SHOW TOPIC
Preparing for Fall with Ms. Holly Lingenfelter
SPECIAL GUEST
Ms. Holly Lingenfelter, Seneca Valley School DistrictRegistration and Attendance Coordinator
Ms. Lingenfelter has been an employee with the district for ten years and has served as the Registration and Attendance Coordinator for the past four years. Before taking on this role, Ms. Lingenfelter worked at Connoquenessing Valley Elementary (CVE) as a paraprofessional for three years, then as a technology assistant for the secondary campus for three years. She earned her Associate of Specialized Business degree in Medical Assisting/Medical Office Management from ICM School of Business in Pittsburgh.
IN THIS EPISODE, WE WILL REVIEW
USEFUL INFORMATION
https://www.svsd.net/domain/519
https://www.svsd.net/domain/110
https://www.svsd.net/Page/2842
https://portal.svsd.net/
SHOW TOPIC
Preparing for Fall with Ms. Holly Lingenfelter
SPECIAL GUEST
Ms. Holly Lingenfelter, Seneca Valley School DistrictRegistration and Attendance Coordinator
Ms. Lingenfelter has been an employee with the district for ten years and has served as the Registration and Attendance Coordinator for the past four years. Before taking on this role, Ms. Lingenfelter worked at Connoquenessing Valley Elementary (CVE) as a paraprofessional for three years, then as a technology assistant for the secondary campus for three years. She earned her Associate of Specialized Business degree in Medical Assisting/Medical Office Management from ICM School of Business in Pittsburgh.
IN THIS EPISODE, WE WILL REVIEW
USEFUL INFORMATION
https://www.svsd.net/domain/519
https://www.svsd.net/domain/110
https://www.svsd.net/Page/2842
https://portal.svsd.net/
Voices E63 Holly Lingenfelter
File Name: Voices E63 Holly Lingenfelter.mp3
File Length: 00:09:46
FULL TRANSCRIPT (with timecode)
00:00:02:26 - 00:00:10:05
Introduction: Welcome to Voices, a national award-winning podcast brought to you by the Seneca Valley School District.
00:00:11:12 - 00:00:21:04
Jeff Krakoff: This is Jeff Krakoff. Today we're talking with Holly Lingenfelter, who is the registration and attendance coordinator at Seneca Valley. Thanks for talking with us today, Holly.
00:00:21:27 - 00:00:23:13
Holly Lingenfelter: Good morning. Thanks for having me.
00:00:23:24 - 00:00:40:27
Jeff Krakoff: So what I want to talk to you about today is every year families move in to the district. Right? Kind of what people need to know what they need to do when they need to do it. But I'm curious how many families move into Seneca Valley in a given year?
00:00:41:26 - 00:00:50:19
Holly Lingenfelter: In a given year, it could be 500, sometimes closer to 600. Most of those families move in over this summer.
00:00:51:20 - 00:01:11:09
Jeff Krakoff: That's that's more than I expected. So there's a lot of work to be done by folks at the district. So why don't you walk me through the process? I move into the district. I may have one child. I may have multiple kids that are going to school, multiple levels. Walk me through the process. What do I need to do?
00:01:11:24 - 00:01:42:19
Holly Lingenfelter: Okay. So Seneca Valley in the past year has moved to a strictly online registration process. What that means is now families no longer need to complete a paper packet and bring that into this central office. Instead, they're able to visit our website at www.Svsd.Net and on our website to the far right, there's a red tab that says, I want to. When you click on that tab, you have a dropdown menu.
00:01:42:26 - 00:02:14:22
Holly Lingenfelter: And one of the options is Enroll My Child. When you click that link, it takes you to the registration page. On that registration page, it gives you all of the information you need, including supporting documentation. And there's also a link at the very top that says To enroll your child in the current school year, please click here. That then will open up our registration portal. So our registration portal allows families to complete all of the forms online and then also upload all of their required documents.
00:02:15:22 - 00:02:30:21
Holly Lingenfelter: It's pretty simple. Basically, the hardest part, I think, for families is just uploading those documents. But we do accept, it allow you to upload a word, document, a PDF, multiple image files.
00:02:31:16 - 00:02:32:01
Jeff Krakoff: Okay.
00:02:32:09 - 00:02:34:24
Holly Lingenfelter: And then that's that's the process.
00:02:35:04 - 00:02:41:25
Jeff Krakoff: So in preparation of enrolling, there's definitely some documents that I would need. What kinds of things should I have?
00:02:42:07 - 00:03:56:25
Holly Lingenfelter: Correct. So you definitely need to have a proof of age, which we like to see a birth certificate, but we will also accept a passport, a student visa if it's a family coming from overseas. It will also accept a notarized baptismal certificate signed by a reverend or a officiant. Along with that will need a copy of an up to date immunization record. Or if a family chooses not to immunize, they would then need to upload a copy of an exemption letter and those can be found all over the Internet, I believe, even on PDE's website. And you would also need to have two proofs of residence, that is two different documents that will state your address, a current date. What we look for typically are utility bills, mortgage, a mortgage document, rental agreement. We will use a valid driver's license if it's been updated. We could even use a renters insurance. Homeowner's insurance as long as the property matches the address that you're enrolling with. And it's the family name and a date within the past 60 days.
00:03:57:12 - 00:04:00:10
Jeff Krakoff: Got it. You don't want a bill from five years ago?
