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Exeter Township Junior High

Grades 7-8 | 610-779-3320

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Directory

Exeter Township Junior High

151 East 39th Street | Reading, PA 19606
(610) 779-3320

Click Here For A Searchable Directory
  • Office

    x3004 Alex Brown, Principal
    x3003 Jennifer Cooke, Assistant Principal
    x3001 Nancy Barrasso, Attendance Secretary
    x3002 Patti Suruskie, Secretary

  • Counseling & Guidance

    x3015 Autumn Rheaume, Counselor A-L
    x3014 Kimberly Shaw, Counselor M-Z
    x3012 Shannon Buser, Secretary

  • Nurse

    x3016 Kathy Blume

  • Psychologist

    x3010 Chad Rutherford

  • Technology Support

    x3209 CaroleMcGarry

Note: Faculty phone numbers go to voice mail during school hours

  • Art

    x3108 Kimberly Lopez
    x3107 Colin Temple

  • Computer Applications

    x3116 Kevin Adams

  • English & Reading

    x3104 Hillary Arndt
    x3103 Sophie Cannon
    x3211 Megan Heller
    x3114 Heather Kelly
    x3105 Cheryl Larson
    x3106 Alison Patton
    x3219 Nina Reynolds
    x3102 Stephanie Walters

  • Fitness & Wellness

    x3127
    x3126 Shannon Schmidt

  • Librarian

    x3008 Kate Sowers

  • Mathematics

    x3112 Kelvin Altemose
    x3303 Laura DeLong
    x3301 Scott Haag
    x3305 Sara Prout
    x3306 Jayme Raffauf
    x3302 Shawn Seidel
    x3304 Kathy Topper

  • Music

    x3122 Micah Albrycht
    x3123 Melissa Crotty
    x3221 Kyle Luckenbill

  • Science

    x3205 Brenda Brenner
    x3207 Gretchen Hess
    x3208 Nicole Keen
    x3204 Michelle Obst
    x3203 Tracy Powell
    x3206 Darryl Schucker

  • Social Studies

    x3226 Dena Burkhart
    x3202 Brad Galuska
    x3218 Cynthia Jurasinski-Boyer
    x3201 Janine Lucas
    x3227 Mike Noecker

  • Special Education

    x3210 Abigail Elsavage, Learning Support
    x3017, Stephanie Isselmann, Gifted
    x3215 Kaitlyn Kontopodias, Learning Support
    x3216 Amy Lubenow, Emotional Support
    x3113 Alyssa Raab, Life Skills
    x3101 Michelle Raccuglia, Learning Support
    x3220 Erin Schermerhorn, Learning Support
    x3117 Robyn Shaffer, Autistic Support

  • Technology Education

    x3206 Darryl Schucker
    x3111 Zachary Schools
    x3224 Jason Zalno

  • Therapist

    x3217 Kristin Swartley, Speech Therapist

  • World Languages

    x3212 Nichole Mandel, Spanish,
    x3219 Nina Reynolds, French
    x3104 Carolyn Woodford, German

Home » News » Senior High

Senior High

History Teachers Have Their Own History in Exeter

February 14, 2023 by etsd

the burkhart family stands above the stadium

Matt & Dena Burkhart stand with their children, Cole, Ava and Logan, above Don Thomas Stadium at the Exeter Township Senior High school. 

couple stands in front of lockers

Matt & Dena Burkhart stand by the lockers where they initially met at the Junior High. 

In the fall of 1995 at Exeter Township Junior High, seventh graders Matthew Burkhart and Dena Caldwell met on the first day of school when their alphabetically-ordered last names caused their lockers to be placed opportunely next to each other. Over the course of the next few days, a young Matt and Dena became friends. And soon afterwards, a couple. And despite the lack of longevity in young romances, Matt and Dena defied all odds as they continued to date through junior high, and then high school. By the time they reached their senior year, they were selected to be on prom court together, and their classmates bestowed the adorable title of “cutest couple” to them in their yearbook (incidentally, it’s a title that we’re sure they’d still earn today). 

After their 2001 graduation from Exeter, Matt chose to pursue a baseball scholarship at Tusculum University in Tennessee. Dena stayed closer to home to study at Lebanon Valley College. After a year, Matt decided to move closer to home to study education and play baseball at DeSales University. As Dena was finishing up her post-baccalaureate work and student teaching, Matt proposed, presenting Dena with a ring and a desk plaque that said “Mrs. Burkhart” that still sits on the corner of her desk today. They married a year and a half later.

Today, 28 years after the day they met in the hallway of Exeter Township Junior High, it seems no accident that Matt and Dena both love to teach history. After all, they share so much of it together in the same buildings and the same classrooms where they now inspire the next generation of Eagles. The Exeter community is so much a part of their love story, too: Despite initially getting teaching jobs in other districts, both Matt and Dena jumped on teaching opportunities to return to Exeter where they once met and dated. And despite buying their “forever” home in Douglassville, Dena says that when it came time for her three kids–Ava (grade 6), Logan (grade 4) and Cole (kindergarten)–to attend school, she couldn’t envision them not attending the same schools where their young relationship first began. “Matt looked at me one night in our old house and was like, ‘We can stay in Daniel Boone, or you can put a for sale sign out.’ So we put our house on the market and sold it in six days and moved to Exeter.”

Dena continues, “There are just so many opportunities here in Exeter that we couldn’t imagine not raising our kids here. The teachers that are here–yes, we know them since we work with them–but we see that dedication and the special connections they have with students and we know they'll go that extra distance for students here. It’s the extracurricular clubs, the sports, the educational opportunities such as AP and Honors programs… What we have here and what opportunities we had ourselves as kids was a huge reason we decided we wanted to raise our family here,” she says. “We love Exeter–we really do.”

