Help for Students Experiencing Homelessness From Exeter Township School District
The Exeter Township School District works each year with students and families who are experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity, offering them services, resources and transportation so children can keep going to school. Under the Pennsylvania Education for Homeless Children and Youth State Plan, homeless children are defined as individuals who lack a fixed, regular and/or adequate nighttime residence. The McKinney-Vento Act states that it is the policy of Congress that state educational agencies shall ensure that each child of a homeless individual and each homeless youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education, including a public preschool education, as provided to other children and youths.
You do not have to wait for the school to notice. If you meet the criteria in the McKinney-Vento Act, or if you are at risk of becoming homeless in the immediate future, contact the Student Services Department at 610-779-0700 or email the district's social worker, Mrs. Ashley Rinehart, at amrinehart@exetersd.org for assistance.
This is how the district handles it once a student is identified:
- A staff member who thinks a student appears to meet the McKinney-Vento criteria contacts the student's school counselor.
- The school counselor contacts the homeless point of contact, who conducts an intake with the student, parent or guardian.
- The ECYEH intake form goes to the district homeless liaison for approval.
- The student is entered into the ECYEH site and updated in Q (Skyward).
- The family is then offered services, resources and transportation.
Re-determination happens each school year, so the status is reviewed again every year.
The district's McKinney-Vento contacts are Dawn Harris, Asst Superintendent and Director of Student Services, who is the homeless student liaison, at 610-779-0700 x1302 or deharris@exetersd.org; Ashley Rinehart, school social worker and homeless and foster care contact, at 610-779-0700 x1313 or amrinehart@exetersd.org; and Paige Casner, student services secretary, who handles homeless transportation, at 610-779-0700 x1302 or plcasner@exetersd.org. The district office is at 200 Elm Street, Reading, PA 19606, and the main phone number is 610-779-0700.
The page also points families to other help: the Berks Coalition to End Homelessness, BCIU - CYEH, Education for Homeless Youths, Family Promise of Berks County and Finding your Way in PA. It does not give office hours or say whether any of the services offered carry a cost, so ask when you call.
Source: exetersd.org/homeless, read September 18, 2026.
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Re-determination will occur each school year. The student will then be entered into the ECYEH site and updated in Q (Skyward). The family will be offered services, resources and transportation. If you meet the above criteria in the McKinney-Vento Act or if you are at risk of becoming homeless in the immediate future, please contact the Student Services Department at 610-779-0700 or email the district's social worker, Mrs. Ashley Rinehart at amrinehart@exetersd.org for assistance.
In Exeter Township School District’s words
Each year, we work with students and families who are experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. The McKinney-Vento Act states that it is the policy of Congress that state educational agencies shall ensure that each child of a homeless individual and each homeless youth has equal access to the same free, appropriate public education--including a public preschool education--as provided to other children and youths.
Organization
Exeter Township School District
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This listing summarizes publicly available information from exetersd.org/homeless. Last recorded review: September 18, 2026. Contact the provider to confirm eligibility, hours and availability before you go. If something here is wrong, tell us.