda and pão de queijo (Brazilian cheese bread). According to Stanford, the program gives...

Cheltenham Alumnus Presents “How to Win a Nobel Prize”

Cheltenham High School alumnus Dr. Michael Brown, regental professor of Molecular Genetics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and 1985 Nobel Prize laureate, will present “How to Win a Nobel Prize” in the Arcadia University Great Room on May 16 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. This event is free and open to the public. In his presentation, Dr. Brown will discuss his work with his scientific partner, Dr. Joseph Goldstein and the importance of mentorship, which led the physicists to ...

Cindy Goldberg Presents at Positive Education Conference

CSD Mindfulness Coach Cindy Goldberg is a featured presenter at the Shipley School’s Introduction to Positive Education Conference for educators, administrators and school specialists June 17-19. The professional development program is designed to introduce participants to the concepts, skills and best practices of positive psychology as they apply to schools. Goldberg’s “Mindfulness in the Classroom” workshop offers 25 activities that work to bring fun into the classroom, including ...

EP, CBK Scrabble Players Putting Skills to the Test

Scrabble Club Advisor Scott Appel has been working with Elkins Park and Cedarbrook students for the past year, including Sunday meetings at the EP Cosi to practice, to help the students see playable words where others would see a random collection of tiles. The hard work has paid off as the students showed well at this past weekend’s Hasbro National Scrabble Championships at the Grand Ballrooms at Philadelphia Airport Marriott. The students’ Scrabble skills have advanced so far they were

Mindful May Life Hacks

Each week during the month of May our Positive Psychology Teacher Leaders are offering us a simple, easy to use life hack to help live more mindfully. Click on the videos and give mindfulness a try!

Cedarbrook Students Compete in County, Regional Science Competitions

Cedarbrook Middle School students have been working tirelessly since September with Cedarbrook Challenge teacher Beth Kenna to prepare for this year’s “science fair competition season.” Completing a science fair project and performing at this level “is quite a challenge,” said Kenna. Congratulations to the following students for their persistence and hard work: Maduara Boominathan, Kai Bosniak, Courtney Claxton, Victoria Crocker, Max Fulmor, Saqara Green, Matthew Greenidge, Lydia Hessel-Robinson...

CBK Runners Qualify for Penn Relays

CSD Cedarbrook Middle School (left to right) eighth grader Mariah Winfield, seventh grader Kira Murray and eighth graders Jael Sykes and Eyota Bey ran the top qualifying time of 51.76 in the in the 4x100m relay at a recent Penn Relays qualifier meet. The relay order was ...

Tie Dye Party

On Friday, March 29, 24 general and special education students participated in the annual CHS springtime ritual of tie dying the t-shirts for CHS, CBK and Myers Elementary Special Olympics participants. Hatboro Horsham High School will host the Special Olympics on Sunday, May 19. Skills for Life teachers Philip Cohen and Vonnie Gillick collaborated with Math teacher Craig Deiley to teach and support students in the...

Baseball Team Service Project

Members of the CHS baseball team traded in their mitts and bats for garden gloves and rakes this weekend to give Cheltenham Little League’s Woodland Complex and Gimbel Fields thorough spring cleanings as part of a team service project. Many of the team’s players started their diamond careers with the Cheltenham Little League (CLL), which hosts its Opening Day festivities Saturday, April 6. CLL sponsors baseball (ages 5-16), ...

CBK’s Sadie Leary Advances to National Spelling Bee

Cedarbrook eighth grader Sadie Leary won the 25th annual Scripps Regional Spelling Bee at West Philadelphia’s School of the Future on Saturday, spelling “p-o-l-t-e-r-g-e-i-s-t” and “p-r-e-c-i-p-i-c-e” in the final two rounds to take the title. Along the way, Leary, whose favorite word is “boggle,” spelled “magnanimous,” “precocious,” “entourage,” “cedilla,” “prodigal” and “asterisk.” She ran into trouble with “triumvirate,” but took her time and spelled it correctly. With the victory, Leary won...

International Day of Happiness

The Cheltenham School District was one of the happiest places on Earth on Wednesday, March 20 for the International Day of Happiness. Students and staff celebrated all over the district with projects created by Positive Psychology teacher leaders. View these photos for a sample of the happiness that flowed....

YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS WORKSHOP

Cheltenham School District is offering free training on Youth Mental Health First Aid, which is the help offered to a young person experiencing a mental health challenge, mental disorder, or mental health crisis. The training will be presented by Ms. Jane Donohue, Elkins Park School Counselor, and Dr. Nicole Warren, Cheltenham High School Psychologist. The objectives of the training are as follows:...

