CSD Weekly Update
Round Up to Support Feeding School Kids
Centennial's Food & Nutrition Department is again partnering with GIANT Food Stores to help support our students facing food insecurity. We encourage the greater community to participate in this effort.
From January 1 through March 31, everyone who shops at GIANT in Warminster or Upper Southampton will be invited to "round-up" at the register and donate the round-up amount of their bill to support Feeding School Kids. Customers can also give by converting their CHOICE Rewards Points to donations in the GIANT app or purchasing a reusable bag.
We ask our school community to help spread the word about the Feeding School Kids 2025 Campaign to ensure its success. Our goal is to support the children in our district who need the most help accessing nutritious meals and snacks. From backpacks with weekend food to clearing lunch debt to building a community pantry in our schools, the funds will be provided directly to our district's food organization for use, at our discretion, to address food insecurity in our school community.
Please join us in supporting and advocating for this initiative to help ensure no child in our district experiences hunger at school or home.
William Tennent High School Writing Lab
Centennial to Cornell: A Writer's Journey
By: Nina Fox '25
Madison Pirolli '25
Briena Zenszer '25
Photo: Laura Orland, Class of 2022
On January 7, 2025, the William Tennent High School Writing Lab Mentors spoke with a former mentor, Laura Orland who graduated from Tennent in 2022. She now attends Cornell University and studies engineering. Even though Laura is an engineering major, she works at the university’s Writing Center on campus. The current Tennent mentors traded tips and strategies with Laura about tutoring at a college Writing Center.
Meeting virtually with Laura provided mentors with insight on expectations for college. She shared her personal experiences living on campus and offered advice. Laura explained that to be successful at the college level, students must properly manage their time and prioritize their needs. College is about proper balance because there is much more time to complete assignments. The professors expect more achievement. Laura’s work at Cornell’s Writing Center demonstrates impressive time-management skills since she has time to tutor and study engineering.
Regarding Laura’s work as a college writing mentor, she and the Tennent mentors shared tips for establishing a sense of comfort with writers at the start of a tutoring session. Mentors like to ask simple get-to-know-you type questions for a few minutes before diving into their writing. Laura suggested opening tutoring sessions with a compliment about the writing piece such as the writing structure, certain wording, or other striking features. This advice gives the writer constructive feedback while also improving the tutor and writer relationship.
Conversation between writer and mentor leads to effective tutoring for many reasons. Laura emphasized how beneficial it is to ask writers many questions to help them produce clear and specific writing. The more specific writers are, the better their papers and articles will be. Asking the writer questions helps the mentors better understand different pieces of writing, especially with unfamiliar topics. Laura also explained how asking questions doesn’t only have to apply to someone's writing since it’s a tool to get to know the person in need of assistance. Questions and conversation allow writer and mentor to become more comfortable with each other while also improving the piece of writing.
Since technology advances daily, it was important for the mentors to discuss AI’s impact on writing. Both Laura and the Tennent writing mentors explained they feel AI takes away from the nature of someone’s writing. Because AI is not human, it doesn’t provide the same level of emotion and individuality that a person can. This important discussion with college and high school writing mentors proves that AI’s popularity cannot replace the significance of human collaboration for successful writing.
Join The Polar Bear Plunge with WTHS
It’s time to chill for a good cause! Help us with a fundraiser that is near to our hearts. Unified Sports offer programs for everyone to join! All proceeds go directly to our programs at William Tennent; bocce and track and field. The Polar Bear Plunge for this year will be at Citizens Bank Park on January 31, 2025. Unified Sports pairs students with developmental disabilities with students to work together to achieve success on the field and in the community.
Join us and donate today!
McDonald Elementary's Get Well Bags Outreach Project
McDonald Elementary School is excited to announce its second annual Get Well Bags Outreach Project, scheduled to take place on January 23, 2025. All students from Kindergarten through Grade 5 will participate in this heartwarming initiative to create 200 "Get Well Bags" for patients at the Alliance Cancer Center at St. Mary's Hospital.
