Weekly Blogosphere Round-Up

Leading off the week with Andy’s Fan Page.  Andy told me Nazareth was going 7-3 and on Friday night they got one win under their belt.  The week, especially second half was heavy on sports talk and mostly the start of HS football with schedules and results as well as predictions.  Andy also posted about the 2009 Jerry Lewis Telethon beginning today and running through Monday.  Read all of Andy’s posts here.

Clonehedge celebrated its 200^th post and featured an educational course on building your own replica, a garden waterfall henge, and of course a food based result:  fruit jelly henge.

From House to Home was back to school and excited about the arrival of Fall and new projects.

Steaming Cup went cold with a post on why Vick should have a 2^nd chance in the NFL (I personally think he should have had one year off to show he was going to change his ways that weren’t tied to a contract and earning millions of dollars, but I digress).

Lehigh Valley Ramblings rumbles through the Valley covering everything from County Council, to the Mayoral Race in Allentown, the State Budget, and more than a few political campaigns that are getting heated up.

Maker Diaries was off last week, and as a new site, I thought maybe no one had submitted any ideas, so I did.  Self-promotion aside, I was proud to see my handiwork displayed on the site.  Better news, the shelf has been up over a week and I’ve not yet heard a loud crash in the middle of the night!  Also on the site is a painted jar using “Greenman” style images – an artist I’m not, that one probably won’t make my project list – but very neat none-the-less.

With summer coming to an end, I’m sure we’ll see less vacations on the many sites now serving/originating from the Nazareth area.  If you know of one I’m not covering, let me know and I’ll be sure to add it!

Posted via email from Ross Nunamaker

Volleyball Vera Bradley Fundraiser

Vera Bradley Bingo

Sponsored by the Nazareth Lady Eagle Volleyball Booster Club on Sunday, September 27, 2009 at the Bushkill Township Volunteer Fire Company (155 Firehouse Lane, Nazareth, PA).

Doors Open at Noon /Bingo Begins at 1:30 PM.  Tickets $20.00 in advance/$25.00 at the door

Includes 20 Games, 5 Specials with Vera Bradley Cover-All.

No admittance without ticket.

Lunch & Refreshments For Sale.

For Tickets: Call Barb at 610-462-7507, email: pfehnel@msn.com or visit The Missing Piece Gift Shop, Bushkill Center Rd, Nazareth

Posted via email from Ross Nunamaker

UN Zoning Hearing Costs Increase

Upper Nazareth’s Zoning Board has voted to increase its hearing fee from $600 to $1000 according to an article in the Express-Times (read it here).

The increase is due to increased costs to conduct the hearing.

Posted via email from Ross Nunamaker

HS Football Kicks Off Tonight

The HS Football season kicks off this evening as Nazareth hosts Pleasant Valley at Andrew S. Leh Stadium.  Start time is 7:00 p.m.

Andy Weaver has predicted the team will post 7 wins this season.  I’m holding him to it.

The Morning Call team by team preview is available here.

LehighValleyLive’s Nazareth team page is available here

And at 11 – don’t miss the Big Ticket for all the night’s football news.

Posted via email from Ross Nunamaker

Presidential Message to Students

I started getting emails on a presidential message to students yesterday afternoon, and then my daughter returned from school with a letter from Superintendent Lesky explaining the situation (you can download the letter here).

By this morning, there were 1.6 million results in a Google search on the President’s message from the past 24 hours.  The official Department of Education information is available here.  The Department has also created classroom activities for teachers to implement prior to and following the speech (available here for K-6).  The message is to be about 20 minutes long and will take place Tuesday at noon EST.

Dr. Lesky’s letter provides the following explanation of who will and won’t see the broadcast:

Due to building schedules, not all students will have the opportunity to view the event live.  However, the District will provide students in grades 4 through 12 an opportunity to view the speech on Thursday, September 10, during morning homeroom.  Please note teachers may include the live broadcast in their classrooms as a current event on Tuesday.

I take this to mean that everyone in grades 4-12 will watch it, the question is whether it will be live on Tuesday or delayed on Thursday.

Parents are given the option to not have their child watch the speech by completing a form on the backside of the letter received from the school and returning it to the school by 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday.

A Presidential appearance would be an honor, regardless of your political beliefs, but the streaming of a speech to a ‘captive’ and impressionable audience clearly has rubbed people the wrong way.

I think the timing of the announcement was poor, not the NASD’s fault, and for those districts returning to school on Tuesday, they face an even bigger challenge than those already in session (regarding notification, etc). 

What do you think?  Should the speech be streamed into schools or not?

Posted via email from Ross Nunamaker

PSSA Scores Are In

Both the Express-Times (read it here) and the Morning Call (read it here) have articles on the latest PSSA test scores.

Maybe I missed it in the articles, but I couldn’t find the actual scores in either, but you can find them on the Dept. of Education site (available here).

Science and Writing scores were added to the mix this year for selected grades.

Beginning with Math and Reading, tradition has shown that HS students typically have the worst scores.  This year 20% were below basic in math and 16% below basic in reading, both were high marks for the district.

