All BASD students are eligible to receive two meals a day, five days a week for free through the remainder of this school year. In addition, any child under the age of 18 who resides in the Butler Area School District may also receive free meals. Learn more.

Students who attend school in person will receive their meals at school. Students who are learning remotely may pick up their meals. Students who are in the secondary COHORT model will receive their meals at school on the days they are learning in person and may choose to pick up their meals for the days when they are learning remotely. 

We are tentatively planning to start our voluntary shift to remote instruction/ school building closures in February on the following dates: 

• Friday, February 5 -- Remote instruction, school buildings closed

• Friday, February 12 -- Scheduled Act 80/Professional Development Day, no school for students

• Friday, February 19 -- Remote instruction, school buildings closed

• Friday, February 26 -- Remote instruction, school buildings closed

COVID-19 relief packages recently passed by the United States Congress contain numerous benefits for families financially impacted by the pandemic. Some of these benefits are available to students who are eligible for free or reduced-priced school meals. 

This week we will begin notifying parents/guardians of their child’s absence during the day through our automated phone system. 

Parents and guardians of students who attend the Senior High School, Intermediate High School, Middle School and Center Avenue Community School should have received an automated phone call/ message around 11 am today if their child is absent from school. Moving forward, this call will go out at approximately 11 am on the day a student is absent. 

Beginning on Friday, January 22, parents and guardians of students who attend Center Township Elementary, Connoquenessing Elementary, Emily Brittain Elementary, McQuistion Elementary, Northwest Elementary and Summit Elementary will receive a phone call/message from our automated system if their child is absent from school. This call will go out at approximately 11 am on the day a student is absent. 

Instructional Coach Dave Andrews recently taught third grade students about pollinator gardens through a hands on lesson that had students spread 29 different types of seeds. 

Miss Kelly's third grade class at Connoquenessing Elementary celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by taking a virtual field trip to see 10 important locations in his life. When the students return to school, they will take a tour inside these locations using virtual reality goggles.  

Many of our families have seen first hand how disruptive quick school closures can be for our students, staff and the community we serve. Connoquenssing Elementary School, McQuistion Elementary School, Center Avenue Community School, the Middle School and the Intermediate High School all had to quickly shift to remote learning this week, per the state’s most recent mandates for schools. Several other schools are only 1-2 positive COVID-19 cases away from having to do the same.

We have made some changes to our school calendar for the 2020-2021 school year in an effort to both maximize in-person instruction for our students and still provide our teachers with the time they need to manage everything they need to do to accommodate multiple learning pathways. 

Butler Area School District has partnered with Glade Run Lutheran Services to offer school based mental health services to our students. This partnership enables students to receive mental health services at school, which reduces barriers like transportation and parent work schedules.

Butler Are School District secondary and elementary schools have been designated a “Grief-Sensitive School” by the New York Life Foundation.  Each school will receive a $500 grant to help create a bereavement support plan and encourage ongoing staff development as part of the national Grief-Sensitive Schools Initiative.

As we prepare to welcome our students back to school, we know we have shared quite a bit of information with families over the last few weeks. Here's a brief summary all in one place to help you prepare for Monday, January 4. 

Our students, staff and schools are so fortunate to have the dedicated support of The Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation, Inc. In the midst of a global pandemic, the Foundation was still able to show up in a big way for our school community. Thank you to everyone who got involved and supported the foundation through generous donations, volunteer work or both. We'd also like to extend a very sincere thank you to all of the Foundation Board Members for their hard work and commitment to Butler Area School District. 

Click to read the GTSF's New Year Newsletter.