Friday, November 7, 2025
Friday, November 7, 2025
Let's Connect!
As we move from falling leaves and spiderwebs to sweaters and snowflakes, there’s a cozy shift happening all around us. Classrooms are settling into their rhythms, celebrations are taking shape, and the season of gratitude is beginning to glow.
Pour a warm drink, get comfortable, and catch up on all the latest happenings across our schools — there’s plenty to smile about this week.
Enjoy this week's edition of the Patch.
Following is a handful of photo highlights from recent events and activities. THANK YOU to our parent photographers and friends who share these photos for the newsletter every week. It would not be possible without you. You are appreciated! (Click or tap on an image to stop the carousel. Use the arrows to go forward and back at your own pace.)
Your guide to timely information in the Palisades School District.
Every three years, the Pennsylvania Department of Education requires every school district to submit a plan that will guide the work of the district for the next three years. A PSD steering committee recently met and identified three focus areas: Academic Achievement, Operations, and Engagement. As a valued member of our community, your input is important to us. Please review and respond to the community/parent survey no later than Monday, November 10th.
>> Please click here for the community/parent survey <<
Share the link with your neighbors and encourage them to share their responses with the district. Printed copies of the survey are available at the district office: 39 Thomas Free Drive, Kintnersville, PA. If you have any questions, or need assistance, please email: compplan26-29@palisd.org
Dr. Michael Donnelly and Mr. Rich Heffernan
Comprehensive Plan 26-29 Co-Chairs
Help a Palisades community child in need this season. The Holiday Giving Tree, with tags and gift wishes, will be set up in the high school lobby from December 1st through December 12th.
Please return the gift, wrapped and with the tag attached, to the high school by December 12th. If all of the gift tags are taken, gift cards are always welcome. Gifts will be distributed to families the week of December 15th.
If you would like to make a donation before the tree is up, please visit the Palisades Community Foundation website here. PCF is collecting donations for holiday giving to families in our community and donations of any size are appreciated.
Thank you, in advance, for your generosity, to the Kids for Kindness Club at PHS for setting up and decorating the tree, and to the Palisades Community Foundation for their generous gift card donations.
Find out what's happening in our schools! The Palisades School District is comprised of three elementary schools (Durham Nockamixon, Springfield, and Tinicum), Palisades Middle School, and Palisades High School.
On Monday, October 27th, the Tinicum 2nd grade class had the wonderful opportunity to spend time with residents from Richlandtown’s Phoebe Personal Care Unit. Residents joined us at Tinicum and participated in fun and meaningful activities, including chatting, crafting, playing sight word bingo, and enjoying books together.
Students and residents came together in the all-purpose room to share smiles, laughter, and conversation. It was a meaningful experience that allowed our students to practice kindness, empathy, and the joy of connecting with members of our community.
A special thank you to Mrs. Kozlusky for organizing this event and helping make it such a memorable experience for everyone involved!
Team Unity Day is an annual event, often held in October, where schools promote kindness, acceptance, and inclusion to combat bullying. Participants wear the color orange to show their support, and activities may include signing anti-bullying pledges, creating unity chains, or engaging in team-building exercises. The day's purpose is to send a visible message that everyone is cared for and that the school community stands together against bullying.
Nice work, PALMS Pirates!!
Peter and the Starcatcher is an imaginative prequel to Peter Pan. Through inventive staging and a fast-paced script, the play follows a ragtag group of orphans, a fearless Starcatcher-in-training, and a delightfully ridiculous pirate on a journey filled with mischief, mayhem, and discovery.
The story unfolds through clever narration, dynamic ensemble work, and plenty of laughs. Perfect for audiences of all ages, this Tony-winning play captures the excitement of storytelling while exploring themes of friendship, identity, and finding your place in the world.
Student Leaders: Ilaria Leblanc, Mikayla Irvine, Luke Ruvo, Nathan Clapp, William Zaleski, Ryan Metz and Olivia Bellis.
Friday, November 7, 2025 @ 7:00 PM
Saturday, November 8, 2025 @ 2:00 PM
Photo Credit: Dawn Smigo
We are happy to announce that registration for Winter sports is now available!
Winter sports begin on Friday, November 14, 2025.
Click on the link HERE to view or download the PDF with complete registration information.