By comparison, each MS grade (6-8) ranged right around 6% below basic in math and 5% for reading, except for 6^th grade which was at 10%.

And then the elementary schools, and here Shafer struggled by comparison to Bushkill and Lower Nazareth.

Shafer had the highest percent of below basic in every grade for both math and reading, while it tied for most in advanced reading in Grade 3.

Bushkill had the highest percent of advanced for math and reading at every grade level except reading grade 3.

Bushkill had 65% of 6^th grade in advanced math, while Shafer managed only 38%.

Considering it is the same district, with the same curriculum, one would think there would be more balance across the buildings.

In science, the first year results were in, Bushkill again blew away the other buildings with 70% advanced compared to 43% and 44% for Lower and Shafer.  Shafer had 12% of students at Basic or Below Basic, while Bushkill had 2% and Lower 3%.

HS again fared the worst of the group with 59% at Basic or Below compared to 23% at the MS (only 8^th grade was tested at MS for Science).

In writing, the HS performed the best with 22% advanced and 2% below basic.  The MS had 18% advanced and 1% below basic.  On the elementary level (grade 5 only), Bushkill had 7% and 0%, LN had 6% and 1% and Shafer had 1% and 0%.

Posted via email from Ross Nunamaker

Help the Economy - Save Your Library

Thanks to the reader who forwarded along an article in USA Today about the vital role libraries play during economic down-turns (read it here).

According to the article 22 states have cut funding for Libraries this year (PA’s budget has not yet been approved), when 67% of libraries reported a critical use of their facility was assisting job seekers.

Many companies require online applications and when people are out of work, often the internet is a cost that is eliminated.  A recent study cited in the article notes that eight of ten libraries nationally have at least a single person, per day, waiting for an internet terminal to open.  Most are seeking employment.

Loss of revenue also means less hours, which puts further strain on making resources available to all those trying to use them.

Let’s hope our legislature gets it right and doesn’t slash funding for this vital community resource.

Posted via email from Ross Nunamaker

More on New Parent Portal

It appears there are two major software projects that took place over the summer (or one).  The NASD is shutting down the Sapphire Web Portal and replacing it with the PowerSchool Parent Portal and the former scheduling software has apparently been replaced by a new system.  Both would have had to have been significant IT projects.

Student Portal

I posted the other day about the school announcement with the subject, “NASD No Longer Using Sapphire Parent Web Portal”.  The announcement is a single sentence, “The Nazareth Area School District will be providing more information shortly on the new PowerSchool Parent Web Portal.”

I did find this within a page for the Department of Educational Technology “New Parent Web Portal Information: The NASD will no longer be using the Sapphire Parent Web Portal.  The district is in the process of moving to a new Parent Web Portal through PowerSchool, but this will not be open for parents AT LEAST through the first trimester. Depending on implementation, it may be longer. The district will be providing more information shortly.”

I’ve not used the system (elementary was not yet supported), but comments on the post seemed to indicate the system worked when the teachers used it as a part of their daily routine.  I believe this system was in place for about two years.  The plan was to deploy at HS and work down to elementary.  Now prior to completing full implementation, a decision has been made to switch to another system.

I’d imagine, like any enterprise system, these are costly.  There is the base cost, licensing, training, installation, maintenance, and then the time consumed by many individuals throughout the process.  To switch, there are added costs in determining how to transition from the old to the new and how to convert the data.  Anyone who has worked with databases of any size, can appreciate the challenges (and costs) of converting data from one system to another. Significant testing must take place to ensure the integrity of the data once converted.

On the District web site’s IT Infrastructure page, PowerSchool is listed as the Student Information System.  PowerSchool has been in existence for twelve years (visit the corporate site here).  The information I found on the system speaks highly of it.  I found little related to purchase cost or implementation, but annual hosting and maintenance is based on number of students.  The cost per student (depending on contract – some were statewide contracts vs. individual school systems) ranged from $12 - $28 per student per year, training workshops must be purchased, and there are customization costs billed at an hourly rate.

Sapphire appears to be the product of a Lehigh Valley based company (K12 Systems in Allentown).

Considering the age of our existing system, one would think both had been considered in the initial review.  Someone opted against recommending it then, and someone else (or the same someone) has now decided after investing time and money in one system to switch to another. 

Scheduling Software

I’ve received notes from a few readers who indicated a change in Scheduling Software resulted in more than a few problems with student schedules.  From these parents I heard that students’ schedules had classes that were incorrect or didn't exist, some students were in the system more than one time resulting in their being scheduled at two classes at the same time, etc.

Again, I have little information on this to date, but it appears to be a new system that was pushed to be used for this school year and it had more than its share of initial bugs. The cost to fix these bugs probably isn't considered, but the disruption to students, teachers, administrators, and parents as a result is huge. Have you had any issues with scheduling for your child or has it been more isolated (and I just got the notes from a few who were impacted)?

I wonder if these two systems are one and the same, which they well could be, and the fact that the portal system isn’t ready means we pushed the scheduling module and didn’t have time to fully complete testing or review schedules prior to distributing them to students resulting in the issues that have come to light.

Posted via email from Ross Nunamaker

Magazine Sale?

