Haverford Happenings

Elementary Schools

Kindergarten:

• AM: 8:45 am – 11:25 am

• PM: 12:50 pm – 3:30 pm

Grades 1 – 5: 8:45 am – 3:30 pm

Haverford Middle School

7:50 AM - 2:40 PM

Haverford High School

7:30 AM - 2:22 PM

Dear Haverford families,

The beginning of the school year is one of my favorite times of the year as it brings fresh opportunities for learning, growth, and connection. I am truly excited to welcome you to the 2025-2026 school year, and like many of you, I share the same mix of excitement and curiosity as we begin this journey together.

Our staff has been working hard to prepare our buildings for engaging lessons and meaningful experiences designed to inspire every student. I’m looking forward to experiencing these first days alongside you and continuing to learn about what makes our schools and this community so special.

Most importantly, today marks the beginning of a shared journey. As a leader who values diversity, teamwork, and innovation, my leadership is rooted in four core principles that are well-aligned with our mission and strategic plan to advance the district’s future success.

1. Collaboration is the foundation for fostering Community Pride and Civic Engagement. The best outcomes are achieved when we work together. Partnering with our talented educators, staff, students, families, and community members will foster a culture of shared responsibility and mutual support.

2. Innovation is essential for Academic Excellence. In today's rapidly changing world, evolving our educational practices is crucial. I am committed to exploring and implementing innovative approaches to prepare our students for success in the 21st century.

3. Communication is the cornerstone of Belonging. Open, transparent, and consistent communication is vital for building trust and strengthening relationships across our school community, and I pledge to keep all stakeholders informed and engaged.

4. Involvement is essential to nurturing Social-Emotional Growth. Every student in our district deserves to feel valued, respected, and supported. I am dedicated to promoting an environment that involves and provides opportunities for all while celebrating their individual differences.
   
   

This year, we will grow together, achieve new milestones, and support one another every step of the way. Your involvement is essential, and I can’t wait to see what we will accomplish together.

Dr. Matthew C. Hayes

You can find Summer Curriculum Resources here. Please review the information on summer reading assignments for the grade level your child will be entering.

Beginning with the 2025–26 school year, Chromebooks for students in grades 3–5 will remain at school and will only be sent home when a teacher determines they are needed for curricular activities. Only students in grades 6-12 will regularly have a Chromebook come home with them.

The technology department is hard at work preparing classroom devices for elementary classrooms and updating devices to distribute to students in grades 6 and 9.

Some school districts in parts of our state and nation have increased restrictions on cell phone use by students or even enacted cell phone bans. We want to provide some context on this issue for the coming school year.

Cell phones have become an integral part of our modern life. Many of our middle and high

school students have cell phones, and we respect that parents may choose to provide them to

their children for various reasons. However, it’s important to note that the district provides

students with all the technology needed for classroom use. Our students have access to a wide

range of technological resources that support learning and development at all levels, and

personal cell phones are not required or needed in our schools for instructional purposes.

In addition to our School Board Policy addressing technology use, the following is a brief

summary of our guidelines for cell phone use across grade levels:

Elementary School:

Students should leave cell phones and other personal electronic devices (iPads,

Apple/Smartwatches, Gizmo Gadgets, other electronic devices, etc.) at home. If a parent/guardian sends their child to school with any electronic devices, they must be stored in the student’s backpack and silenced. These personal devices are not to be used during the school day.

Middle School:

Students may bring cell phones to school, but they must be stored in lockers and silenced or

turned off during the school day. Misuse of these devices may result in disciplinary actions,

including an administrator taking the phone during the school day. For necessary

communication, students can use the phone in the main office and families may call the office if

they need to urgently reach their child.

High School:

Students are permitted to bring cell phones and personal devices to school, but these must be

silenced or turned off and kept out of sight during class time. Teachers may require students to

store phones in a designated area during lessons. Non-compliance may lead to disciplinary

measures, including the administrators taking the devices during the school day. Families may

contact the school office for urgent communication or emergencies that need to be shared with

students.

We believe this balanced approach allows students to benefit from modern technology while

helping us to minimize distractions and promoting a focused and productive learning environment.

If you have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your child’s school principal.