2025/2026 Winter Coaches Contact Information:
Boys Soccer: Despite a loss in a hard-fought match 2-3 against Northwestern Lehigh at Palmerton in the PIAA District XI Championships on Friday, 10/31/25, our Boys Soccer Team automatically qualified for the state playoffs, which started on Tuesday, November 4th. Our Pirates faced off with Devon Prep at Rosemont College in Bryn Mawr and took a 5-1 loss.
Boys Football: Congratulations to our Pirate football team for making it to the quarter final football game on Saturday, 11/1/25, vs. Northern Lehigh. They ended their season with a fight-to-the-finish loss of 28-29 in overtime.
Marching Band: The PHS Marching Band had their championship competition on Saturday, 11/1/25 and placed 7th in the independent A division — and improved their overall competition score to 84.21 (five more than last year, which is A LOT!!)
Congratulations to these great teams for a FANTASTIC season!
Please click this link here for a full calendar of athletic events.
The Pirate’s Pier Café is the heartbeat of Palisades High School—where coffee, cookies, and connection come together! Open weekdays from 9:00–10:00 a.m., it’s the go-to spot for students, staff, and faculty to grab a treat and share a smile. Run through The Journeys Program, the café gives students with disabilities real-world job experience while building confidence and independence. Their fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies sell out daily, and a redesigned layout now makes every order a chance for friendly conversation and meaningful connection.
Congratulations to our entire Journeys Program team for being selected to have their story shared on the state’s Great Schools Success Stories website!
Palisades High School is hosting the Special Olympics Regional Championships for Unified Strength & Conditioning next week in the Purple Gym! The athletes compete in the Dead Lift, Bench Press, Cycling, Broad Jump, Jump Rope, Speed Walk, and Shuttle Run. Come out and support our incredible athletes!
Event Details:
Wednesday, November 12th
Opening Ceremonies @ 3:00pm; Closing Ceremonies and Awards @ 5:30pm (estimated)
Information in this section will be particularly helpful for those who have students in our schools.
From Nov. 10 to Nov. 23, the Bucks County Free Library will be running a Virtual Library Card Drive for the Palisades School District! You will be able to register your child for a library card right from home and your child will receive their brand-new Bucks County Free Library card at school. Your child's library card will be good at all seven branch libraries. You are invited to browse the large collections of books, audiobooks, movies, board games, and magazines that you can borrow, all for free.
Ready to register your child for a library card? Here's how:
Click on this link to go to the online library card application for students: https://buckslib.org/school-outreach-library-card-application/
Enter the password: SchoolLibr@ryc@rd2025
If you have more than one child, fill out a separate application for each child. Students ages 14+ can fill out their applications themselves. Your application(s) will be received at the library and your child(ren)'s library card account(s) will be set up. You'll get an e-mail with the account information as soon as the account is ready and you can start using it right away, even before you have the physical card. After the drive has ended, your child will receive their physical library card at school.
We hope you enjoy the many resources the public library has to offer your child and your family!
Thank you for your support in making attendance a priority.
When your child is absent for illness or other reasons, a signed excuse must be returned to school within three days of the absence, or it will automatically be classified as an unexcused absence. You must call the absence line at your child’s school the morning of the absence before school starts. Excuse notes may be emailed to the building secretary. Legitimate reasons for a student’s absence include: illness, quarantine, recovery from an accident, required court attendance, death in the family, observance of a religious holiday, and family educational trips with prior approval of the principal. All other reasons for absence are considered unexcused. For additional information about our attendance policy, please see Policy 204 in BoardDocs for more information.
The Palisades School District will continue to provide a free breakfast for all students this school year. The PSD offers many great choices for lunch. A complete lunch can include: fruit, vegetables, meat or meat alternative, bread, roll or crackers, and/or a milk. To be considered as a meal, all lunches must include fruit or vegetables. All lunch menus are posted online here.
The cashless POS system speeds up the service lines by providing a debit account for student purchases, eliminating the need for students to handle cash during meal service times. You may pay by a check payable to Palisades Food Services, 20 School Drive, Kintnersville, PA 18930 or manage the account funding via the SchoolCafe app or online at www.schoolcafe.com.
