Jacksonwald

Exeter’s New Supervisor of Transportation Earns National Recognition

school bus driver holds magazine

It's National School Bus Safety week, and we're so very proud to announce that Exeter's Kaisha McCulley was recently selected as one of ten "Rising Stars" by School Transportation News, a nationwide trade magazine for school bus drivers and professionals. Ms. McCulley, who was named Exeter's Supervisor of Transportation during last night's board meeting, has been a bus driver for the district for 8 years. Last year, she became the district's permanent route substitute, which meant she had memorized every route in the district without using a GPS, and could substitute for any bus driver–a monumental task, said Ms. McCulley’s supervisor, Benjamin Bernhart, Director of Transportation. Last year, she also earned accreditation as a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation CDL school bus instructor trainer, allowing her to manage the district's training program for new and existing bus drivers.

“We’re so proud that Kaisha earned this distinction,” said Mr. Bernhart. “She is an incredibly dedicated bus driver and bus professional who is committed to safety and always learning more to enable Exeter to have the best school bus drivers. We are so very lucky to have her, and congratulate her for receiving this national recognition.”

Homecoming Parade & Bonfire Brings Fairytales to Life

Featuring dozens of fairytale-themed floats with students dressed as princesses, dragons, witches and more, Exeter's 2022 Homecoming Parade and Bonfire delighted hundreds of community members who came out to enjoy the display of police vehicles, firetrucks and floats. Following the conclusion of the parade, the fire department lit a huge bonfire as a DJ and Exeter's band played and people enjoyed snacks from local food trucks. Many thanks to all of the students and parents who spent hours bringing their favorite fairytales to life, and Exeter police and firefighters for taking part in the parade and bonfire! It was a happily ever after for all!

Homecoming 2022 Parade, Bonfire & Football Game Info

hoco parade route 22

We're excited to see you at this year's Homecoming 2022 events!

Homecoming Parade & Bonfire: Thursday, October 6th at 6PM

The parade route begins at the Senior High's parking lot, turns right onto Woodland Ave, turns left onto East 36th St, left onto Reiff Place, left onto East 40th Street and right onto Dunham Drive to finish at Reiffton School.

The bonfire will immediate follow the conclusion of the parade with a DJ and food trucks available for those in attendance to enjoy.

Homecoming Football Game & Homecoming Court Presentation: Friday, October 7th at 7PM

The Homecoming game kicks off at 7PM on Friday when Exeter takes on Muhlenberg in Don Thomas Stadium. Current Eagles, families and our alumni are encouraged to come out for the game, our marching band field show and to see the presentation of our Homecoming Court at halftime.

For more details on Homecoming 2022, please see our website HERE.

An “Old” Tradition Begins in Kindergarten

IE8A9099-2

Exeter kindergarteners across the district today were given a free book and bookmark thanks to the kind generosity of the Woman's Club of Exeter Township. This tradition, which dates back at least 30 years, is one of the club's annual events, and is closely tied to their original mission to establish a kindergarten in the township back in 1949. By 1951, the group raised the funding necessary to open a kindergarten program, operating and managing it on their own until the district added the grade level to its own programming.

Despite their long history of supporting kindergarten students in Exeter, the Woman's Club was unable to interact with kindergarten students for the last several years due to the pandemic and a shift to online kindergarten registration from an in-person event. Through those changes and challenges, the group continued to donate books to kindergarten students, but were unable to interact with the students personally. But today, that all changed as Woman's Club members came into classrooms throughout the district to hand out books and bookmarks and personally read to eager students, who were visibly excited for the story time and generous gift.

"Today was so beautiful," said Tiffany Evans, vice president of the club. "We loved being able to see their reactions to the book as we were reading it to them. It made the experience so much more rewarding."

Our deepest thanks to the Woman's Club of Exeter Township for their continued support of our kindergarteners through this tradition, as well as their ongoing support of our older students, whom they gift with scholarships and leadership opportunities annually.

Dawn Harris Appointed as Assistant Superintendent

dawn harris sworn in by judge johnson

Dawn Harris, who has served as Exeter's Director of Pupil Services since the spring of 2020, was named as the district's new Assistant Superintendent of Student Services during the Exeter Township Board of School Directors' meeting on Monday, September 19, 2022. In this role, Harris will retain all of her current duties, but will acquire more responsibilities and staff supervision, as well as serve as the acting superintendent if Superintendent Haller is unavailable. The district has been without an Assistant Superintendent since Dr. Patrick Winters left Exeter in the spring of 2021. Dr. Haller mentioned to the Board during their earlier meeting in September that she sought to fill the position so that the District had a clear chain of command in her absence, as well as to help with daily operations.

Harris has been an educator since 1997, most recently working as the Director of Pupil Services for the Schuylkill Valley School District before coming to Exeter. Throughout her 25 year career, she's managed or led instruction for students in special education at schools in Berks and Chester County. Currently, as Exeter's Director of Pupil Services, she manages staff and programming for special education and gifted education, as well as health, safety, school counseling and enrollment services.

She has two grown children and lives in Berks County with her husband, Todd, who works in law enforcement, and her three dogs.

Harris (right) was sworn in as Assistant Superintendent on Thursday by the Honorable Theresa Johnson.

Eric Seidel Announced as District’s Safety & Security Coordinator

This evening, the Exeter Township Board of School Directors approved the hire of Eric Seidel as the district’s School Safety and Security Coordinator. In this administrative role, which is a newly-created, year-round and a full-time position, Seidel will oversee safety and security planning and will lead trainings for district employees. Seidel is a former captain in the Berks County Sheriff’s Department and was responsible for courtroom and judicial safety and security at the courthouse in Berks County, and more recently, for the safety and security of guests at the eight county parks and extensive trail system in Berks as the county’s Chief Park Ranger. In that role, Seidel implemented and managed an emergency response and reunification plan through physical and technological advances to help emergency responders locate visitors in distress, as well as managed the safety and security of all county park events. 

Exeter Superintendent Dr. Christy Haller was pleased to introduce Seidel during the meeting and said, “As you know, this was a very important position for us to fill with just the right person, and we were fortunate that we had a number of great candidates who applied for the position. However, after an extensive interview and presentation process in front of a panel composed of administrators and board members, Eric proved that he brought the right blend of law enforcement education and experience, as well as the implementation and administration of security and safety planning experience that we were looking for in a candidate. We are looking forward to working with Eric.”

Seidel is a lifelong Berks County resident who lives in Spring Township with his wife, who is a social worker, and two school-aged daughters. He will begin work in mid-October.