00:04:00:26 - 00:04:05:20
Holly Lingenfelter: Correct. It should be there. It should be a current a more recent utility bill.
00:04:06:10 - 00:04:14:23
Jeff Krakoff: Okay. So I think you mentioned before pretty much any format, if they want to snap a photo as a JPEG, if the if it's a PDF. Right.
00:04:15:04 - 00:04:15:19
Holly Lingenfelter: Correct.
00:04:15:28 - 00:04:33:04
Okay. Mm hmm. Now, what? What if I just want to learn more about the district? You know, we moved in. Don't know a lot about it. I know the website is a fantastic resource to learn, but are tours available or other areas where people can get in the know quickly.
00:04:34:00 - 00:05:48:25
Holly Lingenfelter: Yeah. So tours are available. Each building is responsible for setting up their own tours with their staff for the secondary campus, so grades 7-12, those tours typically go through the guidance department. So what a family would do is reach out to the guidance department for that particular building and then either one of the guidance counselors or the guidance secretary will arrange for that tour and have somebody there available to give the tour, walk through the school, answer any questions, talk about the programs that we offer. For elementary, it is a little different. Elementary does have guidance staff, but not necessarily a guidance department. So usually those tours, the best thing would be for a family to reach out to the school office and let the school secretary know that they're moving in, they are registering their child, and they would like to tour the building. And the secretary will work with the administration to set up a time for families to come in. Our elementary buildings, though, do offer days about a week or two before school starts, where they will have open visitation for all students, new and returning students.
00:05:49:10 - 00:06:04:12
Holly Lingenfelter: And I believe our secondary buildings have a time scheduled for that as well. But elementary is they definitely provide that information to families. About now, mid-July, that information starts going out.
00:06:04:29 - 00:06:17:00
Jeff Krakoff: Okay. So if I'm a little bit more old school, I'd like to have paper in hand. Is there some type of intro welcome packet that can be mailed to the home or is everything online on the website?
00:06:17:28 - 00:06:51:15
Holly Lingenfelter: Everything at this point is online. Don't really mail too many things out from the district. One thing to note, we do mail the parent portal card information that goes to all new families and incoming kindergartners as well. Other than that, the best way to get information from your district is to visit the website. And each school has their own web page that has more information on how to contact each school with current activities going on, programs that they offer.
00:06:52:04 - 00:07:00:00
Jeff Krakoff: Okay. Is there a particular person that I would contact if let's say I just want to talk to somebody? I have a question. Would it be you would it be.
00:07:01:07 - 00:07:17:25
Holly Lingenfelter: If it's for registration or general questions, absolutely contact me. If it is classwork, scheduling, that would be guidance department; concerns about, you know, transportation or busing. That would be the Transportation Department.
00:07:18:03 - 00:07:18:18
Jeff Krakoff: Okay.
00:07:18:20 - 00:07:27:08
And then just general questions maybe about an individual school probably would want to contact the school secretaries. They're all very knowledgeable.
00:07:27:24 - 00:07:36:15
Jeff Krakoff: Okay. So before the start of school for the fall, is there a particular deadline where I need to enroll a child?
00:07:36:27 - 00:08:07:24
Holly Lingenfelter: Right. So we don't have a deadline. We enroll on, I guess what would you would call a rolling basis. We will always accept new students, whether it's the first day of school or the last day of school. One thing parents should be aware, it does take about 3 to 5 business days. Once they complete everything on their end for their child to then have a start date. In that time transportation, food services, I.T. accounts, those things all take some time to set up.
00:08:08:06 - 00:08:28:11
Holly Lingenfelter: So it does take a few days. So I always recommend for parents if they want to get a classroom assignment and be ready to start school before the first day. We would like for them to get their paperwork in by August 15th or before. Obviously, if they're late, they will still get a start date, but it does take a few days.
00:08:29:22 - 00:08:36:23
Jeff Krakoff: Okay. Do you have any other pieces of advice or tips for families who have either just moved in or about to.
00:08:37:12 - 00:09:17:15
Holly Lingenfelter: Sure. Again, check our website. There's a lot of good information, questions about enrolling or just the schools in general. Reach out to me. One thing for new families, when they get that parent portal card information in the mail, I recommend they set that up right away. Sometimes the tendency is to tuck that away, but to get your transportation information, your classroom assignment schedules, to sign up for sports and activities. That is all done through the parent portal. So the sooner they set that up, that would be better for them. That way they have everything in place for the first day of school.
00:09:17:21 - 00:09:18:15
Jeff Krakoff: Great advice.
00:09:18:17 - 00:09:23:16
Holly Lingenfelter: And again, just to be safe, about a week before the week starts, at least.
00:09:23:26 - 00:09:24:25
Holly Lingenfelter: Two weeks would be ideal.
00:09:24:27 - 00:09:34:26
Jeff Krakoff: Right. Right. Okay. Well, again, this was Holly Lingenfelter, registration and attendance coordinator at Seneca Valley School District. Thanks so much for all this great info.
00:09:35:09 - 00:09:37:02
Holly Lingenfelter: Great. Thank you so much for having me.
00:09:37:18 - 00:09:38:25
Jeff Krakoff: All right. Have a great day.
00:09:39:03 - 00:09:40:00
Holly Lingenfelter: You too.