ASD Highlights & Happenings
Fall 2025 Edition
Dear Abington School District Community,
Welcome back! I hope you are feeling settled into the 2025-2026 school year, whether you are a teacher, staff member, student, or parent or guardian.
This year’s back-to-school theme was "Future Focused: Engaging Learners & Achieving Goals", with an eye on not only the year ahead, but also on the paths our students will take from K-12 and beyond. This theme was not only reflected in our initial days of leadership workshops and teacher/staff professional development, but it also extends to our website, where a revitalized page focused on "Who We Are" as a District encapsulates what's ahead for the future of Abington School District, and in turn, our students.
Framed by our Comprehensive Plan for 2025-2028, which was formed with stakeholder input and will help guide the next three years of teaching and learning in our schools, there is an emphasis on cohesion between Abington School District's districtwide efforts and initiatives, including between the Comprehensive Plan and the nine schoolwide plans. This umbrella approach will ensure alignment across all of our departments and buildings.
The goals and action steps of these plans promote a collective vision of the skills and attributes we would like our students to possess upon the completion of their educational journeys in our schools. I encourage you to read more about Abington School District's Portrait of a Graduate in the below newsletter, and on our website.
I am looking forward to another great school year with our tremendous team of 1,200 teachers and staff members who are all working together to engage our 8,100 students in helping them achieve their academic goals.
Have a great school year!
Regards,
Dr. Jeffrey S. Fecher
Superintendent of Schools
Abington School District Launches Portrait of a Graduate
To kick off the 2025-2026 school year, Abington School District proudly unveiled the official “Portrait of a Graduate”, a collaborative and collective vision that provides an enriched community-wide understanding of what being a graduate of Abington Schools means. This initiative builds upon district efforts already underway, and defines the knowledge, skills, and traits every student should develop from grades K-12 in order to prepare them for success in college, career and life.
The Abington School District Portrait of a Graduate features the following attributes:
- Problem Solver
- Skilled Communicator and Collaborator
- Resilient Learner and Achiever
- Creative and Innovative Thinker
- Informed and Engaged Citizen
The portrait was informed by a fall 2024 stakeholder survey that garnered more than 700 responses, which was further refined by a districtwide committee who met over the course of the 2024-2025 school year to identify and prioritize the desired key skills and attributes. Abington Senior High School students enrolled in the Design, Photography, and Illustration program at the Eastern Center for Arts and Technology helped bring that vision to life by developing the Portrait of a Graduate graphic.
As the Portrait of a Graduate provides a foundation of common outcomes of an Abington School District education, it also serves as a roadmap to guide future educational programming and District initiatives that are aligned with school operations, resources, pedagogy and student experiences.
The Teaching and Learning Department is developing a multi-year districtwide plan to determine how these indicators will be infused into the K-12 curriculum. In the months ahead, the Portrait of a Graduate committee will meet to discuss how this framework will shape efforts at Abington Senior High School. A similar committee will be formed at the Middle School to outline how the Portrait of a Graduate will be utilized in grades 6-8, with an elementary committee for grades K-5 being formed next year.
“The Portrait of a Graduate skills and attributes are an end-goal for all of our students across our district’s nine schools,” Ms. Laura Enama, Assistant Director of Secondary Teaching and Learning, said. “However, what resiliency looks like in a first grader will differ from how we measure that trait at a 9th-grade level, just like it will vary based upon a student’s individualized educational goals. As a result, the ways we infuse the Portrait of a Graduate into the programs within each grade will vary, but the aim remains the same — to ensure that every student is building upon this foundation as they move from grades K-12.”
Design Phase for a New Abington Middle School
At the August 12, 2025, meeting of the Board of School Directors, Dr. Fecher provided an updated on the status of the Abington Middle School project, which is now in its Design Phase following voters’ approval of the referendum on May 20, 2025. Since then, the following steps have been taken:
June 2025
- At the June 24, 2025 Board meeting, the District entered into a contract with ICS for Professional Program Management, Design Professional, and Construction Management Services for the Middle School construction, demolition and relocation of athletic fields and related improvements.
August 2025
- The ICS team took the Board and Administration on a tour of the new Keith Valley Middle School to provide an example of how some districts have designed their new buildings. Plans have been made to tour a few additional schools in the area to inform this phase of the Middle School Project.
