Quaker Valley School District officials and staff are eager to welcome nearly 1,830 students at the start of the 2025-26 school year.

Students in kindergarten through ninth grade are expected to report Wednesday, Aug. 20, and all students will be in schools the following day.

Staffers are to report Thursday, Aug. 14.

“We’re excited to have everyone come back,” Superintendent Tammy Andreyko said. “We’re coming off of a really special year with Blue Ribbon (recognition), and we’re going to continue that strong feeling as we move forward.”

Digital backpack

The district has gone way from the traditional mailers to parents this year.

Instead, it has launched a digital backpack. They are tailor-made for each school and have information on food services, supply lists, school safety, handbooks, transportation, health services, schedules and more.

A subsection of the backpacks focuses on technology such as instructions and tips for families on how to use devices that students take home with them.

“It’s making things digitally available for families to review,” Andreyko said. “It does save paper. We’ve heard from parents that this is how they would like to engage with our materials that we send home. Rather than sending them back and forth, they can look at everything right online.”

The digital backpacks can be viewed through the district’s website, qvsd.org.

Families that want to use the traditional paper forms can get them at their respective schools.

The district moved report cards online last year.

New student opportunities

Students will have a plethora of new opportunities from new music, art and cooking classes to an esports initiative and a unified robotics team.

The school board in February approved several new courses and curriculum changes, including a new music pathway for students who prefer not to perform, as well as focus on business and entrepreneurship.

Students will be introduced to Future Ready Academies, which will focus on career paths in science and health, innovative arts and communications, human services and business, finance and information technology.

The Family and Consumer Science Department is implementing a revised curriculum for cooking essentials and foods, as well as the creation of three new courses: Kitchen Basics: Foundations of Cooking; Beyond the Basics: Advanced Cooking Concepts; and an Introduction to Design.

A middle school library room is being renovated to house an esports program. The district obtained Nintendo Switches via Quaker Valley Education Foundation grant money.

Brett Slezak, district director of innovation, said it’s a pilot program in sixth through eighth grades.

“We’re pretty excited to get going with it,” Slezak said. “We know that there are students that are wanting to be part of that. I think it really reaches out to students that gravitate toward esports activities, and it gives them an outlet to work with.”

The Grable Foundation is funding a Unified VEX Robotics team. The inclusive program provides opportunities for Life Skills students and those with and without special needs to come together for team programming and competition.

Mental health services

The district is making strides in student mental health.

Jen Shroads, director of student services, said the district partnered with The Bradley Center to have school-based mental health services in grades 6-12 last school year.

Center staffers help children and teens who experience trauma, mental illness and behavioral challenges.

School counselors would coordinate with other professionals to ensure students got the services they needed, Shroads said.

The partnership proved fruitful, and services have been expanded to K-12 this coming school year.

“There wasn’t anything that was a trigger to say we need these services for our elementary students and our youngest learners,” Shroads said. “We wanted to make sure the services were available for all students and all families. It’s just creating a balanced model.”

The district is also putting the finishing touches on its sensory rooms in its elementary and middle school. The rooms were available for students last school year. However, some of the tools and displays in the original designs were not received until this summer.

“Availability of products and shipping timelines and such are very much out of any of our control,” Shroads said. “We were at the mercy of when those products were available to be shipped.”

Shroads said there is no designated sensory room at the high school, but teachers have some sensory tools in their classrooms and counselors have some in their offices.

Building upgrades

Charlie Gauthier, district director of facilities and administrative services, said upgrades were made to all district schools over the summer.

Work included sidewalk repairs, track paving and roof restoration at Osborne Elementary.

Edgeworth Elementary received HVAC upgrades and sidewalk repairs.

The middle school had repairs to its chiller, boiler and sidewalks as well some asphalt paving, kitchen equipment replacement, gym floor refinishing and an esports room renovation.

The high school went through gym floor refinishing, asphalt sealing, kitchen equipment replacement, tennis court resurfacing and track and turf replacement at Chuck Knox Stadium.

Prototype classroom renovations to two more high school rooms are planned for October. Furniture and how it may impact instruction will be a major focus.

The district had transformed one of its high school classrooms last school year into one that could be used in a proposed new high school in Leet.

The project is still in the permitting phase and has a long way to go before officials can break ground.

Several students at June 2 graduation said they felt more comfortable and liked the new classroom look, including how the desks fit together for group activities.

A facilities assessment by Pittsburgh-based DRAW Collective Architecture continues into the school year. A report is expected to be filed by late winter or early spring.

Meal prices

Meal prices remain largely unchanged. Elementary and secondary meals are $3.35.

Secondary premium meals are now $4.10, which is an increase of 10 cents from last year.

Adult meals are $4.90. Students eligible for reduced-meal pricing get their food for free.

Breakfast is free for all students. A second meal or a-la-cart purchases are $1.75.

Portrait of a Learner

This school year marks phase one of implementing Quaker Valley’s Portrait of a Learner, a new internal method of quantifying student success beyond test scores.

District officials said it’s a framework that outlines the key skills, competencies and attributes a school or district believes students should develop as they learn at Quaker Valley.

“It paints a picture of who we expect our learners to be as people,” said Michelle Dietz, district director of communications.

A lot of this year’s efforts will be on evaluating where the “portraits” exist in the current curriculum, extracurriculars and other district activities and where they might be strengthened.

”We want curious young people going out (into the world) and not just consuming learning, but going out and going beyond what is in a book or what is on an iPad,” Andreyko said.

A further explanation of the initiative is available on the district’s website under the school board presentation section.

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