Muhlenberg School District

Muhlenberg School District is a public school district serving students in kindergarten through twelfth grade from its administration building at 801 Bellevue Avenue in Reading, Pennsylvania. The district operates elementary, middle and high school buildings, and its online staff directory lists roughly 660 educators, administrators and support personnel. The district's main telephone number is 610-921-8000, and general information, calendars, board documents and news are published at muhlsdk12.org.

The district's motto, "Excellence in Action: Equipping, Engaging, Empowering," appears across district communications and reflects the three-part framework that organizes much of its published planning: preparing students with skills and tools, involving them actively in learning, and giving them responsibility for their own progress.

Stated Beliefs and Educational Philosophy

Muhlenberg School District publishes a set of beliefs that it groups into three categories: students, teachers and learning communities. Regarding students, the district states that young people learn in different ways and at different rates, that they thrive when curriculum is both challenging and relevant to their lives, and that meaningful learning depends on physically and emotionally safe environments.

Regarding teachers, the district describes educators as the people who lead learning through passion, perseverance and personality. Its stated expectations include building a classroom culture of high expectations and serving as inspirational role models for students.

The third category addresses the broader learning community. The district identifies students, parents and families, the school, the school board, the surrounding community and local business leaders as partners whose cooperation contributes to student achievement. This emphasis on partnership shapes how the district communicates, with regular updates distributed through the district website as well as its Facebook and Instagram accounts.

21st Century Learning and the Engaged Classroom Initiative

One of the district's most visible instructional efforts is its 21st Century Learning program, implemented in classrooms through the Engaged Classroom Initiative. The stated purpose of this work is to move instruction away from a transmission model, in which information flows from teacher to student for memorization and recall, toward instruction that asks students to use higher order thinking skills.

The specific skills named by the district include:

• Problem solving
• Leadership
• Flexibility
• Initiative
• Analyzing
• Interpreting

The initiative is supported by ongoing professional learning for staff, so that teachers across grade levels and subject areas are working from a shared instructional approach rather than applying it in isolated classrooms.

Technology-Integrated Instruction

Technology plays a practical role in how the Engaged Classroom Initiative reaches students. Rather than treating devices as a separate subject, the district integrates iPads and digital tools into content area work. Applications used in Muhlenberg classrooms include Book Creator, Chatterpix, Scratch Jr., Skitch, PicCollage, Noteflight, TouchCast and Filmora. Green screen video production is also used for research presentations and student-produced newscasts.

Examples of classroom projects highlighted by the district illustrate how these tools are applied at different grade levels:

• Kindergarten students conduct animal research on iPads using Pebble Go, then build multimedia books in Book Creator.
• Students produce green screen videos with TouchCast and Filmora, placing themselves in settings relevant to their research topics.
• Chatterpix is used to create talking presentations from student images and drawings.
• Third grade students write and perform Oregon Trail scripts.
• Second grade classes produce newscasts on the solar system and on dinosaurs.
• Advanced Biology students create stop motion animation demonstrating the stages of mitosis and cellular division.

Digital Research and Literacy

The district provides access to a set of online research resources appropriate for elementary and middle grade readers, including Pebble Go, Big Universe, Epic! and World Book Kids Online. Students use these databases and digital libraries to gather information independently, then organize what they find using graphic organizers before turning their notes into scripts, multimedia books or recorded presentations. The sequence, research, organize, draft, present, gives younger students a repeatable process for handling information and gives teachers multiple checkpoints to assess understanding.

Music and Science Programming

Muhlenberg's seventh grade general music course offers an example of how composition and technology are combined. Students compose eight-measure rhythm pieces using Noteflight, a web-based notation program, then join small groups to combine their individual compositions into a longer arrangement. Groups perform the finished piece using everyday objects as instruments, in a project inspired by the percussion show Stomp. The assignment asks students to read and write notation, collaborate on arrangement decisions and perform publicly for classmates.

On the science side, Advanced Biology coursework includes hands-on projects such as the stop motion mitosis animations mentioned above. Projects of this kind require students to understand the sequence and detail of a biological process well enough to represent it visually and explain it to an audience.

Strategic Planning

The district publishes a strategic Blueprint and Action Plan covering 2024 through 2028, available as a downloadable PDF on the district website. The document outlines district goals and the initiatives intended to meet them, including the A.N.D.I. program, and provides families, staff and community members with a written reference point for district direction over a multi-year period. Publishing the plan openly allows residents and taxpayers to review priorities and track progress across the planning window.

Family Communication and Language Access

Families who need help communicating with the district in Spanish can reach Spanish language assistance by calling 610-921-8000 and asking for extension 5535. This service supports families with enrollment questions, school communications and general district business.

Day to day news, building announcements, calendar changes and photographs of student work are shared through the district website and through its Facebook and Instagram pages. The staff directory on the website allows families to locate individual teachers, counselors, administrators and support staff across the district's buildings.

Location and Contact

The Administration Building is located at 801 Bellevue Avenue, Reading, PA 19605, in Muhlenberg Township in Berks County, just north of the city of Reading. The district serves resident students in its attendance area across its elementary, middle and high school buildings. General inquiries can be directed to 610-921-8000, and additional information, including enrollment details, school board materials and the current Blueprint and Action Plan, is available at muhlsdk12.org.