RADNOR TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT Radnor Middle School 150 Louella Avenue, Wayne, PA (610) 386-6300 FAX (610) 688-2491 www.rtsd.org October/November 2014 Dear Parents: It is with delight that I write to you all for the first time as the new Principal of Radnor Middle School. Though I have known many of you as your Assistant Principal for 8 years, I am excited to accept the charge to lead our RMS Community and am proud to be a part of such a dynamic team. This year is certainly going to be an exciting one for me and more importantly for your child(ren). I want you to know that Chris Jahnke, our Assistant Principal and I are already off and running. We will be sharing information soon about the selection process of our third Administrator, but we are confident in our entire staff and we will continue to provide the excellent academics, the social growth and “whole child” approach that have helped our school remain among the finest in the state. I wanted to let you know of some new faculty members that joined our community this fall. They are: Caitlin Liston Heather Spindel Jessica Munoz Ashlee Bailey Brian Yohannan Olga Zografakis Jennifer Shaw Elise Bricker Franco Fiorini In addition, congratulations go out to the following staff members who will begin their new Radnor School Community assignments real soon: Kathy Polenz, a 17+ year veteran of RMS leaves us to join IES as Secretary to the Principal. Deborah Contino, an 8 year veteran of RMS, leaves us to take on a new role as Secretary of Human Resources. We wish Kathy and Deb well and look forward to working with them in their new capacity. And, finally, we welcome Jessica D’Ignazio, a Radnor Alum and parent, as our new Secretary to the Principal of RMS. It is the policy of the Radnor Township School District not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex and handicap on its educational and vocational programs or employment as required by Title IX, Section 504, and Title VI. October is the “Month of the Young Adolescent”, an annual international collaborative effort of education, health and youth-‐oriented organizations. Initiated by the Association for Middle Level Education, this brings together a wide range of organizations to focus on the needs of this important age range. (Ages 10 to 15). Here at RMS, we have several ongoing activities which include: Red Ribbon Week – October 27th – 31st – where we will have both spirit days and an anti bullying or anti drug/alcohol door decorating contest school wide. November proves to be just as filled with activities that will benefit our students in so many ways beyond the classroom. Some of these include: Our Annual International Potluck Dinner will be on November 7th at 6:30pm. The dinner will feature entertainment and food from around the world. This is a real opportunity for our families to showcase and celebrate our various social and ethnic cultures that have helped to diversify our school. In November, we also celebrate the very important partnership of parents and teachers, we will open our doors on November 19th so that parents may feel free to visit a classroom, walk the halls and get a real sense of what your child’s day looks like. Parent-‐Teacher conferences are being held on Monday, November 24th through the 26th. You should soon receive your information and instructions about signing up for parent conferences in the mail. You may also find the instructions on our school website. Please feel free to call our office if you have any questions about the conference sign ups. I am looking forward to seeing many of you during these events and feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to lead our outstanding faculty and support staff in caring for your ‘whole child’. I also want to wish all of our Radnor families a safe and peaceful Thanksgiving Break. We have so much to be grateful for and I am particularly thankful for the confidence of those that have welcomed me in my new position and continue to share their positive energy as we all work together to benefit our children. Thanksgiving is truly a wonderful time to reflect on just what a wonderful opportunity it is to work with children. Esther M. Purnell Principal It is the policy of the Radnor Township School District not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex and handicap on its educational and vocational programs or employment as required by Title IX, Section 504, and Title VI.