New Charter School Proposed for NPSD - Info Meeting Tonight!

Two local teachers, Naomi Rodriguez and Kim Siar, seek to create a new charter school for the North Penn School District. The school, which will require approval by the NPSD school board, will offer tuition-free education to children in grades K through 5 and will also include an on-site preschool and daycare (which will require tuition).

This effort is not associated with Montgomery Flex, the charter school that applied to the school board last year, though Ms. Rodriguez says "We have heard a lot about them since starting this project!"

The team will have to apply to the school board by November 15th in order to open in August 2013. After submitting their application, which they hope to do within the next few weeks, a hearing will be held by the school board to determine whether they will approve or deny the application.

Ms. Rodruigez shared that "In order for the school board to approve our charter application we need to show that parents and community members want to have the choice to go to our school. We have had a pleasantly surprising response from community members and even our own current and past administrators already. We have been working hard in our own districts and seeing the results. So when we started talking about the idea, things just started coming together on their own. It is truly amazing! We are taking a huge leap together, as we are still both teaching, to create the ideal space for children to learn - one we would want for our own kids (in fact, two of my children will be attending our school-my third will be in middle school with Kim's daughter)."

You can learn all about the eNG philosophy and the courses to be offered at their website, www.engcharter.org.

"Right now we are just getting the word out so that parents who share our vision and philosophy know we are here. We need pre-enrollments to show the school board that children will want to come to our school (it's obligation free)" says Rodruigez. "We have some more public meetings coming up. We will be at the Lansdale Library at 7:30pm on September 26 and Oct. 4 and at the North Wales Library at 7:30pm on Oct. 4."

Bus Anxiety? Have No Fear...K-Day is Here!

Yay! Its time for another "K-Day"! Not familiar with this fun NPSD tradition? Read on to decide whether this event is for you. 

My kids and I have attended K-Day in the past and we all enjoyed it. Not only was the movie interesting and, more importantly, very informative, but the ride around town was really fun, too. Our tour included a stop at the bus garage at NPHS and, as a parent, it was funny to hear the older siblings on our bus cry out "Oh look! Its one-thirty-nine!" or "Yay! Bus twenty-seven!" as if they were talking about old friends.


Here is what NPSD has to say about K-Day:

NPSD Transportation Department Holds K-Day Event for Kindergarten and First Grade Students and their Families

For the 13th consecutive year, the North Penn School District (NPSD) Transportation Department is holding its annual K-Day event! More than 500 students are expected to participate in this wonderful program, which is designed to ease the anxiety that kindergarten and first grade students (and their parents) who have never ridden the bus before sometimes experience when they take that first ride on the big yellow bus. Kindergarten and first grade students from surrounding non-public and private schools are also encouraged to attend. No reservations are necessary. Participants will be invited to explore the bus and even sit in the driver's seat while NPSD bus drivers explain school bus facts and safety information. Then, if they wish, parents, students and their siblings will be invited to take a seat for a short ride around the neighborhood. The exciting day will wrap up with a safety video, safety education regarding the "danger zone" around the bus when loading and unloading and the distribution of information regarding bus tags, bus schedules, emergency phone numbers and day care locations. This year’s program will take place on Thursday, August 9, Thursday, August 16 and Thursday, August 23. There are two bus departure times for each date - 9 and 11 a.m. Please practice being on time for your stop and be prompt. The event will once again be held at Walton Farm Elementary School, located at 1610 Allentown Road in Lansdale. (Editor's Note: If you've never been to Walton Farm, have no fear, you will see the buses right away and the entrance to the auditorium (for the movie) is easy to find, as well.) Participation in K-Day is voluntary and does not preclude the safety training that occurs in all 13 of the district's elementary schools each fall.

Register Now: Free Young Writers Workshop

Looking for a fun way to learn how to write?

Chyten Educational Services of Blue Bell will be conducting a Writing Workshop at the Wissahickon Valley Public Library (Blue Bell branch). Designed for rising 4th to 6th grade students, this workshop will introduce young writers to poetry, persuasive writing, advertising and brochures, journals and personal stories.

