Burrell School District students ended the year with many success stories to celebrate in all areas, including academics and sports.

A Burrell guidance counselor's success with using her goldendoodle as a therapy dog has inspired other educators in the district to train their pets as therapy dogs.

Several Burrell High School juniors and seniors are joining district school board members to discuss important issues, offering students an opportunity to influence board decisions that impact them. The four students began joining school board members at the beginning of the academic year for the agenda meetings to discuss issues before members act on them during regular meetings.

As students adjust to the hardships caused by the global pandemic, Burrell School District leaders are focused on providing the support needed to ensure that students do not fall behind the learning curve.

A Burrell School District program that focuses on the social, behavioral, and emotional needs of students goes beyond the basics to provide support.

Burrell District schools welcomed new educators and promoted others to new positions this academic year as students returned to the classroom. 

Two new instructors will help students and teachers with remote learning, serving students in the Burrell eAcademy virtual program and those students in quarantine after exposure to others who test positive for COVID-19.

Morgan Rockwell and Lori Christie began work with the virtual learning program this fall in the Burrell School District. Rockwell works with students in sixth to 12th grade, while Christie serves students in kindergarten to fifth grade.

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.

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.