For those of you who desire continued improvements in the Daniel Boone School District, I would urge you to attend monthly School Board meetings and the monthly Committee of the Whole meetings.  The dates, times and location are listed on the Daniel Boone district website.  On most months that I attended during the 2008-2009 school year, there were only a half a dozen “public” attendees.  These meetings are extremely helpful in understanding what is going on in the school district.  Getting involved in the schools and asking lots of questions are also great ways to learn more.  There is a power in knowledge and a power in numbers.  The more  parents can stand together and voice their expectations to the school district, the more chance there is in continued improvements.  Be vocal!  Be informed! 

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My Comment:  This article is dated April 2009.  I am not currently running for school board and have no immediate future plans to do so; however, I think it is critical for Douglassville and Birdsboro residents to stay informed by attending school board meetings and to try, in any way possible, to improve our school district.  We pay way too much in taxes not to have a top-notch school district, where the children are far exceeding the state standards (on the pssa’s) instead of performing below the state average (most recent 11th grade pssa results for math and reading in Daniel Boone school district).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 2009:

Some parents are content to sit back and watch their children grow. Not Stephanie Conlon. She’s more interested in growing with her children. The Douglassville resident and mother of four recently threw her hat into the ring when she filed paperwork to run for a seat on the Daniel Boone School Board.

A resident of Amity Township for nearly ten years, Conlon is a familiar face and name around the township. She is the current President of the Moms Club of Douglassville West, a local chapter of the international, non-profit Moms Offering Moms Support organization and one in which Conlon herself helped launch in 2001.

Conlon is an active member of her local community, Daniel Boone’s Parent Teacher Council, and Berks County as a whole. Within the MOMS Club, Stephanie consistently volunteers on such service projects as Berks Women in Crisis, Concern of Fleetwood, Boone Area Library, and Berks County Food Bank, as well as coordinating efforts to help a few local families who have had children with medical emergencies.  

But the education of children is Conlon’s passion and one that seems to be writing the next chapter of her life.

“Nothing is more important to me than the education of my children and all the children in the Daniel Boone Area School District,” said Conlon.  “Within the next three years, all four of my children will be attending elementary school. I have a very vested interest in ensuring that our academics are top-notch.”

Conlon brings more to the school board table than just her love of children. She is also a private business owner who has successfully juggled career, family and community involvement.

She has over twenty three years of experience in the financial industry, including holding a position as the Operations Manager of a $1.5 billion stock and bond asset allocation program that managed the Harrisburg-based Pennsylvania Tuition Assistance Program accounts. 

In addition, Conlon possess both tax and financial professional experience and has worked for a non-profit debt counseling company, a brokerage firm and a financial planning company. Five years ago, Conlon ventured into entrepreneurship when she saw an opportunity to build a profitable, online company in the real estate market. 

Her experience and accomplishments in the financial sector, combined with the fact that she has young children in the school system, makes her a uniquely qualified representative for school board. 

“When someone speaks of academic excellence, the first thought one might have is increasing spending to accomplish the goal,” notes Conlon. “But there are ways to raise the bar academically without having to spend additional money. This includes establishing district-wide goals, raising expectations from the top all the way down to our students, encouraging parental involvement in committees consisting of teachers, administrators and parents, carefully reviewing where funds are being allocated, as well as exploring programs and resources that have little or no cost, including online resources.”

Conlon notes that in recent years the focus of the Daniel Boone School District has primarily been on constructing buildings to accommodate growing enrollment. However, she feels that since enrollment has leveled out the time has come to re-focus on academics and concentrate on ways to assert excellence across Daniel Boone School District as a whole. 

Improving communication between the school board, administration, teachers and parents is a priority for the school board hopeful.

“Easy accessibility to the school board and the ability to monitor feedback from the public is key to opening up the lines of communication,” explained Conlon. “The public should have easy access to exactly what the students are learning, the programs that the school has in place and the vision the administrators have for the future of Daniel Boone School District.” 

Conlon is confident she has the experience, skills, knowledge and passion to help steer the Daniel Boone School District in the right direction. She just hopes voters will help her take the helm to do just that.

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My beliefs:

 1.  Strong fiscal responsibility to hold down any future spending increases. 

• Taxpayers need to be assured they are getting a good return on the significant investment they make. 
• Daniel Boone has a budget of almost $50 million a year.  The residence of Daniel Boone School District pay significant taxes.  We must be vigilant in voting “no” to tax increases.
• I have twenty three years of experience in the financial industry including holding a position as the Operations Manager of a $1.5 billion stock and bond asset allocation program that managed the Harrisburg-based Pennsylvania Tuition Assistance Program accounts. 
• I am a local business owner of a title search firm.

       2.  Focus on Academic Excellence

• All the children of the Daniel Boone School District deserve the equal right to education that enables them to achieve their full potential.
• One no-cost way of raising the bar academically is fostering parental involvement.  In ScienceDaily, May 28, 2008, new research from the University of New Hampshire shows that students do much better in school when their parents are actively involved in their education.  “Parental effort is consistently associated with higher levels of achievement, and the magnitude of the effect of parental effort is substantial. We found that schools would need to increase per-pupil spending by more than $1,000 in order to achieve the same results that are gained with parental involvement.”  For the full article, please check out the “parent info & resources” tab.
• One way to include parents is implementing a curriculum advisory board made up of parents and teachers.  The curriculum advisory board would research, discuss, and work with administrators to implement curriculum ideas. 
• Another committee opportunity that includes parents is a shared decision making committees.  This committee would be made up of parents and teachers and would work with the building principal to develop, review, and evaluate school improvement programs.  The committee would set 1 to 2 building goals for the school year and meet monthly to accomplish those goals.  Examples of goals could be the cafeteria and improving nutrition, or increasing communication through websites and LED boards, or developing an after-school foreign language club.  There could also be a shared decision making committee for the district (parents and administrators) working with the superintendent on a district goal for the year – an example would be to decrease the gap in testing in minorities or foster more parent involvement.

        3.  Open Communication

• The district website should be more informative.  Information on the website should include exactly what the children are learning by grade, programs that are offered in the schools and frequent updates from the superintendent.  Having more detailed information on the website would help parents stay easily informed.
• Curriculum Night – This is a parent-only event at the beginning of the school year which provides an opportunity for parents to meet their child’s teachers and learn about the curriculum at that grade level (exactly what the children are learning, not just a list of the PA state standards for that grade and not just the classroom rules).  . 
• Parents’ opinions should matter – a survey to parents asking what their opinion is of the school district.  Other ways to keep the lines of communication open is coffee with superintendent/school board 2 or 3 times a year where taxpayers can casually drop by and talk to the superintendent about what is on their mind.
• Encourage participation at school board meetings – parents should not be afraid their children will “suffer” for their involvement in questioning the school and voicing opinions at the school board meetings should be welcomed and appreciated.