Bus passes will be emailed to families starting on August 26th. If you do not receive your student's bus pass by Thursday, August 28th, please email transportation@haverfordsd.net. Please check your Spam folder​, as well as any email address you may have provided to the school district in PowerSchool. It is essential to keep this information updated for your child.

Reminders for the first two weeks of school:

What can students, parents, and guardians expect to see in the first two weeks of a new school year?

As the new school year begins, both drivers and students are adjusting to updated routes and bus stop locations. ​We are all getting used to a new routine, and this learning curve can slow things down during the first couple of weeks.

Increased traffic around schools, parents taking photos, and conversations with drivers can also contribute to minor delays. Despite these challenges, we strive to keep pick-up and drop-off times within a 5-minute window whenever possible.

During the first two weeks of school, the district continues to register new students and update student information. As a result, school bus routes may need to be adjusted ​- with stops being added or removed​ - which can slightly affect stop times.

Our office staff works closely with drivers to ensure all students arrive at school on time. ​Routes are sometimes modified as needed to meet this goal across all the schools we serve. Typically, these adjustments are finalized by the end of the second week.

The transportation staff is ready to help answer your questions; please email transportation@haverfordsd.net.

We appreciate your patience as we begin a new school year!

What the App Can Do

• View your student’s daily transportation assignments.
• Securely share your student’s schedule with caregivers (sub-subscribers).
• Receive notifications and updates related to transportation.
• Create GeoAlerts that will notify you when the bus has arrived or departed from the assigned bus stop and/or school.
• Send private messages to SDHT’s Transportation Department

Install the App

• Stopfinder is available for download in the App Store and Google Play.

Access Student Schedules

Access to student schedules is granted only to the student’s designated contacts:

• In-District Students: The primary e-mail address(es) is in PowerSchool.
• Out-of-District Students: ​Email address(es) provided by the non-public school.

Stopfinder contacts may, at their discretion, share their students’ schedules with caregivers (sub-subscribers). Please contact transportation@haverfordsd.net if you need an email invitation to register for Stopfinder.

For the 2025-26 school year, breakfast is free to all Pennsylvania public school students. Additionally, students identified as eligible for reduced-price lunches through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) will not be charged for their meals; non-eligible students will require payment.

Lunch Prices

Elementary - $2.90

Middle - $3.25

High School - $3.35

Reduced Lunch (all levels) FREE

Your child(ren) may qualify for free meals or reduced-price meals.

APPLY ONLINE: Click here to complete the online application: https://www.schoolcafe.com/
INSTRUCTIONS: Click here for instructions on how to use School Cafe, or watch this video for instructions on how to use School Cafe.

ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION: Please review the eligibility information for your household here.

APPLY PAPER:

• 2025-2026 PA Free & Reduced Price Meals/Special Milk Household Application (paper) - English
• 2025-2026 PA Free & Reduced Price Meals/Special Milk Household Application (paper) - Spanish
• Free & Reduced Application Translations
  

Our schools rely on up-to-date phone numbers, emails, and addresses to communicate important announcements, schedule changes, and alerts. Completing forms ensures families receive timely and accurate information.

The parent/guardian portal (PowerSchool) allows parents/guardians to read and complete forms and indicate receipt and review of other informational materials. While reviewing all information in the portal is important, it is imperative that parents/guardians review and submit back-to-school forms every year.

Visit our Technology Department webpage for information about using the portal and completing forms. This YouTube video walks you through the process. If you cannot access a computer, you can request paper copies from your building secretary.

Diabetes Fact Sheet and Información sobre diabetes tipo 1 The PADOH has created a fact sheet regarding diabetes to be shared with parents/ guardians for all incoming elementary students and sixth grade families.

CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program)
CHIP provides free or low-cost health care to Pennsylvania kids and teens.

FERPA Notification The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords parents and students over 18 years of age ("eligible students") certain rights with respect to the student's education records.

Attendance: As a reminder, students may be excused from school when observing a religious holiday, which is observed by a bona fide religious group, upon prior written request from the parent/guardian. Please communicate upcoming absences to our building secretary so that they may be reviewed and recorded appropriately in our student information system.

Other excused absences include bereavement, medical or dental appointments, pre-approved religious instruction, pre-approved educational travel, and others. For our full attendance policy, please review Policy 204 and its accompanying administrative regulations.

