Reiffton

Dr. Cynthia Mierzejewski Named As Substitute Superintendent

photo of cindy mierzejewski

During their monthly voting meeting this evening, the Exeter Township Board of School Directors voted to install Dr. Cynthia Mierzejewski as substitute superintendent of the Exeter Township School District following Dr. Kimberly Minor’s resignation earlier this month. Before her retirement in 2020, Dr. Mierzejewski (pronounced “Mer-zesk-ee”) had a long career in education in Berks County, most recently serving as the superintendent of Schuylkill Valley schools from 2017 to 2020, and as assistant superintendent at Wilson from 2015 to 2017. Prior to those roles, she worked for over a decade at the Berks County Intermediate Unit (BCIU) as the Director of the Office of Professional Development and served in administrative roles in other districts in Berks County. At the heart of her leadership, however, is her experience working directly with students when she worked as a chemistry teacher for more than a dozen years at Fleetwood and Central Catholic. “Throughout my life and work here in Berks County, it’s been a joy to play a small role in the educational process of thousands of students as they’ve grown up and become dedicated and contributing members of our community. There truly is no job more important than supporting the hard work and devotion of Exeter teachers, administrators, staff, and community as we work together to create brighter and better futures for the next generation.”

Dr. Ann Hearing, ETSD Board President said, “The Board of School Directors is pleased to welcome Dr. Mierzejewski to the Exeter Township School District, and is confident that her exemplary and proven leadership will allow the District to have a secure and seamless transition as we search for a new superintendent. We look forward to introducing her to our teachers, staff, students and community in the coming days, and hope you’ll give her a warm welcome as she settles into Exeter.”

Dr. Mierzejewski will act as substitute superintendent while the Board of School Directors begins the search for a new superintendent of Exeter schools. She will begin on Tuesday, February 22, 2022.

Reiffton Students’ Good Behavior is Rewarded by Blue-Haired Principals

It's not everyday that Reiffton students are given permission to be so bold to call their principals "Smurf" or "Sonic" and laugh as they point at their hair, but principal Dr. Greg Fries and assistant principal Mr. Joe Alcaro couldn't have been happier to be the center of their 5th and 6th graders' jokes today as they walked around Reiffton after having their hair spray painted Exeter blue this morning. It was all part of a school-wide challenge for students to earn 600 Character COWnts good-behavior tickets over a 4 week period. Reiffton students being the competitive and well-behaved bunch that they are not only met their principals' goal of 600 tickets in 4 weeks--they blew past it by earning an additional 400 on top of it!

"We've been averaging about 75 tickets a week," said Mr. Alcaro. "We wanted to up the ante, and we were so excited to see that they earned over 1,000!"

Dr. Fries said that the challenge truly created a fun atmosphere at the school over the past few weeks. "From the very beginning of the challenge, they were excited that we were willing to dye our hair blue. Every time I walked through the hallways or entered the cafeteria students came up to me to let me know how excited they would be to see me with blue hair. Several even mentioned that it looks better than my normal gray hair."

The Character COWnts program, which is now in its 9th year at Reiffton, is meant to build upon the pro-social skills taught in the homes of our students and in our elementary schools. The program focuses on the 3C's: caring, cooperation and citizenship, and was designed specifically to meet the needs of the students at Reiffton.

Although he's glad the hair dye that was used today was temporary, Dr. Fries said that he hopes the lessons learned from the challenge are more permanent. "We are extremely lucky to have such an outstanding group of students at Reiffton. Their success with this challenge demonstrates their willingness to see things from different perspectives and put the needs and feelings of others first."

National School Counseling Week: Focus on Reiffton

photo of diana ricci and emily seeberger

This week, we're excited to celebrate National School Counseling Week to help bring awareness to the important role that our K-12 school counselors have as they dedicate their professional lives to care for and support our students to help them achieve school success and plan for their futures. From providing safe and supportive areas for students to receive mental health or social help, to helping students remove barriers to academic success, to providing classroom lessons, to helping kids figure out "what they want to be when they grow up," school counselors are celebrated not only this week--but every day--for the unique work they do to support all aspects of a student's journey through school as they help each reach their potential to become his or her best. Today, we're proud to highlight Reiffton's counselors, Mrs. Diana Ricci (A-K) and Ms. Emily Seeberger (L-Z):

Q: How long have you been a school counselor? How long have you worked at Exeter?

