Owatin Creek

School Board Votes to Institute Mask Mandate and Update Quarantine Guidelines

Due to the rising COVID cases in the community, the Exeter Township Board of School Directors met tonight to make changes to the District's Health & Safety Plan. Tonight, they approved two motions, which go into effect tomorrow, January 3, 2022, when all students and staff return to school. They are as follows:
  • All students, staff and visitors must wear masks inside school buildings from Monday, January 3rd through at least Wednesday, January 19th.
  • They updated quarantine guidelines to align with CDC recommendations.
The District will be updating its Health & Safety Plan and FAQs to reflect these changes, which will be available on its website at www.exetersd.org/covid.

Exeter Launches New District Website

photo of exeter website

Featuring a news-forward focus, a clean design and community-centered content, the District launched a new website this month at the URL-friendly www.exetersd.org to refresh its online presence. New features include a day-of-the-week widget to help parents and students remember the cycle day, a consistent menu from school-to-school, a news-centered splash page with news, events and social media/ParentSquare feeds, a Community Bulletin Board for local organizations to post their registrations and events, and a grade/department-centered fly-out directory on each school's page to make it easier for you to find teachers and staff. Please make sure you click on the SCHOOLS tab to check out your school's respective site!

We're continuing to make adjustments to our mobile-friendly version and have a few other tweaks/improvements in the works, but we're eager to hear your feedback or suggestions! Please feel free to email communications@nullexetersd.org with features you'd like to see, which may be included in a future update!

Mask Update

Dear Exeter Families,

The Pennsylvania State Supreme Court struck down Pennsylvania’s school mask mandate yesterday, effectively ending masking requirements in PA public schools. At this time, the Exeter Township Board of School Directors has mandated that staff and students continue to wear masks until December 15th. On Wednesday, December 15th, staff, students and visitors may choose to wear or not wear masks in all school buildings. The District will continue to ask students who are visiting the school nurse to wear a  mask, and will provide one if requested. Masks will continue to be required to be worn on school buses as per federal TSA requirements. 

At a future date, the government or the Board of School Directors could reimpose masking requirements. Please continue to monitor school communication for updates.

Thank you for your continued cooperation.

Break out the Blue & White! Support our Eagles as they play in the 5A State Semi-Finals!

football team wins first district iii championship photo
EXETER EAGLES WIN FIRST DISTRICT III 5A CHAMPIONSHIP!
 
In celebration of a phenomenal fall sports season and the Exeter Eagles capturing their first District III 5A Championship, it's time to break out the BLUE & WHITE and show your pride! All students & staff are invited to be a part of this district-wide SPIRIT DAY on Tuesday, November 30th!
 
PLUS! If you want to cheer on the Exeter Eagles as they play in the PIAA semi-finals on Friday, December 3 at 7PM at Bald Eagle High School in Bellefonte, PA, you can buy your tickets here 👉https://www.piaa.org/sports/tickets.aspx?sport=football
 
GO EAGLES! 🦅🏈🦅🏈🦅🏈🦅🏈🦅🏈

Exeter teams with local groups to help distribute 57 Thanksgiving boxes to those in need

thanksgiving boxes group photo
Members from Reformation Lutheran Church, along with ETSD employees, Ashley Rinehart (front row, left), who is a school social worker, and Courtnay Epler (front row, right), who is the district’s food services supervisor, distributed 57 Thanksgiving boxes to needy families in our community yesterday. Each box was filled with a turkey, pumpkin pie, paper products and other food, which was collected by members of the church, local Girl and Boy Scout troops and employees of Fairlane Gardens at Reading Nursing Home.
During this week of giving thanks, Mrs. Rinehart is grateful to the members of the community who give so generously to help others in need. Each year, she works with somewhere between 150-200 homeless students in Exeter who need help with basic necessities, such as food or clothing. In the last year, many of these services--which are overseen and run by outside organizations, such as the church or the Exeter Food Pantry--were centralized at the Exeter Township Administration Building due to its COVID-safe and convenient drive-up access for families in Exeter. Centralizing these services made Mrs. Rinehart’s job easier as she helps coordinate these basic necessities for homeless students, as well as provides them with help to find shelter or housing, rent and utility assistance and other needs as they get back on their feet. Mrs. Rinehart also works closely with the Exeter Community Education Foundation to be able to provide heaters, clothing, transportation, prescriptions and more to students in need.

If you’d be interested in supporting one of these worthwhile causes to help students in need in the district, please consider making a donation to the Student Outreach fund at the Exeter Community Education Foundation. You can learn more here: https://www.facebook.com/ExeterEducationFoundation