CBK’s Project Lit Travels to Glenside Elementary to Share Love of Reading

This past week, as part of Cedarbrook’s newly established “Project Lit,” nearly two dozen students illustrated their commitment to service projects championing the love of reading by traveling to Glenside Elementary School to read to third and fourth graders. A national, grassroots literacy movement, Project Lit is a network of dedicated teachers and students who are...

CBK HipHop Club Hits the Road to Spread Its Message

On Thursday, March 14, members of the CBK HipHop Club students traveled to Northeast Philadelphia’s Frankford High School to spread the message of social justice and power of education. Frankford representatives invited the HipHop club to perform at their school after watching the club’s stirring performance of “Letters from a Birmingham Jail Cell” at CSD’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service....

27th Annual Future Problem Solving Bowl

For the 27th consecutive year, teams of critical, creative thinkers from across the district came together for the annual Future Problem Solvers (FPS) Bowl. Each of the problem solvers has worked for months with their coaches to learn and refine the difficult future problem-solving process, which emphasizes cooperation and critical thinking and de-emphasizes competitiveness...

International Day of Happiness - March 20

CSD Positive Psychology teachers leaders spread happiness at Wednesday's faculty meetings in preparation for the International Day of Happiness on March 20. According to positive psychology researcher Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky, individuals have great control over their happiness. Half of our happiness is based upon our genetics, 10 percent on our...

Cheltenham School District Adopts “Safe2Say Something” Anonymous Reporting System

The Cheltenham School District has adopted the “Safe2Say Something” (S2SS) anonymous reporting system for grades 7-12. Mandated under the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s 2018 Act 44, the program educates students and adults to recognize and report at-risk behavior – especially on social media. The Say Something Anonymous Reporting System (SSARS) is provided through Sandy Hook Promise (SHP), a nationwide non-profit organization with programs in 50 states, encompassing more than ...

CBKTheatre Returns Home to Stage Monty Python's "Spamalot

“Lovingly ripped off” from the classic 1975 comedy film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” Monty Python’s “Spamalot” tells the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table in a whole new way. Featuring gallant (and not so gallant) knights, showgirls, showboys, cows, killer rabbits and French people, this irreverent spoof includes hilarious parodies of Broadway theatre along the way. At the 2005 Tony Awards, “Spamalot won four awards, including Best Musical, from its 14 nominations. With over 75 Cedarbrook students ...

Cedarbrook Phenom Eyota Bey Takes Middle School 400M Title at Colgate Women’s Games

After four weeks of preliminary races which saw her with a one-point lead over the field, Cedarbrook eighth grader Eyota Bey turned on the jets in the semifinals and finals to take the middle school 400m title at the 45th Colgate Women’s Games with 72 points, 12 points ahead of the second-place finisher. At the semifinals, Bey ran 59.47, nearly half a second better than the closest competition, to take the race and garner its 15 points. In the finals, she finished...

Kindergarten Registration 2019-2020

Kindergarten Registration and Readiness Screening for the 2019-2020 school year will take place Monday, May 6 through Thursday, May 23, 2019, 8:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the Administration Building located at 2000 Ashbourne Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027. There will be no registration on May 21, 2019, due to Professional Development Day. Prior to making an appointment, you must submit an application online....

Building Strengths Book Club

Cheltenham families and staff met recently to discuss ways to focus on what's good with our children in part two of the parent workshop/book club “Building Strengths.” Workshops are based on the book The Strength Switch by Dr. Lea Waters. Workshop participants discussed and engaged in activities around noticing and navigating strengths, attention, goofing off, gratitude, savoring and mindfulness. Parents and guardians played gratitude ping pong and balanced feathers as they explored ways to disconnect from technology and reconnect with their children in ...

Cedarbrook’s Isabella Rey Earns Spot in Philly Young Playwrights’ Mouthful Monologue Festival

Eighth grader Isabella Rey is on a roll, having recently published “Tibiri’s Adventure,” a book originally penned as a play about her godfather’s dog. Her latest accomplishment is earning a spot in the Philadelphia Young Playwrights’ (PYP) Mouthful Monologue Festival at the Louis Bluver Theatre at The Drake (341 S Hicks St, Philadelphia) from Thursday, Feb. 28 through Saturday, March 9. Rey’s monologue, Becoming Friends with David Copperfield, will have six public performances, and Rey will...