Join us on select Tuesdays this summer from 11am to 12pm for a fun-filled experience at the writing workshop. Registration is required and class size is limited to 10. A different topic will be presented each week. Students may sign up for as few or as many weeks as they wish. For online registration, go to WVPL.org and click on Calendar or Events. This workshop is FREE and expected to fill quickly so register now!

NPUT Travels to... The Crayola Experience!

Beyond a simple name change, The Crayola Experience continues to evolve, offering new fun, creative, and engaging projects.

Recently, I took advantage of one of the LivingSocial deals I had posted on the NPUT website for half-off tickets to The Crayola Experience. Creative, indoor (air-conditioned!) fun sounded like just the thing we needed on a hot summer day yesterday and it proved to be every bit as fun as we hoped.

Getting There
We made the drive to the nice little town of Easton by way of 309-North and 78-East. My GPS had suggested taking 476-North to 22-East, but the scenery and road conditions on my alternate route proved well worth the few extra minutes. The drive was right around an hour door-to-door with minimal traffic and no roadwork to speak of.

Economical parking at the adjacent garage.

Parking couldn't have been easier. A reasonably-priced public parking garage is adjacent to the Crayola building and offers payment by cash (most hours) or credit/debit card which you can pay via machine or live person on your way out from the convenience of your car window. Oh, how I love anything drive-thru now that I have children! You can also sometimes find a spot on the street for 50-cents per hour, but only quarters, dimes and nickels are accepted.

Every area of the center was stroller and wheel-chair accessible including the parking garage and main entrance and an elevator offers access to all floors. Some stroller parking areas were seen throughout and a sizable coat room was available at the entrance where I noticed some families had stowed their cooler bags with pre-packed lunches.

Fun Awaits Inside
When you check in at Crayola, you'll receive three shiny silver tokens per child, a clear, handle goody bag for carrying your child's creations (love this improvement over the old paper bags!), and a small crayon box for collecting free crayons as you make your journey. I found it helpful to carry a backpack rather than a handbag that day to keep my hands free to help with projects and carry bags. We were also glad we heeded the advice on Crayola's website to wear play clothes as a couple of activities did leave my youngest with some flecks of paint and wax on her shirt. (A non-issue since we were prepared.)

The fun begins on the second floor of the center with a wide variety of creative crafting options, opportunities to redeem your tokens, and a demonstration room where you can see how crayons and markers are made. The twenty-minute, all-ages presentation offers plenty of visuals and even a freshly-made free marker and crayon for everyone. Be sure to note the showtimes for this educational and essential part of your visit. Its easy to become carried away with your crafting and lose track of time, but the presentation is very interesting!

Presentation on how crayons and markers are made.

Painting with melted wax.

Redeeming tokens for crayons.

Adjacent to the demonstration are easy-to-use automatic crayon and marker dispensers where your child can choose to redeem their tokens. Be sure to save at least one to redeem for Model Magic in the next room though! The second floor also included a neat area where kids can paint with melted wax and a large area for drawing with sidewalk chalk.

Sidewalk chalk doodling.

A ramp leads to another section on the second floor where many more activities and crafts are available. One of the favorites of my five and seven-year-old was an area where you can pose for a photo with one of your favorite characters. Choose between Spider-Man, Lightning McQueen, or Cinderella, pose, and in a few moments, you'll have not a photo, but a coloring page with you and your favorite character to color! What a fun use of technology!

Pose with your favorite character for a custom coloring page staring YOU!

Instructions for one of the guided crafts.

Painting paper for binoculars craft.

In the same room, a toddler play area offers something to keep little wigglers occupied while older siblings color or create a guided craft which changes frequently. Yesterday, the craft was a pair of animal print-patterned binoculars. The kids painted a long, rectangular paper which they then fed onto the belt of a large drying machine and patiently waited for their paper to re-appear so they could roll, tape, paper punch, and tie a string to make their binoculars. Plenty of Crayola staffers were on hand to help and I was impressed by the hospitality of one young employee in the area who engaged us in conversation and told us he had met a family from Alabama earlier that morning.

