Letter from the
Superintendent
Dr. Gary Peiffer
Dear Parents, Students, Community Members, Alumni, and Friends of the
Greensburg Salem School District,
I
hope you are enjoying your summer and are able to enjoy time with family and friends over these long
summer days. Reflecting on my first year as Superintendent, I am proud and grateful to be a part of a
dynamic and supportive environment like the Greensburg Salem community. There is a strong sense of
tradition, inclusiveness, and student encouragement here that is unique and builds upon the pride of
past accomplishments and the anticipation of future opportunities. As high school principal Mr. David Zilli
always reminds us, it’s a great day to be a Golden Lion!
2018-2019 was a remarkable year for the District with many highlights. Among those, I want to feature
just a few:
•
Under the leadership of Coaches Nathan Snider
and Jeremy Lenzi, following in the footsteps
of the founder of the program, Coach Steve
Snider, the Boys Cross Country team won the
WPIAL and the PIAA State Championships, while
the Girls Cross Country team ran a close WPIAL
runner up.
•
In the area of athletics, 13 teams made it to the
post-season, while 38 individuals qualified
for post-season competition in the WPIAL.
26 Greensburg Salem athletes earned WPIAL All
Section Honors.
This year, our 6th graders celebrated participating
in the Camp Soles outdoor learning experience
in Rockwood, PA, a 50-year Greensburg Salem
tradition that will continue for another 50 based
on the enthusiastic participation of the students
and teachers.
• Café Cocoa, a student-run store at the GSMS, was
led by our special needs students to afford them
real-world job application skills.
•
At the Robert F. Nicely Elementary School, the
3rd through 5th grade classrooms each received
12 laptops computers that are being used to
increase student engagement and develop
STEAM skills such as coding.
• Gage Redinger, a percussionist, advanced to
PMEA Region 1 State Band and took first place
overall in the competition. •
Nicely’s family event nights such as Family Art
Night, Family Science Night, Family Reading
Night, and Family Math Night brought the school
and community together.
•
This past spring, the high school put on another
outstanding musical with Mama Mia!, while the
middle school performance of Newsies packed
the house! •
At Amos K. Hutchinson Elementary School, a
butterfly garden was installed, making
Hutchinson the only public school in the county
with a pollinator garden.
•
The Class of 2019 received over $4,000,000 in
scholarships this past year, with graduates
going to such prestigious schools as Princeton,
Georgetown, and the United States Air Force
Academy, among many others. • The STEAM lending library was expanded at
Hutchinson through the Ignite grant, building
upon the 82 STEAM kits in circulation.
•
Greensburg Salem students attending the
Central Westmoreland Career and Technology
Center earned first place SkillsUSA awards-
D’Angelo Cain in the area of Related Technical
Math and Kelly Gillis for Culinary Arts. Elizabeth
Burgess won a second place SkillsUSA award in
Advertising Design, and Vincent Clark took a
second place in HVAC/Refrigeration.
• The High School Hometown HighQ Team took
second place out of 81 participating schools in
southwestern Pennsylvania.
•
• Over 40 students in the National Junior Honor
Society participated in Walk a Mile in Her Shoes
and raised over $2,000 for The Caring Place.
•
Students at the James H. Metzgar Elementary
School improved their competency in reading
fluency and mathematical computation fluency
through the implementation of the Multi-Tiered
System of Support (MTSS) program.
•
Metzgar student Julie Elias won the Math
Olympiad with the highest score among all three
elementary schools, while her fellow student
Noah Mutnansky won the Rotary 3rd Grade
Spelling Bee.
• In addition to all of these, all schools continued to
expand their STEAM programs, as well as implement
school wide positive behavior support programs
which helped reduce student suspension rates and
other discipline issues.
Looking ahead to 2019-2020, we are excited to
welcome some new additions to the Greensburg
Salem team:
Gina Meglio- Special Education
Ivy Cerra- Middle School Art
Rachel DeNino- Elementary Art
Rachel Marion- Math
Hannah Williams- Reading Specialist
Ryan Gross- Music
The District is adding three security guards and a
school police officer as a way to improve and expand
upon existing security measures.
In addition, the District is working to revise the math
curriculum while developing a financial literacy course
and a Holocaust course which are scheduled to launch
in the 20-21 school year.
Perhaps the change that will be noticed the most will
be the new turf being installed at Offutt Field, thanks
to a grant through the NFL Foundation Grassroots
Program.
Working with a strong administrative team, a
dedicated and highly skilled faculty, a professional
and hardworking support staff, along with caring
parents, we hope to build upon the successes of 2018-
2019 while providing our students- your children-
with a dynamic, rigorous, and relevant education
that will prepare them for life after graduation. I look
forward to my second year as superintendent and
working with you as we continue to build and grow
the program here at Greensburg Salem.
Sincerely,
Dr. Gary Peiffer
Superintendent
The Greensburg Salem School District pages are edited and compiled by the Community Relations Department. For more
information please contact Melissa O’Brien, at 724.832.2907 or [email protected].
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GREENSBURG SALEM