A: Mrs. Ricci started as a school counselor in September of 2008, and Ms. Seeberger started in December of 2014. We have both worked in Exeter for our entire careers.

Q: Did you do anything prior to becoming a counselor? If so, what? Why did you change your career?

Ms. Seeberger: Prior to becoming a school counselor, I worked as a Summer Camp Coordinator for a day camp. This job was an awesome stepping stone before I began my role as a school counselor.

Q:What’s your favorite part of your job?

Both: Encouraging students and helping them discover their strengths and how they are unique.

Q: What's the most challenging part of your job? 

Both: Prioritizing the needs of our students. They are all important so sometimes it is hard to make a decision to focus on one need over another.

Q: If you were talking to someone who knew nothing about your work, how would you complete this sentence? “People are surprised to learn that I….”

Both: People are surprised that we work to develop a relationship with every one of our students and do not just respond to crises. We do this through individual sessions, small group counseling and classroom lessons.

Q: The theme for this year’s School Counseling Week is “Better Together.” What does that mean to you?

A: We have found the most success with our students when several members of the school support team (teacher, school counselor, parent, principal) work together. With different perspectives we can come together to better meet the student’s needs.

Q: Finally, when you were in elementary school, what did you want to be when you grew up? 

Ms. Seeberger: When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be an archeologist or an artist.  I loved exploring, learning and finding new ways to be creative!  

Mrs. Ricci: I wanted to be a teacher or a concert pianist.  I still love music and have incorporated that into my small groups and lessons.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Both: Together we bring color into our students’ lives. With the support and collaboration of all staff at Reiffton, here is a small snapshot of what we have been able to accomplish so far this year:

  • 111 Classroom lessons
  • 116 Small group sessions
  • 125 Relaxing recess student experiences (calm recess in the counseling suite)
  • 974 Individual student sessions

A Message from the ETSD Board of School Directors

The Exeter Township Board of School Directors would like to inform you that Superintendent Dr. Kimberly I. Minor has submitted her resignation with an effective date of May 3, 2022. The Board intends to act on her resignation at the next public board meeting.  The Board of School Directors is grateful for Dr. Minor’s leadership and commitment.

ETSD will be using a Flexible Instruction Day 2/4/2022

On Friday, all schools in the Exeter Township School District will utilize a Flexible Instruction Day (FID). The day will count as a school day; however, students will not report to their school buildings. Instead, they will complete their school work from home. For attendance purposes, students are required to log onto their building website and report their attendance from these links:

SENIOR HIGH
JUNIOR HIGH
REIFFTON
JACKSONWALD
LORANE
OWATIN CREEK

Please log your attendance no later than 10AM.

Students in grades 4-12 should log onto Schoology for each of their classes to receive their assignments for the day. These assignments will be posted by 9AM. Students in grades K-3 received FID assignments from their teachers and should complete the assignments for FID Day #2. These assignments are also available at the link above.

Teachers will have a dedicated office hour that they will communicate to students and answer questions throughout the day via email and voicemail.

EMA's Supper Serenade will be postponed to next Friday, February 11th. Should you have questions about the Supper Serenade's postponement, please reach out to Mrs. Crotty at macrotty@nullexetersd.org.

Enjoy the day, and please stay safe.

You’re Invited: EMA’s 3rd Annual Supper Serenade

All are invited to slurp up some spaghetti while being sung to during EMA's 3rd Annual Supper Serenade! This enjoyable evening of fun features performances from Exeter musicians of all ages, a delicious Italian dinner, dessert, raffles and more!
Join us Friday, February 4th from 6-9PM at Reiffton. $10 per person. Purchase your tickets by Friday, January 28th by visiting: http://ow.ly/azhs50HCYAu