Chester County Press 12-21-16 Edition

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2016

CHESTER COUNTY PRESS

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Chester County Press

Local News Avon Grove officials recognize accomplishments of students By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer In its last meeting of 2016, the Avon Grove School Board handled a full agenda, including the approval of a new teachers’ contract. A portion of the Dec. 15 meeting was also spent recognizing the impressive accomplishments of some of the district’s students. Avon Grove superintendent Dr. Christopher Marchese said that seeing what the school district’s students are accomplishing by the time they graduate makes him feel like he was an underachiever when he was their age. Marchese’s observation came during a discussion about some recent accomplishments by high school students. No fewer than ten Avon Grove High School seniors have been recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation for their outstanding scores on the Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship

Qualifying Test. Three students—Brian Armstrong, Drew Lazarow, and Noah Donten have qualified as National Merit Scholarship semifinalists. The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents less than one percent of all high school seniors in the United States. These academically talented students will continue in the competition for over 7,400 National Merit Scholarships that will be awarded in the spring of 2017. Approximately 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools across the U.S. entered this year’s competition by taking the Preliminary SAT. In addition to the three National Merit Scholarship semifinalists, Avon Grove High School also has seven students who have qualified as Commended Students in the National Merit Scholarship Program. These students include Caroline Gerwig, Kieran Hannon, Kyle Holman, William

Kephart, Owen Lucas, Kai Myran, and Victoria Provost. Commended Students placed among the top five percent of students who entered the 2017 competition. Marchese said that the number of students who earn recognition through the National Scholarship Program is one illustration of a top-quality high school. Another illustration of the good work being done at Avon Grove High School is the fact that the school’s chapter of the National Honor Society inducted a record number of students—62—this year. Students qualified for the National Honor Society by maintaining a 3.5 or higher grade-point average and undergoing a review by the Faculty Selection Committee, which looked at each student’s leadership qualities, community service hours, and school involvement. The 62 students were inducted in the Avon Grove Chapter of the

National Honor Society on Dec. 1. The students who were inducted into the National Honor Society include the following: (Seniors) Sophie Akhtar, Emma Brinton, Lauren Cimabue, Maria Cruz Flores, Lauren Davis, Caroline Gerwig, Cindy Guevara, Chase Moyer, Madison Moyer, Cassie Oranzi, Sophie Page, Ronald Rineer, Spencer Wallace, Brett Yurkovich, and Joshua Zern; and (juniors) Andrew Addiego, Adriannah Alpaugh, Lindsay Arnold, Kendall Bosio, Gianna Busala, Holden Campagna, Nicholas Chastain, Kiersten Crouse, Alexander Day, Serena Derderian, Noah Dusseau, Aimee Feuda, Bailey Fulmer, Yakquelin Garduno, Amy Hannum, Kalyn Highfield, Jordan Howard, Megan Kveragas, Katie Lengel, Jason Lengel, Rory Lennox, Chelsea Lewin, Olivia McGarvey, Danielle Mininno, Robert Morris, Kaitlyn Morrison, Anna Mulle, Shannon

Oakes, Kelly O’Hora, Samantha Paglia, Olivia Paoletti, Regan Pavlock, Sydney Pelley, Tyler Phillips, Gabriella Pino, Francis Reith, Haley Rineer, Grace Russell, Ethan Sachs, Alexandra Savory, Erin Sorg, Andrew Spencer, Daphne Stingel, Kristen Sweet, A. Mackenzie VanSciver, Casey Weber, and Sara White. In other business at the Dec. 15 meeting: ~ The school board approved an employment agreement with Dr. Wendi Lee Kraft, the district’s director of personnel, for a contract extending from Jan. 10, 2017 through June 30, 2021. ~ The school board approved a long list of items on the consent agenda, including a series of retirements, resignations, and leaves, the reading of two board policies that are being revised, the appointments of several instructional staff positions and the approval of more than a dozen