CSD Earns $25K Safety Grant

The Cheltenham School District has received a $25,000 school safety grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. The grant will be utilized by purchasing security-related technology. The PCCD initiates, validates and financially supports justice-related programs put forth by practitioners and experts in the justice system. The commission focuses on...

Service Projects, Historic Recitations, Song and Dance to Highlight Cheltenham’s MLK “Day On”

Hundreds of Cheltenham School District students, parents and community members will gather at Cheltenham High School on Monday, Jan. 21 for service projects, performances and birthday cake to commemorate the memory and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the District’s annual “Day On.” Each school will perform its own service project, some of which include creating flashcards for incoming kindergarten students, no-sew blankets and bags to fill with toiletries and other essentials for those less fortunate, breakfast bags for the homeless, and collecting books, coats and stuffed animals for children. Some of the organizations...

CSD School Board Accepts Tax Incremental Financing Resolution to Redevelop Elkins Estate

By an 8-1 vote, the Cheltenham School District Board of Directors accepted the tax incremental financing resolution concerning the Elkins Estate at 1750 Ashbourne Rd. in Elkins Park. The resolution reads: “Approval of a resolution of the Board of School Directors of the Cheltenham School District, approving the school district's participation in a tax increment finance districting within the Township of Cheltenham, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in connection with ...

Community Conversation on Climate, Culture and Equity

Equity, access and opportunity drive the District's work to ensure the eradication of the pervasive and inequitable outcomes in student achievement, results and performances. To that end, the Cheltenham School District hosted its second Community Conversation on Climate, Culture and Equity on Thursday, Jan. 10 at Wyncote Elementary. At the meeting...

CBK Eighth Grader Isabella Rey Publishes “Tibiri’s Adventures”

An award-winning student and accomplished playwright, Cedarbrook eighth grader Isabella Rey recently published “Tibiri’s Adventure,” an 80-page book originally penned as a play at the request of her godfather when he asked her to write a play about his dog Tibiri. The book is available in paperback and Kindle. According to Amazon, “Tibiri is a dog who lives happily in Miami with his human companion. One day he accepted ...

CBK's Bey Continues to Run Away from the Competition

With two wins and a fifth place finish in the 400-meters in the first three weeks of the 2018-19 Colgate Women’s Games, the nation’s largest amateur track and field series for women, Cedarbrook eighth grader Eyota Bey enters this weekend's fourth round of competition in contention to take a cumulative title. Bey was among thousands of females from...

CBK 8th Grader Takes First in Colgate Women’s Games 400-Meter Dash

Congratulations to Cedarbrook eighth grader Eyota Bey who won the 400 meters in 1:00.12 in the Mid School division of the opening preliminaries at the 45th anniversary Colgate Women’s Games at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute on Saturday, Dec. 15. Every year, thousands of girls and young women compete in the games in grade divisions for ribbons, medals and points. Events include ...

Wellbeing Initiative Brings Glenside’s Won Institute to CBK for Acupuncture

Through her wellbeing initiative, Cindy Goldberg has been hosting monthly stress-relieving events across the district. This month, Goldberg invited Glenside’s Won Institute to Cedarbrook for an all-day acupuncture event designed to enhance relaxation and reduce stress. Won’s Director of Clinical Education Doreen Lafferty brought a handful of colleagues to administer seated acupuncture designed for relaxation. Monthly staff wellbeing events, such as Soul Collage in October, yoga in ...

Cheltenham Lady Panthers Host Sixth Annual Alumnae Basketball Game

Cheltenham High School Lady Panthers alumnae are giving cancer the full court press. Now in its sixth year, the Lady Panthers Alumnae youth clinic and game on Saturday, Jan. 5 at Cheltenham High School aims to support those who are fighting cancer and raise funds and awareness for the American Cancer Society’s Coach vs. Cancer program. Tipoff for the alumnae game is noon. Participating alumni and alumnae include players from the Lady Panthers 2000 and 2007 state championships and four...

Cedarbrook PBL Students Explore the Concept of Identity in Inaugural Exhibition

Throughout the first marking period, Cedarbrook students participating in the project-based learning (PBL) program explored the concept of identity, asking questions about who they are and how others perceive them. These probing questions were integral to staging the school’s first PBL exhibition, which combined elements of design, building and storytelling and enabled students to share their identities with the Cheltenham community. Projects were...

Parent Workshop and Book Club Kicks Off with “A Strengths Based Approach to Flourishing”

District parents and positive psychology teacher leaders joined CSD Mindfulness/Positive Psychology coach Cindy Goldberg on Tuesday for an interactive evening centered on the importance of focusing on children’s strengths, rather than noticing their weaknesses. The Strength Switch by Lea Waters, Ph.D., was the featured reading for...