Got a note from a reader wishing to alert others of a recent “magazine sales for college” pitch they received at their home in Upper Nazareth.

A young woman, who appeared to be early college age, came to our house selling magazine subscriptions.  Said she was trying to raise money for her college education.  She claimed to live locally.  The company wasn’t any that we’d heard of from other young people in our neighborhood who sell things from time to time for sports, school or scouts.

The selling technique was to use another neighbor’s name, say she was sent over by that other neighbor, and mention something about them so you’d feel it was okay to purchase a subscription from her.

Please ask people to be aware and not to necessarily believe what might seem to be a legitimate story.   Upper Nazareth Police did come to our neighborhood (two different neighbors called).   The young woman was not local and she did not have a permit (as she claimed).

Also of concern in these situations is if the person is invited into the home, or if an elderly person is home alone they may be ‘convinced’ to purchase something they really had no interest in buying.  Typically, these ‘students’ are paid on a commission of sales.

Posted via email from Ross Nunamaker

LN Hoops Registration

LN Basketball Sign-ups will be held this Saturday, September 5, from 10AM - 1PM at the pavilion by the Lower Nazareth Municipal Building.  These sign-ups are for boys and girls who will be ages 6 - 11 as of September 1, 2009.    Players in 5th and 6th grades wishing to register for Jr. Cadet tryouts MUST sign up, too.  First year players MUST bring a copy of their birth certificate.

We have lowered our registration fees this year in an effort to accommodate everyone in this tough economy.   Registration for the first player in a family is $60.  You may sign up a second child in your family for half price - $30.  There will be no fee for the third (or more) child signed up per family.  If you are unemployed, financial assistance is available - e-mail me back for additional details (see email address below).

Also, we are limiting our mandatory fund-raising requirement to just one child per family.  You may have noticed that sugar (and thus candy) prices have risen significantly this past year.  Our candy fund-raising kit now has 52 bars which are "designed" to be sold at $1.50 apiece. We will charge $45/box this year (supplies are limited - first come fist serve).  We will continue our $25 "buy-out" option this year, too. 

We will hold two additional registrations:  Saturday Sept 12 from 10 - 1 at the pavilion, and on Thursday evening, Sept 24, from 6PM - 8PM inside the municipal building.  EVERY PLAYER WISHING TO ENROLL MUST ATTEND ONE REGISTRATION!

One final note - please bring a second check for a mandatory $35 uniform deposit.  These deposit checks will not be cashed unless you fail to return your uniform at the end of the season. 

For additional information, please check out our website, including all the forms you will need to enroll...you can download and complete them in advance, saving you time!  All mandatory forms for our potential coaches can also be found on line.  www.leaguelineup.com/LowerNazarethYouthBasketball

Questions:  Contact Kevin Parker at 610 746-7904 or e-mail lnrabasketball@yahoo.com

Posted via email from Ross Nunamaker

Insomniak Theatre Presents The Pretty One Stage Reading

Received a note about an upcoming event at Insomniak Theatre via Facebook:

"The Pretty One Stage Reading" will take place on Saturday, September 5 at 7:00 p.m.

This is "a powerful story of courage when faced with certain doom..."

Performing will be William (Bill) Marley, one of the newest members of the board of directors at Insomniak.  This a great chance to have his work done for a public audience, while welcoming him to Insomniak.

This performance will be a hands on theatre experience in which your input is just as important as what you take away.

Insomniak Theatre Company Arts Center will present the performance beginning Saturday, September 5 at 7:00 p.m. and ending at 9:00 p.m.

Insomniak Theatre Company is located on South Main Street in Nazareth between Center and Belvidere Streets in the former Nazareth News.

Posted via email from Ross Nunamaker

Parent Reporting Software

When on the NASD site this morning searching for enrollment figures, I saw a notice announcing that the Sapphire Parent Web Portal is no longer available and will be replaced by the PowerSchool Parent Web Portal.  More information to follow.

Since my children are in elementary, we didn’t have access to the system, so to those that did this may not be news, but I was surprised to see the plug pulled on the project.  Wondering what the cost in time and money is to date and will be with the transition to the new system.

Posted via email from Ross Nunamaker

1st Day of School

When hauling off to work today, don’t forget, 1^st day of school in Nazareth.  Expect delays and give walkers a break by letting them fully cross the intersection before driving through.  And don’t forget new bell schedules now have morning bells ranging from 7:25 to 8:30 a.m. (assume 30 minutes prior to first bell for buses to be on the roads) and ending from 2:10 to 3:30 p.m. (again assume buses on road till 4:00).

The Morning Call has an article on new school buildings, which has quite a bit on the new Nazareth Middle School (read it here).  In the article the price is quoted at $48M, some $20M shy of the actual cost as I recall from board meetings.  Also, the number of anticipated students is quoted at 775, or just shy of 400 per grade.  I tried to view the actual enrollment figures for this year, but the Board stopped including this data in its monthly board meeting packets.  The building was originally built to accommodate 1,340 students according to documents filed with the state.

Have a great first day everyone!

Posted via email from Ross Nunamaker