Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 157, No. 16
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
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Avon Grove welcomes friends and stakeholders at dedication for new high school By Chris Barber Contributing Writer The dedication event at the new Avon Grove High School last Thursday brought out expressions of delight and satisfaction among the guests—reminiscent of an encore at a Broadway musical. The ceremony gave stakeholders a chance to see the fruits of their labors that began with a 35-member planning committee in 2014 and moved on to the building’s opening for students
last September. So agreeable and warm was the weather under the early evening skies that Superintendent Christopher Marchese, in his keynote, said if they had anticipated such pleasant conditions, they could have held the event outside. Throughout his speech in the new auditorium, he spoke often on how important he felt the building was for the students to achieve their goals and dreams. “This school was built for
you, the students, with you in mind,” he said Architect Michael Strohecker had a story to tell. He said the construction of the building, originally estimated at $81,001,789, presented challenges he had never encountered before because of the COVID19 pandemic. He said the whole labor force had masks on throughout and that that labor and material were difficult to obtain durPhoto by Chris Barber ing that time as well. Visitors were welcomed at the dedication of the new Avon Grove High School on Continued on page 2A
April 13.
INSIDE New Garden board
grants approval to Purolite, LLC to occupy Starr Road facility
Bike Kennett gets green light for pump track park...1B
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
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By a vote of 5-0 at an April 17 hearing, the New Garden Township Board of Supervisors gave conditional use approval to Purolite, LLC to open a resin-based, purification and extraction manufacturing facility at the currently vacant building at 380 Starr Road in the township. The hearing, which was continued from a two-hour conditional use hearing held Community grows with at the Township Building the 2023 KSQ Farmers on March 20, served to Market...1B provide testimony from Purolite Senior Project Manager Michael Murphy and David Citro, the director of civil engineering for the Mainstay Engineering Group, who is serving as the project manager for
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Purolite’s new building. Following a two-year redevelopment process – in accordance with the township’s zoning ordinance -- the 12-acre, 107,000 square-foot Starr Road facility will serve as a manufacturing and distribution center for Purolite in the making of Agarose resin beads, a material extracted from certain types of seaweed that is frequently used in molecular biology for separation of large molecules and protein purification. Headquartered in King of Prussia, Purolite is a world leader in resin-based separation, purification and extraction technology, and produces more than 1,000 active commercial products that serve the environmental, business and healthcare
FROM OUR LENS Fair housing for everyone
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
Jocelyn Pacitto and Janelle Benson of Kennett Square introduce their children to books provided by Arts Holding Hands and Hearts at a fair housing celebration on April 11 that invited 15 area agencies to provide housing-related information to guests. The event, held at the Mary D. Lang Elementary School and sponsored by Kennett Area Community Service and State Rep. Christina Sappey, recognized April as National Fair Housing Month and the 55th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act that prohibits housing discrimination.
Continued on page 3A
Pedestrians recovering from S. Third Street accident in Oxford By Betsy Brewer Brantner Contributing Writer Oxford Borough Council held a lengthy discussion at their recent meeting about a recent pedestrian accident involving a mother and child on S. Third
Street. They were crossing the street to the bank side when they were struck by a vehicle. Police Chief Sam Iacono said, “Thankfully the mother and child just received minor injuries. They are recovering, but it could have been much worse. The driv-
er was traveling within the speed limit, but due to traffic being backed up, the driver had difficulty seeing the pedestrians coming out into traffic. All were shaken.” The accident did bring up some concerns about pedestrian safety during high-traffic times on S.
Third Street. Iacono explained that pedestrian and vehicle conflicts are a concern that must be handled. Options could include flashing lights, although that would be costly. Another option could be to configure the crosswalk differently.
Oxford Borough Council unanimously approved a five-year contract extension for Iacono. He has been focused on training, grant funding, and creating a more efficient police department with an eye on community policing. Continued on page 4A
Kennett School Board aims to raise academic achievement for Hispanic students By Chris Barber Contributing Writer Members of the Kennett School Board voiced support for addressing gaps in math and English learning between Anglo and Hispanic students, at their April 10 meeting. The Kennett Consolidated School District student body is variously reported as serving between 41 and 45 percent Hispanic/Latino demographic. “This is a clear priority for the district to address. Our schools fall at or below the standards, primarily our
English language learners, who make up a relatively large portion of our students, and students with disabilities,” said Ann Parry, the board’s Curriculum Committee chairperson, during her report at the meeting. Schools designated as having specific subgroups that are falling behind are required to develop building level school improvement plans. Parry reported that her committee reviewed “MAP” or measures of academic progress that identified these gaps. MAP is reported as a three-part test that mea-
sures student knowledge in reading, language usage and mathematics. She added that as these specific students move through the grades in Kennett, their gaps in MAPS-measured achievement grow even greater. Parry reported that they also reviewed the ELLevation program platform, which will allow building leaders and teachers to have access to and understand student language proficiency levels. This will initially be rolled out to English language teachers and building
leaders, and subsequently to classroom teachers, she said. Board Communications Committee chairman Mark Bowden proposed actions that could help improve the learning disparity. He said his committee members discussed how to increase the number of Hispanic teachers on the staff as well as the number who actually speak Spanish. Bowden suggested three actions. The first is to expand the district’s Pathways program which enrolls some of the bilingual graduates in West Chester University
and returns them to the district as teachers. The second is making Spanish language skills a requirement for many new positions. “It is hard enough just to find qualified teachers of any kind right now,” Bowden said. “We discussed increasing efforts to recruit from our own large Hispanic community, putting them to work as teaching aides or translators and steering them toward certification.” The third is working with the teachers’ union to create incentives for the current Continued on page 3A