CBK Theatre Returns Home

Join CBK Theatre on November 8 and 9 at 7:30 p.m. as we return home to our own theater for this year's fall play, "The Frogs: A Modern Adaptation." Disgusted with the state of current entertainment, Dionysus, God of Wine and Poetry, decides that it's time to retrieve Shakespeare from the underworld. Surely if the Bard were given a series on HBO, he'd be able to raise the level of discourse! Accompanied by...

Cheltenham Resident Byron Ryan Named Vice Principal at Cedarbrook Middle School

With more than a decade of experience as a school-level administrator in the School District of Philadelphia, Cheltenham resident Byron Ryan has been named the vice principal at Cheltenham School District’s Cedarbrook Middle School. His hiring was approved at the Tuesday, Oct. 9 legislative school board meeting. His first day on the job is Monday, Oct. 29....

Cheltenham School District Launches Mobile App

This week, the Cheltenham School District launched a branded mobile application by SchoolMessenger. The app is available for download to mobile device in the App Store and Google Play. A collaboration between CSD Communications and Technology...

CSD Receives $20K Safety Grant from PA Department of Education

The Cheltenham School District has been awarded a $20,000 safety grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Safe Schools program. The funds will be utilized to create and launch the district’s threat assessment team. The Alexandria, Virginia-based...

Cheltenham Student Council Partners with Komen in the Fight against Breast Cancer during “Pink Out” Week

The Cheltenham Student Council is sponsoring its “Pink Out” partnership with the Susan G. Komen Philadelphia Foundation. The 2018 “Pink Out” Week will run from October 8 -12, and culminate at the CHS football team’s “Pink Out” game versus Hatboro Horsham on Friday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. The goal of this program is to raise awareness and funds to help more women and men in our community survive breast cancer. Under the umbrella of Dietz & Watson’s unique “Pretty in Pig”program...

CSD Foundation’s Fifth Annual Food Truck Jamboree Raises Hits the Spot

With food trucks for every taste, a dunk tank featuring CSD teachers and administrators, kids’ activities and silent auction and raffle with fabulous prizes, the fifth annual Cheltenham School District Foundation's Food Truck Jamboree held on Saturday, Sept. 22 at CHS raised funds for innovative educator grants. According to event chair...

CSD Shows its Character

On Wednesday, Sept. 26, CSD students and staff joined a celebration of the unique strengths which make people who they are as part of the fifth annual Character Day. An annual global event, Character Day brings together millions of people of all ages in schools, classrooms, companies, homes — anywhere people already gather — to engage...

CBK Challenge Teacher Beth Kenna Receives STEM Research Grant

Cedarbrook Challenge Consultant Beth Kenna has been named one of 24 educators across the country to receive a STEM Research Grant from the Society for Science & the Public, which will enable her to support students in conducting original scientific research. With the grant, Kenna plans to...

District Celebrates "Start With Hello" Week

This week (September 24-28), the district will once again recognize Start with Hello Week, a national initiative to raise awareness and educate students and school communities about social isolation – the overwhelming feeling of being left out, lonely or treated like one is invisible. Start with Hello teaches students ...

Cheltenham Students Take Center Stage at Philadelphia Young Playwrights Annual Festival

Can Tony Award nominations be far behind? Aspiring playwrights from across the Cheltenham School District showed well at this year's Philadelphia Young Playwrights annual Playwriting Festival, capturing ...

Cheltenham School District Foundation Awards Innovation Grants

The Cheltenham School District Foundation awarded 24 grants totaling nearly $25,000 to 27 Cheltenham educators at this year’s school-opening festivities. The individual grants ranged from $1,500 to $100. Grant ideas included funding requests for creating classroom mindfulness spaces, an outdoor classroom...

Cheltenham Transportation Adds 40 Propane-Fueled Buses to Its Fleet

The Cheltenham School District Board of Directors and Administration continue their commitment to sustainability through the introduction of 40 72-passenger propane-fueled buses to the existing Cheltenham Transportation fleet. Propane-fueled school buses provide a number of environmental advantages, including ...

Cedarbrook Hosts Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

More than four years after closing abruptly due to mold, the Cheltenham School District’s new 180,000 square-foot, ultra-modern Cedarbrook Middle School marked its rebirth with a ribbon cutting ceremony on a gorgeous evening in front of more than 100 state and local officials, school board members, township administrators and Cheltenham families...