Exemption from Instruction Policy (Policy 105.2): This policy's purpose is to comply with the State Board of Education's requirement that school districts provide parents/guardians with the right to have their children excused from specific instruction that conflicts with their religious beliefs.

McKinney Vento Act for Youth Experiencing Homelessness: The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (reauthorized in 2015 by Title IX, Part A of the Every Student Succeeds Act) is a federal law that "guarantees educational rights and supports for students experiencing homelessness." Its core purpose is to "address the barriers that children and youth in homeless situations face in enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school" by ensuring they have "equal access to the same free, appropriate public education as other children and youth." This includes ensuring "school stability despite residential mobility" and providing "educational and other supports" to help them meet academic standards.

The district utilizes SchoolMessenger to communicate with families via email, phone, and text.

If your mobile number is not listed in your student's PowerSchool record, or if you did not choose to receive SMS messages, you will need to update your mobile number. To do this, log into the PowerSchool parent portal, go to the Forms section on the left-hand side, and select the Emergency Contact form. After you update your information, please submit the changes at the bottom of the form.

Once you've updated your information, please text 'Y’ to 67587. This will ensure that you receive important updates and announcements.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at ithelpdesk@haverfordsd.net.

With the new school year just around the corner, please take this time to explore our online School Store and pay for your student’s school fees online at MySchoolBucks.com. If their account has fees that are due, you can securely pay for them using your credit/debit card or an e-check.

If you need assistance with your account, visit myschoolbucks.com. There, you can find helpful how-to videos and answers to commonly asked questions. For all other questions, please contact the ITHelpdesk@haverforsd.com.

In order to further inclusive practices and increase community engagement and board cohesion, we are moving to a “two board meetings a month” process in which we will engage in one board work session and one board action meeting.

The Board work session will be the first meeting of the month and will have some limited agenda items to conduct routine business, such as personnel matters, financial approvals, and pupil service matters that may need consideration before the second meeting. The majority of the board work session will consist of presentations from the administration and our consultants, with discussion amongst the Board more similar to what previously occurred in our committee meetings. No official action will be taken during the work portion of the meeting.

The second meeting of the month will be the Board action meeting, where official action by vote will be taken on items after a chance for Board member deliberations. We intend to use a consent agenda process at the action meeting each month to streamline the process of approving items that have been considered and discussed thoroughly during the work portion of prior meetings. We will continue to hold two public comment sections at each meeting.

Both meetings work in tandem to ensure a strategic decision-making process that is student-centered, inclusive of, and transparent with our community members. We believe this approach is aligned with our district goals of Belonging, civic Pride, and Community Engagement and will allow for collective, informed, and inclusive decision-making practices.

The School District of Haverford Township utilizes BoardDocs, an online, paperless resource for all school board meetings. Here, you can find the agenda, meeting minutes, video replay, and board policies. The meetings are live-streamed on YouTube.

Board Meetings will be held at the Oakmont Administration Building.

Upcoming Meetings:

• September 4: School Board Work Session 7:00 PM
• September 18: School Board Action Meeting 7:30 PM
• October 9: School Board Work Session 7:00 PM
• October 23: School Board Action Meeting 7:30 PM

All presentations and videos can be found on BoardDocs.

We're excited to welcome several new people to our administrative team. Some are new to us, and others are new to their roles. Heather Pinero, Humanities Coordinator, Kevin Smith, STEM Coordinator, Amanda Pointer-Laurie, HHS Assistant Principal, David Ford, HMS Assistant Principal, Libby Foster, Chestnutwold/Coopertown Assistant Principal, and Julianne Hill, Pupil Services Supervisor, Special Programs K-12.

September 1 Labor Day Holiday (schools & offices closed)

September 2 First day for students

September 22 All Facilities Closed for PM after-school activities

September 23 Holiday (schools & offices closed)

October 2 Holiday (schools & offices closed)

October 4 Haverford Township Day

2025-2026 Calendar (At a Glance)

Join our team! Click the link to view available positions across the District and how to apply.

The mission of the School District of Haverford Township is to educate and to inspire a community of lifelong learners who become well-rounded global citizens.

Website: https://www.haverford.k12.pa.us/
Location: 50 East Eagle Road, Havertown, PA, USA
Phone: 610-853-5900
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haverfordsd.net
Twitter: @haverfordsd