• Greetings, students and parents of the Southmoreland Primary Center school community and to all stakeholders of the Southmoreland School District:

    Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year!  I sincerely hope that your summer was filled with joy and time together with your loved ones.  We, at Southmoreland Primary Center (SPC), are so looking forward to another exciting school year for your children, our students.  It is always such a renewing and inspiring experience for all of us to see our returning students from the prior school year and to welcome our new incoming students.  Making connections with our students and their families provides the foundation of the educational experience and growth for our youth.  Please know that each of us is unconditionally committed to the welfare of your children as we dedicate ourselves to the development of our students in academics and citizenship.

    This is a particularly exciting year for me as we welcome many new staff members as well as familiar staff members in new positions at SPC.  Welcome to SPC the following new staff members and previous staff members, but in new positions:

    Mrs. Morgan Tylka, SPC administrative assistant

    Mrs. Morgan Coleman, kindergarten teacher

    Mrs. Jennifer Schaeffer, kindergarten teacher

    Mrs. Jennifer Zeffiro, kindergarten teacher

    Dr. Tracey Kuchar-Long, SPC intervention specialist

    Mrs. Hannah Crittenden, 1st grade teacher

    Mrs. Kelly Derr, 1st grade teacher

    Mrs. Rebecca Pine, 1st grade teacher

    Mrs. Rebecca Thomas, 1st grade teacher

    Mrs. Michelle Pergar, STEM teacher

    Mrs. Elizabeth Goodman, art teacher

    Mr. Brian VanKirk, computer teacher

    When I address your children, our students, in our classrooms, I talk with them about several topics.  I implore students to “Believe in yourself.”  First and foremost, I want students to come to school having that confidence and belief in themselves that they will be successful.  I also speak with students to make the promise to themselves that they will do their best work and put forth their best efforts.  I hope to develop students’ understanding of their own responsibility and ownership in their educational experience, even as a five, six, or seven year old child.  I talk with your children about the choice and control they have over their attitudes.  I explain to them that they have the power to “Make it a great day.”  Those of you that are familiar with my “fist bump” greetings know that the greeting is accompanied by the statement, “Believe in yourself; do your best work; and make it a great day!”

    I also enjoy talking with our students about “words.”  I speak with enthusiasm about words and what we do with words.  We speak words, we read words, we write words.  I explain that words are our form of communication through both spoken and written language.  My hope is that the instruction that your children receive from our exceptional teachers at SPC will help your children become proficient with communication.  To this end, I would ask your support in engaging your children regularly in meaningful conversations about what they are doing in school, what they are learning in school, what our teachers are teaching them in school.  Some of our focus at SPC is on what I refer to as fluency measures.  My hope and goal is to have each of your children become “fluent” or "automatic" with letter and number recognition and identification, as well as with word recognition and reading ability.  Students who gain fluency in reading and math at earlier stages of their educational career realize stronger academic/educational growth and outcomes as they progress through K-12 public school educational programming.  To this end, I would ask that you please support our efforts by spending time regularly reading with your children.  Please devote a minimum of five to ten minutes, daily, reading to, or reading with, your child.

    In partnership with you and with a shared ownership in academic and character outcomes for your child, it is our mission to cultivate life-long learners ready for an ever-changing world to the end of maximizing not only your child’s potential but their opportunities as they move through their school-age programming and post-secondary life.

    With the utmost commitment and respect,

     

    Mr. Ron Heitchue

    SPC Principal