The project, which aims to bring comfort and hope to those battling cancer, has become a beloved tradition at McDonald Elementary School. This year, students and their families will work together to collect donations and assemble the bags, which will include items such as warm blankets, chapstick, snacks, Gatorade, and other comforting essentials. In addition, students will create personalized Get Well Wish Cards and decorate the bags with encouraging messages to uplift the spirits of the patients.
The students will gather in the school’s cafeteria on January 23 from 9:15 AM to 10:00 AM to fill the bags with donated items, while working together to decorate and personalize each one. Afterward, the completed bags will be delivered to St. Mary’s Hospital Alliance Cancer Center (St. Clare Medical Building 1203 Langhorne Newtown Rd. Suite 135) Langhorne, PA 19047on January 24, 2025, between 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM.
“We are so proud to continue this meaningful tradition for the second year in a row,” said Dr. Diana Garaitonandia, Principal of McDonald Elementary. “This outreach project organized by Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Sabrina Escaleira, gives our students the chance to make a real difference in the lives of others. It’s a wonderful way for them to learn the importance of kindness, generosity, and giving back to the community.”
The Get Well Bags are intended to provide both physical and emotional comfort to patients undergoing cancer treatment. The warm blankets, snacks, and other items are designed to help make their hospital stay more comfortable, while the Get Well Wish Cards are meant to offer encouragement and hope during a difficult time.
This outreach project exemplifies McDonald Elementary’s commitment to fostering a compassionate, community-oriented environment where students not only excel academically but also grow as thoughtful and empathetic individuals.
Annual WIDA ACCESS (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State) testing
On January 7, 2025, the Centennial School District began the annual WIDA ACCESS (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State) testing window for our English Learners (ELs). The WIDA ACCESS is a PDE mandated and federally reported assessment of English Language Proficiency (ELP). The families of our English learners should have received a individual email communication regarding the assessment from our Supervisor of Teaching & Learning, Althea Tomlinson.
The WIDA ACCESS assessment is an important tool that guides the individualized instruction of our English learners. If you have any questions about the assessment, you can reach out directly to your child’s English Language Development (ELD) teacher.
If your child is an English Learner, here are some things you can do to help your child prepare for the WIDA ACCESS:
Be sure your child/children are receiving an adequate amount of sleep during the testing dates
Be sure your child/children eat breakfast each morning before testing
Be sure your child/children bring their school issued electronic device fully charged to school every day
Encourage your child do their very best on the assessment
A Parent's Guide to Phonics Videos
Looking for more information and a free copy of A Parent’s Guide to Phonics: Understanding How to Help Your Child with Reading and Spelling?
Centennial School District is proud to offer:
follow-up videos on the CSD YouTube Channel
a free book for each family (contact your child’s school office)
Thank you to the CSD Elementary Reading team members who created these videos: Kim Flounders, Miriam Infanti, Dawn Kremer, Lisa Laatsch, Erin Landy, Danyel Masey, Jennifer McArdle, Rose Miele, Kelley O’Leary, and Susan Stackhouse.
CEF has launched our 2025 Apparel Store with a new design & new apparel items!
Your purchase supports our mission to deliver "above and beyond" educational experiences! Order by January 19th. Turnaround from Kampus Klothes is 3-4 weeks. You can choose to have your gear shipped to your home or to the CSD Admin Building at Swan Way for pickup.
So, grab a tee, golf shirt or hoodie and 20% of your purchase comes back to CEF so we can continue to raise funds to support our mission!
Check out our store here: https://bit.ly/cefgear2025
Thank you for your support!
Centennial School District
Website: www.centennialsd.org
Location: 48 Swan Way, Warminster, PA, USA
Phone: (215) 441-6000
Facebook: facebook.com/centennialsd
Twitter: @Centennial_SD