Filed Under: Junior High, News, Senior High

District to Host Drug Awareness Workshop for Families in January

December 19, 2022 by etsd

picture of assorted edibles and vapes
picture of edibles
picture of teachers crowded around a table

“This,” said Exeter Township Detective Sergeant Rocco DeCamillo as he pointed to a table filled with confiscated THC-laced gummies, brownies, cookies and treats, “was not manufactured to appeal to adults. It was manufactured to look like candy to appeal to kids.” 

As part of the district’s professional development sessions with educators and staff last month, Detective Sergeant DeCamillo spent his day walking teachers, administrators and staff through the ever-complex and constantly-changing landscape of what drugs police are seeing being sold and being used in Exeter Township by adults and minors alike. “Things have drastically changed in the last 20 years. When the majority of us were in high school, marijuana was natural and looked like pot. Now, there’s so much synthetic stuff out there that’s chemically-produced with no regulation or oversight–and much of it’s been disguised to look like candy.”

Superintendent Dr. Christy Haller and Assistant Superintendent Mrs. Dawn Harris organized the session with Detective Sergeant DeCamillo and the district’s Student Services Coordinator, Mrs. Alycia Lenart, to bring a greater awareness to teachers of what’s out there, what it looks like, and how to engage students and their families with help for substance abuse. The sessions proved to be so popular with educators that Detective Sergeant DeCamillo and Mrs. Lenart decided to offer a similar session to parents and families so that they, too, could learn what police are seeing in the local community, and how to receive support through the district when families are faced with substance abuse. The parent and family session will be held on Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 7PM in Exeter Township Senior High School’s Large Group Instruction (LGI) room. 

During his presentation to teachers, Detective Sergeant DeCamillo said navigating the “new normal” of drug use and drug accessibility is not easy. Oftentimes, he said as he pointed to all of the items on the table, local retailers don’t even know what’s legal to sell and what isn’t since laws vary from state to state. “Most of this stuff is perfectly legal in New Jersey,” he said. Mrs. Lenart added, “I think there’s also a perception that since it’s legal in certain states, it must be perfectly safe, and it’s really not,” she said, as she ticked off statistics that indicate that 90% of ER admittance for marijuana or THC overdoses are from edibles. “It takes anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours for kids to feel the effect from an edible. Since most teens don’t have great patience, they think it’s not working, so they eat more, and more and more and then wind up in the hospital. That’s why it’s so important to bring awareness to this very scary issue.”

Filed Under: Jacksonwald, Junior High, Lorane, News, Owatin Creek, Reiffton, Senior High

Exeter Spiritwear Holiday Pop-Up Shop Now Open!

December 1, 2022 by etsd

Exeter Eagles Spiritwear Holiday Pop-Up Shop open now through Wednesday, December 7th only!
 
Adult and Youth Sizes in Nike & Under Armour • Delivery to your home before the holidays
 
Shop now: https://exetertownshipfall22.itemorder.com/shop/home/

Filed Under: Jacksonwald, Junior High, Lorane, News, Owatin Creek, Reiffton, Senior High

Budget Workshops Announced

October 24, 2022 by etsd

As the Exeter Township School District begins to shape the budget for the 2023-24 school year, the District will hold a series of workshops to discuss budget topics with the community. Parents, taxpayers and all members of the Exeter community are invited to join us for these meetings. The schedule for the next two upcoming workshops and topics are below. The District will also post a synopsis of each budget workshop on our website shortly after each meeting.

The next two meetings are scheduled for:

October 26th at 6PM
Location: Junior High
Topic: Overview and Purpose of Workshop Meetings/Index Review

November 30th at 6PM
Location: Senior High
Topic: Revenue

Filed Under: Jacksonwald, Junior High, Lorane, News, Owatin Creek, Reiffton, Senior High

Exeter’s New Supervisor of Transportation Earns National Recognition

October 18, 2022 by etsd

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.”

Filed Under: Jacksonwald, Junior High, Lorane, News, Owatin Creek, Reiffton, Senior High

Merriment meets Exeter Students at Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire

October 13, 2022 by etsd

students sing at renaissance faire
student wears viking-style hat at renaissance faire
exeter students and teachers pose at renaissance faire
exeter students and teachers pose at renaissance faire
exeter student pose with renaissance faire lady
exeter students perform in renaissance faire

Huzzah! Throngs of junior and senior high masters and mistresses and lords and ladies merrily attended the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire last week to sing, act and soak up history–and just be soaked thanks to the rainy weather. The joint field trip saw junior high music students perform for the festival goers, and Mrs. Burkhart’s 8th grade accelerated social studies class took part in a wedding, watched jousting matches and noshed on turkey legs and exotic jerky. Senior high students from Mr. Wickstrom’s Creative Expressions class performed a scene from “Macbeth” in a theater competition, which students spent a month preparing for in class by rehearsing lines, assembling props and creating costumes–as well as gory special effects for a vengeful ghost. 

Nay. Although Exeter’s theatrical and musical performances did not win the day, Mr. Wickstrom said that the students left feeling great about their efforts and learned a lot throughout the experience. Mrs. Burkhart agreed. “The experience they had outside the classroom was absolutely amazing! I think students loved the most that everyone at the faire stayed in character and interacted with them throughout the day.”

Filed Under: Junior High, News, Senior High

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Exeter Township Junior High School

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Address & Contact Info

  • 151 East 39th Street
    Reading, PA 19606

  • District Phone:
    610-779-3320

  • Fax:
    610-249-0171

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Our Schools

Exeter Township Senior High

Exeter Township Junior High

Reiffton School

Jacksonwald Elementary

Lorane Elementary

Owatin Creek Elementary