student-teachers who have signed on for the spring semester of 2016-17. ~ The school board also approved two overnight trip requests—one for 95 students from the indoor color guard, percussion, and jazz band to attend the All Chapter Championships in Wildwood, New Jersey from April 30 to May 3, and one for 15 students from the indoor color guard to attend the WGI Regionals at South Brunswick High School in South Brunswick, New Jersey on Feb. 24 and 25. The next committee-ofthe-whole meeting is slated for 6 p.m. on Thurday, Jan. 12, and the next regular meeting of the school board will take place on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. Both meetings will take place in the audion of the Avon Grove Intermediate School. To contact Staff Writer Steven Hoffman, email editor@chestercounty.com.

Brandywine Ace, Pet & Farm donates cat food to local rescues Brandywine Ace, Pet & Farm recently donated pallets of cat food – one to the Delaware Humane Association in Wilmington, one to the Brandywine Valley SPCA in West Chester, and one to LaMancha Animal Rescue in Unionville. Store pet department manager Lauren Bohnert said, “The holiday season is a great time to help some of the less fortunate animals

who are looking for forever homes. A number of local rescues work tirelessly throughout the year and we are glad we can help out a bit.” Delaware Humane Association executive director, Patrick Carroll, was happy to receive the donation. “We work privately, with no government support, and rely on cash donations and donations from pet food drives or from

Lawsuit...

the administration that, “We find the allegations to be without merit. The good name of an exemplary principal is at stake, along with PTO volunteers and a PTO president. Steve Dissinger is a man of the utmost integrity. He is respected by his peers, beloved by a community that he serves, and his record of excellence stands as an unimpeachable testament to the

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Tobia said Dissinger claimed that she had resigned from the board, and then, “in an effort to create a more compliant Board, Dissinger appointed Scattolino as co-president for the 2016-17 school term, never securing formal ratification by [PTO] members.” The complaint alleges that Scattolino was then allowed to appoint friends as PTO board members without a full vote by members, which is “improper under Pennsylvania law,” according to the complaint. Dissinger also allegedly “accepted gifts from the PTO, in the form of sports tickets and other gifts [which had] been funded by monies donated by parents intended for school programs for students,” according to the complaint. Tobia is asking the court to order a new PTO board election, to “order Dissinger to disgorge all gifts made to [him] in his capacity as Hillendale’s principal,” and to “require [the PTO] to revise its bylaws to conform with Pennsylvania law,” according to the complaint. At a Sept. 19 meeting of the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board, a capacity crowd of residents turned out to offer support to Dissinger and the Hillendale Elementary PTO. At that meeting, Unionville-Chadds Ford superintendent John Sanville said on behalf of

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Patrick Carroll, Delaware Humane Association executive director (left), picks up a large cat food donation from Lauren Bohnert, pet department manager at Brandywine Ace, Pet & Farm.

pet stores,” he said. “We low-income or unemployed Brandywine Ace, Pet Association (DHA) by hoststarted the pet food pantry people in an effort to keep & Farm also works ing adoptable kittens at the about three years ago for pets out of the shelter.” with Delaware Humane store. quality of his character.” Sanville added, “The administration and the board strongly support and defend Steve in this matter, and we also strongly defend the Hillendale PTO and volunteers, and Jennifer Scattolino. … It is unfortunate that the taxpayers of this district have to pay to defend a dispute of this nature, nor is it in the best interest of our

students that the district administration and its volunteers are distracted by having to defend what is clearly without merit.” On Monday afternoon, Sanville responded by email to a request for comment, writing, “As this is an ongoing court case, I am limited in what I can say. However, I continue to stand by Steve Dissinger, Jennifer Scattalino and

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the fine members of the Hillendale PTO. I find the allegations to be specious and totally without merit. We are one community with a single purpose, the safety and development of our students. Courts are not

the proper place to resolve the issues of one disgruntled volunteer.” To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, email jchambless@chestercounty. com.

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