Thank goodness. Now maybe the district can find a new leader to out the high school on the right course and can get back to raising the achievement of our children. Not making AYP is unacceptable in this district.

I have been to all the meetings; how about you? Under this leadership the high school scores have declined drastically and the feedback I constantly hear from parents and high school students regarding the acdemic programs is quite negative. Our high school now ranks in the lower half of Delaware County. We are below all our neighboring townships: Wallingford, Haverford, Radnor, Lower Merion, and Rose Tree Media, The district needs to shake things up at the high school and find out why only 75% of 11th graders were proficient or advanced in reading and only 65% were proficent or advanced in math in 2012. I only hope the district and the board find a new leader who is committed to raising the bar for academics so our children have better opportnuities in the future.

3boys- That's a bunch of excuses! The decline in scores is in no way related to studenrs "transfering out". I think you are greatly misinformed and I'm sorry that you belive Jim Lanzalotto's wild hunch about "transfers" being the problem that he threw out there at the Curriculum meeting back in Novemebr without any factual information. This is just an excuse, and until people accept that the academic program is not as strong as it once was we will never resolve the problem.

Try stating your position regarding tthe issue instead of verbally insulting me! You sound like an idiot!
I am very active in the PTO by the way.

Who are you 3boyz? Identify yourself instead of hiding behind some stupid screen name. Wait... is this ....

Stick to the topic. Why do you gave yk get so defensive and attack me personally. We s want what's best for our children and attacking someone for stating thief opinion is really uncalled for. No need to get personal. Thid comment section is for people to express their comments on the issues being discussed in the article, not to attack your neighbors for having an opinion that's different from yours. Think before you post 3boyz.

3boyz you must be Dana Kaufman.

Budget and Facilities meetings are tomorrow (Tuesday 1/8) night, at 6:30 and 7:30 pm, respectively. CIT (Curriculum, Instruction, and Technology) meeting is Thursday 1/10 at 7:30 pm. The community benefits from involved parents; please try to attend.

Teachers are greatly challenged to improve student performance. The students are different with respect to
learning and motivation these days. Many students come to MN with social and emotional baggage which impedes their focus. Although this is not unlike other districts a better way of assessing student performance is a move on the right direction for MN.

Bottom line is our scores are much lower and our cost per student is the just about the same as our adjecent townships. Why should I have to be embarrassed to say the school district I am in? Or listen to people say - you aren't going to send your daughter to Marple Newtown schools are you? My daughter will never attend school in Marple Newtown schools in its current state. I don't attend meetings and never plan to because I just see it as a waste of my time. Facts are facts and regardless of the bickering between people on this comment board - our district is middle to bottom of the pack in the Philadelphia area (per Philly.com, Philadelphia Magazine etc.)

The schools are only as good as the community and this community with the exception of a few is asleep. Demand something better and you'll get it. It takes strong involvement with big numbers of people at meetings etc.

The high school was falling down even after previous boards spent millions on renovations. Now we have a proud showplace which sets the stage for academic improvement. If you attended the open house as I did you have to ask why anyone would spend the extra bucks for a private school when MN is now a state of the art facility. I think it has to do with prestige and that's all

Academic improvement means offering a wider array of curriculum options that meet the needs of our changing student body here. Not every kid is bound for college any longer and many who go are not always suited.