North Penn School Safety Forum Reveals Changes, Shortcomings

Led by North Penn Safe Schools Coordinator Ray Wilson, a forum Monday night on school safety, in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy, presented what's keeping students safe and what's going to make them safer

Some things were revealed Monday night at a school safety forum at North Penn High School that informed parents what's keeping their children safe and what's being scrutinized to make them safer. Namely, the possibility of an armed, trained and certified security guard at the high school. Parents also discovered that there is an absence of staffed security at the elementary schools, as North Penn High School and the middle schools are viewed as facilities with higher than average (and older) troublemakers. Specifics of security measures at the schools in the district were generalized, as not to jeopardize them, said Superintendent Curt Dietrich. "During the week since the tragedy at Sandy Hook, we've received emails from parents, …

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Tony Di Domizio

8:12 pm on Tuesday, January 8, 2013

He isn't 31 years off the job. He recently retired from his job after 31 years at Hatfield Township Police.   more ›

North Penn Girls Saved by Elizabeth Berkley

The actress and "Saved by the Bell" cast member held a self-esteem workshop for girls at North Penn High Tuesday as part of her national book tour.

Elizabeth Berkley’s popularity has begun to span generations. Best known as Jessie Spano on Saved By the Bell—where her popular culture meme, “I’m so excited, I’m so excited, I’m so … scared,” originated—Berkley has made a name for herself in movies such as Showgirls and in other TV shows, such as CSI: Miami. For the past five years, Berkley has taken up another role—one of a big sister to many young girls across the nation. Berkley appeared at North Penn High School Tuesday for two girls’ self-esteem workshops. The workshops were closed to all males of the school, both students and teachers. “I’ve worked with 40,000 girls now,” said Berkley during an interview at North Penn following her 90-minute workshop, which more than 100 girls …

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Moms Talk

Moms Talk: Earth Day Activities

What can you do with your kids to recognize Earth Day?

Happy Earth Day! Those of us who try to be environmentally-cautious parents like to think that everyone out there is as worried about the future of our planet as we are.  We would like to see our children and their children and their children and their children and their children (you get the point) have the privilege of living on a healthy green Earth long into the future. The amount of waste a family of 5 can make in a week is astonishing!  Try to imagine what your family takes out to the trash per week times 52 weeks times the number of families in Lansdale; in Pennsylvania; in the United States; in the world! All good habits start somewhere and usually take some getting used to, but the sooner you start your family with the basic rules…

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Moms Talk

Moms Talk: 'Begging' for Help

This week's Moms Talk answers a Willow Grove mom's question about how to keep her children from begging at the checkout line.

It’s that time of the week again! Here at Patch, we try to take a moment to help out those most important people in everyone’s life: moms. Believe it or not, we don’t have all the answers, but we do what we can. When we come up short, we need the community to lend a helping hand and put in its two cents, advice or tips to help us along the way. This week, we’ll take a look at one reader’s question regarding begging.  "Dear Patch, Each week, I have the same issue with my daughter. We have to do the grocery shopping, and I prefer to go when my older son and daughter are in school. I am a stay-at-home mom, and so I have to bring along my daughter who is just 3. She does fairly well in the store, sitting in the cart, but every week I dread the…

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Melissa Treacy

8:00 pm on Monday, April 11, 2011

Thanks for the note, Audrey. And, yes, I agree. Most of the "list" items are gone in a matter of minutes. Only the re-re-repeats make it to a final list! Good point to make.   more ›

Moms Talk

Moms Talk: A Punishment That Fits the Crime

This week, a mom asks if she and her husband are finding the right level of punishments for their son's actions.

Finding the right sentence for the crime—that is what Moms Talk is all about this week. Our question comes from a reader concerned about making sure she and her husband are finding the right level of punishments for their son’s actions. “Our son has an issue with hitting his classmates. He’s smacked children with his lunch box, and we’ve since decided on brown bags to pack in to school. Now, he is using his hands to punch. His teacher has sent a few notes home about his behavior, and no matter what we pick to punish him with, it doesn’t seem to work. We both feel strongly about not physically hurting our son, so we don’t do spankings or anything. But, so far, we can’t seem to find something that ‘matters’ to him. We take things away and he…

Moms Talk Q&A: Preparing For the PSSA Tests

When in Doubt, Pick C.

This week's Moms Talk Q&A comes from Montgomeryville-Lansdale Patch Moms Council member Erica Colvin. It's that time of year again. The time of year when our state opens up its testing window for the statewide standardized testing: the PSSA.   If you have a student anywhere from third through eighth-grade and in 11th grade, your child is in the targeted testing group. For those of you who are parents of third-graders, this is not only new to you, but also new to your child.   As a former third-grade teacher, I had plenty of students and parents with test anxiety. Here are a few tips I gave to prepare for and reduce test stress. 1. Eat breakfast and dinner: No need to turn into a gourmet chef next week, but fuel up your child, both in the …

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Moms Talk Q&A

Welcome to the forum by moms and for moms. Feel free to answer this week's question.

Moms Talk is a new feature on Lansdale Patch that is part of a new initiative on our Patch sites to reach out to moms and families. Lansdale Patch invites you and your circle of friends to help build a community of support for mothers and their families right here in your community. Each week in Moms Talk, our Moms Council of experts and smart moms take your questions, give advice and share solutions. Moms, dads, grandparents and the diverse families who make up our community will have a new resource for questions about local neighborhood schools, the best pediatricians, finding the best day cares and the thousands of other issues that arise while raising children. Moms Talk will also be the place to drop in for a talk about the latest …

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Melissa Treacy

9:40 pm on Friday, February 11, 2011

Thanks for the input, Kali. I will post your question next week about parks in our next Moms Talk.   more ›