- At the August 12, 2025, Board meeting, the Board authorized the District to assemble the bond finance team to investigate and prepare for the issuance of debt in Series 2025 General Obligation Bonds in order to fund capital projects that address the Abington School District Middle School Project. The bond finance team is comprised of Ms. Audrey Bear, Financial Advisor, from Piper Sandler; Mr. George T. Magnatta, Bond Counsel, from Saul Ewing, LLP; Mr. Justin O'Donoghue, District Solicitor; Ms. Patricia Denicola, Chief Financial Officer and Board Secretary; and Dr. Jeffrey Fecher, Superintendent of Schools. At the time of the Board approval, Mr. Christopher Lionetti, former Chief Financial Officer, was also a part of the bond finance team, prior to his September 19th retirement after 32 years of service to the District.
September 2025
- At the September 30, 2025, Board meeting, Ms. Bear reviewed the Proposed General Obligation Bonds Series 2025 as part of the evening's orientation. This included the proposed bond amounts for the Middle School project and a potential schedule, based on a borrowing amount of up to $285 million:
- 10/5/25 - $20 million
- 12/15/26 - $135 million
- 7/1/28 - $130 million
- Planning work has already begun to prepare for the design of the Middle School while bonds are being finalized. Site surveys and geotechnical exploration are underway on the campus, and a portion of the bonds will cover the costs of those services already rendered.
Next Steps
- Once the bonds are finalized, the District will send out a communication regarding what the amounts and schedules will mean for taxpayers over the coming years, beginning with the first increase in July 2026.
- This fall, opportunities for community input will include an online stakeholder survey that will help inform the Middle School's features and design. This survey will occur after a schematic design package is presented to the Board, which provides details like available building area, elevation, etc.
- Emails with the ThoughtExchange survey link will be sent through the District's Community Listserv, which residents can subscribe to by following the instructions listed on the ASD website. Other routine communications channels will also be utilized, such as www.OneASDOneFuture.org and District social media platforms. For those who do not utilize social media, the Abington School District mobile app is available for download to receive Live Feed updates.
- Abington Middle School staff will also have opportunities to provide feedback in the development of the new school's design, including helping to identify areas of priority in relation to the educational program.
Counseling Department Parent Seminars
Join the Student Services Department for a new virtual series of parent seminars, hosted by the Elementary Counseling team. These seminars are designed to orient families to the services and supports that are offered by school counselors. For those unable to watch live, recordings will be posted under the Student Services section of the ASD website.
- Thursday, Oct. 9, 9:30-10:15 a.m. - The ABCs of Emotional Support: Anxiety, Bullying, and Conflict Resolution
- Thursday, Nov. 20, 9:30-10:15 a.m. - Understanding Your Child's Progress: The Role of Conferences
Calling All Readers!
Want to show off your student's super reading skills or their favorite book? The ASD Reads! poster campaign is expanding for the 2025-2026 school year, and we want to feature our students' love of reading on social media!
Email a photo of your student either reading, or posing with, their favorite book to CR@abington.k12.pa.us. Please include their name, school, and the book's title, which we will feature on ASD social media channels as their very own ASD Reads! comic-book-style poster. Follow along on Facebook and Instagram for reading recommendations, and visit the ASD Libraries page to see titles available in your student's school.
Mental Health & Wellness 101: Supporting Youth and Young Adults
Community organizations and local mental health experts will lead a discussion about mental health and wellness among our area’s youth and young adults, including how to identify signs of distress, how to support them in maintaining healthy mindsets, what you can do to help during times of a mental health crisis, and social-emotional resources that are available right in our own backyards. The free event is sponsored by the Abington Community Taskforce (ACT) in partnership with Citizens and Police Together (CAPT) and Penn State Abington.
Thursday, November 13, 2025
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Penn State Abington - Sutherland Building
Panelists:
- Abington Township Police Department
- Child & Family Focus, Inc.
- Montgomery County Mobile Crisis
- NAMI Montgomery County PA
- Penn State Abington
If you plan to attend, please fill out this form. Please note that this event is not intended for children under 12 years of age. If you would like to attend this event as a community partner to provide resources, please email CR@abington.k12.pa.us.
Connect with Us on LinkedIn
Abington School District is now on LinkedIn! Connect with us to discover employment opportunities, or to follow along with District updates regarding our 1,200+ team members.