Links to recordings from the most recent Regular Board and Committee Meetings can be found below. Clicking on these links will redirect you to our PSD Stream channel on YouTube. You can find a complete Board and Committee Meeting Schedule on our website.
Disclaimer: Palisades School District is not responsible for statements made by those in attendance at the meeting. Rebroadcasting/reproduction of the audio recording is strictly prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained from the Superintendent or designee.
There is always a lot going on in our community. In this section, you can find out how to get involved this week!
Disclaimer: Flyers and information presented in this section are provided by organizations in the general community. Palisades School District is not responsible for the content or accuracy of any information included in these submissions, and shall not be responsible for any decisions made based on such information.
The world-famous Harlem Wizards will visit Palisades High School on Monday, November 10th at 7:00pm in the Purple Gym! The Wizards will play a game against a team of Palisades School District administrators, teachers, athletes, community leaders, and community members. Proceeds will benefit the Palisades Community Foundation Initiatives programs.
The event will feature a variety of fun interactive extras to complement the Wizards' dazzling demonstration of hoops artistry: Pregame "Wiz Kids" warm-up, contests, comedy, awesome slam dunks, audience participation, merchandise giveaways, and more. The game will conclude with the Wizards' signature dance extravaganza that will have the crowd on their feet!
Doors open at 6:00pm.
General admission tickets are $20; Children age 3 and under are FREE and don't need a ticket.
"WizKids" who purchase jerseys in advance will get to meet the players before the game!
Food and merchandise will be available for sale.
Tickets (and FUN) are available online here!
Donate your gently used (or new!) coats in our Winter Coat Drive.
Collection bins will be in the front office or foyer of each of our school buildings.
Coat donations can be made between October 31st and November 12th.
The Gold Gym at Palisades High School will be open to the community on Saturday, 11/15/25 from 9:00am - 12:00pm with a wide variety of coats to choose from.
Thank you to our community for your donations and a warm welcome to those who will join us on November 15th to select coats.
The Upper Bucks Veterans Organization will host its annual Veterans Day Program on Tuesday, November 11th, at 10:00am at Palisades High School, 35 Church Hill Road, Kintnersville.
The public is invited to attend this event to honor all who have served in our Armed Forces.
The Palisades Community Foundation (PCF) has begun talks about fundraising for the rebuild of our beloved pirate ship that was demolished last summer.
Following up on a big event for this event last spring, support from the community is paramount in our efforts to raise money for this important community symbol. Donations can be made directly through the PCF website here.
You can also mail your donation to:
Palisades Community Foundation, P.O. Box 194, Kintnersville, PA 18930
Please specify where you would like your donation. Thank you for your support!
Our social worker and school counselors have been discussing ways to support families who may be experiencing food insecurity due to financial challenges or recent changes to SNAP benefits. They have compiled a list of local food resources, which is attached below. We encourage families and community members to review and share this information—sometimes we may not realize who might be in need of a little extra support. Click this link to view the list here.
For those looking to make a monetary donation, the Bucks County Opportunity Council, Inc. is one of the lead anti-poverty organizations in Bucks County. Their website for donations can be found here.
FreshConnect Bucks County provides FREE, fresh produce to our residents facing hunger. They deliver in the PALMS parking lot on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month from 11:00am to 12:00pm. Registration is required.
You can find the application and additional information here.
United Way shared that PECO is offering a one-time assistance program that provides up to a $500 credit toward your electric and/or natural gas bill. It’s designed for people who may not qualify for other programs— but still need help. Find out more on United Way's website here: https://www.uwbucks.org/pecohelp/
DICK’S Sporting Goods is offering you a 20% off discount throughout the store. So, grab the things you’ll need for the winter and all the other gear you’ve been wanting too! Be sure to use the coupon linked below, as this is specific to the PIAA. The coupon is valid in-store on the dates above, and should be shown at the register during checkout.
Use the link below for a special 20% off coupon from Dick's Sporting Goods for all PIAA member schools to use November 7th-10th.
See below for flyers from community organizations. (Click or tap on an image to stop the carousel. Use the arrows to go forward and back at your own pace.)
If you would like to have information covered in the Patch, please send it to patch@palisd.org by Wednesday before its publication on Friday. If you don't currently subscribe to the Patch but would like to receive it via email, please sign up here.