Kids color on the clear glass walls.

Some of the other creative fun we enjoyed while on the second floor included trying out unique Crayola products like Color Explosion paper with color-revealing markers, coloring with markers on the clear, glass walls of an underwater-themed area called "Scribble Sea", and dancing around in front of a colorful projector and even some fun house mirrors.

Doodling with glow markers.

Funny what inspires some kids, isn't it?

 The creativity continued on the third floor where kids are invited to draw on the walls with glow-in-the-dark markers and work on another guided craft project. There was also a new mini-shopping area where parents could purchase craft kits to take home.


One of my children's favorite parts of Crayola has always been the "Water Works" area on the third floor, a hands-on educational area where kids can learn about canals. This unique little area was left behind when the National Canal Museum relocated earlier this year.

Driving boats through the canals in the "Water Works" area.

Fourth Floor Art Gallery

Our final stop at Crayola was the fourth floor, a loft area that showcases works of art created by children that offers a quiet place for inspiration and calm after a busy day.

Samples of artwork from the 4th floor gallery.

Planning The Next Trip
All in all, we spent about three hours at The Crayola Experience. The bathrooms were always close by when we needed them and all of them offered changing tables and wheelchair accessible stalls. On this trip, we remembered to bring two quarters and one shiny penny per child so that each of them could purchase a keepsake pressed penny from one of the hand crank machines. Something to note: on a busy day, it could pay off to start on the top floor and work your way down since most people seem to follow the same path through the building. 

McDonald's Express offers a convenient lunch.

An indoor eating area is available for those wishing to bring their lunches from home. Tables and benches are also available nearby outside along the picturesque Centre Square traffic circle along which the building is situated. For those who would prefer to eat inside the Crayola center, a McDonald's Express conveniently offers traditional, kid-friendly favorites on the first floor of the center. A number of other local eateries are within a short walk, as well, and re-entry to Crayola is permitted.

View of Centre Square, downtown Easton from the 4th floor.

Had my children not been so tired (okay, mommy was tired, too) after our visit, I had wanted to stop in at a cute little ice cream shop right next door called The Purple Cow Creamery. Next time I hope we do that and also do some exploring of the surrounding town. The local police station shares some space in the parking garage so that elicited some "oohs" and "ahhs" on our walk back to the car. 


The Crayola Experience is also about two thirds of the way to the Poconos and halfway to New York City for us here in North Penn, which makes it a great add-on to any family roadtrip, as well. The Color Wonder creativity packs we picked up made for a quiet, mess-free drive home and many other great Crayola products are available at the Crayola Gift Shop which is adjacent to the Crayola Experience and features the world's largest crayon weighing in at 1,500 pounds!


For directions, hours, and additional detailed information, visit The Crayola Experience online.


We're looking forward to our next visit and I hope this helps you plan yours!

Discounted Jumpin' Jack's Admission for NPUT Fans!

You don't need me to tell you how scorching hot it is outside. According to Weather.com right now, "A major heat wave is sweeping across many states east of the Rockies" and relief is days away. Your community pool may offer some relief, but even this native southern Californian thinks it is still just plain too hot to move outside right now!

If you're looking for a way for your kids to have fun running, jumping, and climbing, don't forget that Jumpin' Jacks' is open today until 5:00pm. And... for the whole month of July, North Penn Under Ten fans will receive $1 off per person on weekday admission! All you need to do is tell them that North Penn Under Ten is the greatest website ever and you'll receive your discount. Oh, alright. I'm kidding about that "greatest website ever" thing. Simply mention that you are an NPUT reader or that you appreciate Jumpin' Jack's support of NPUT. Something to that effect will work just fine. ;-)

Stay cool, North Penn!