Rodney Schafer practices what he teaches, so well in fact that the Burrell School District rocketry instructor received national attention for his skills.

The 2020-2021 school year has been challenging for everyone, including students, parents, and teachers.

“The most challenging part of the year for me has been trying to focus when I go virtual for the day,” said John Lindgren, senior at Burrell High School. “It's just very difficult to go to class after class while sitting in the same spot all day.”

Burrell School District hasn’t changed much from its original Health and Safety Plan at the beginning of the year and that’s because it’s working.

“The mitigation efforts that we put into place are serving us very well,” said Angela Dastolfo, RN, BSN, NCSN, MS, Coordinator of Health Services.

Burrell School District takes art education seriously, and it shows. The district has recently been named as an Outstanding Visual Arts Community by the Pennsylvania Art Education Association (PAEA). Only 27 districts across the state received this prestigious recognition.

This year, Burrell School District has a new resource officer on campus — patrolman Robert Acquaviva from the Lower Burrell Police Department.

Acquaviva is filling the role vacated by John Marhefka, who left last year to become the chief of police for Lower Burrell.

After much discussion and planning, Burrell School District has created a Health and Safety Plan for the upcoming 2020-2021 year.

The plan consists of three options families and students can choose from before the school year begins.

Francine Corsi, choral director at Burrell School District, never imagined that after her 38 ½-year career, her final lesson in the classroom would come so suddenly.

“It’s sad,” said Corsi. “I never thought that March 13th would be the last day I would see everyone.”

While Corsi had planned to retire this year, the school shutdown limited her chances to say goodbye to students and faculty.

Because of COVID-19, students at Burrell School District haven’t been to school since March 13.  Amidst the chaos, the district worked hard to create a remote learning program that was implemented on March 30.

Students and teachers now log into Google Classroom for lessons, which are either pre-recorded or live sessions. The school day runs from 8:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., and teachers are available for questions through chat or email. While students still have assignments, they don’t need to be done in real-time like a typical school day.

The calendar may read 2020, but in many ways, the Burrell School District is already focused on 2030. As educators, we have an obligation to prepare students not just for the world we are living in, but the world that awaits.

As the Food Service Director for Burrell School District, Andrew Klipple is using his previous experience as a chef to provide healthier and tastier options for students throughout the district.

One of his biggest challenges is following the guidelines set by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which restricts the use of sodium, mandates increases in whole grain, and governs how many calories, vegetables, fruits, and protein each grade should have per meal.