Home Care In Wallingford, PA

PHILADELPHIA (CITC) — A Pennsylvania school district is walking back a message to bus drivers instructing them to remove all Christmas decorations from their buses.

A memo initially sent to drivers at Wallingford-Swarthmore School District demanded they remove any decorations associated with the holiday, citing a need for "inclusivity" and a district policy concerning religious holidays.

“If you have decorated your bus with anything specific to the Christmas Holiday or any other decorations relating to a specific religion, please remove them immediately,” a copy of the memo obtained by Crisis in the Classroom (CITC) reads. “In addition, employees are instructed not to wear clothing related to Christmas or any other religious holiday.”

The directive drew widespread outrage online, leading community members to confront the school district over the policy.

“In response to community concerns I have received about religious neutrality, I reminded the Supervisor of Transportation to remind you to find a balance of the District’s attempts to be inclusive of a diverse range of holiday traditions,” Wallingford-Swarthmore Superintendent Wagner Marseille wrote in a letter obtained by CITC. “To the extent that this reminder led to the communication that decorations and songs typically associated with the Christmas holiday were not permitted, this was not the intent, and efforts have been made internally to clarify this point to avoid any confusion moving forward.”

READ MORE | New Jersey school district bans Halloween costumes, activities to 'instill greater equity'

In another communication, Marseille explained to district parents that the message had caused unintended confusion.

“I did not intend -- in any way -- for drivers to feel they needed to turn off the holiday music, take down all the decorations or not wear any holiday clothing,” the superintendent said. “I want to be abundantly clear that we are not in any way trying to remove all signs of Christmas from our school buses or our schools."

Commenters on the school district’s Facebook page expressed outrage nonetheless.

“MERRY CHRISTMAS you Christian hating libs,” one jeered.

“Attn bus drivers: ‘Please don’t forget to cover your bus in pride flags and wear you pride clothing in June!’” another said.

READ MORE | Wisconsin city pushes 'inclusive' Christmas decorations, avoiding red and green, report says

Wallingford-Swarthmore is not the only school district to attempt to place restrictions on holidays recently. The South Orange and Maplewood School District in New Jersey came under fire in October for banning Halloween costumes and activities to "instill greater equity."

An elementary school principal in the district cited differing religious beliefs, saying allowing Halloween activities may push some families to "make decisions that may be counter to their belief system."

A spokesperson for Wallingford-Swarthmore told CITC Tuesday the district is “committed to providing a safe, supportive and inclusive learning environment for all students and employees.”

Have something for the Crisis in the Classroom team to investigate? Call or text the national tip line at 202-417-7273.

Pennsylvania’s top 25 public elementary schools are all located near Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, according to Niche, a site offering data on schools and colleges across the country.

Reviews and data from sources like the U.S. Department of Education, Common Core Data, Civil Rights Data Collection and more fuel Niche’s rankings. The Pittsburgh-headquartered school search platform ranks public elementary schools through the following categories:

Niche breaks down its overall grades into the following segments:

Pennsylvania’s top 25 schools received “A+” grades, though their strengths and achievements vary. Here’s a brief look at how the institutions compared.

Location: Wayne, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B+ diversity

Niche calls New Eagle Elementary School a “top-rated” school with a 15-1 student-to-teacher ratio. The school’s most recent standardized test scores showed roughly 82% of its 516 students are proficient in math, while about 92% of students are proficient or better in reading.

Location: McDonald, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and A- diversity

Another top-rated school, South Fayette Township Elementary has a 17-1 student-to-teacher ratio, Niche reports. The institution’s latest batch of test scores indicated at least 98% of its 723 students are proficient or better in math, while about 96% are proficient or better in reading.

Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B diversity

Niche reports a 13-1 student-to-teacher ratio at O’Hara Elementary School. Its 671 students recently posted respective proficiency rates of 86% and 92% in math and reading, according to the latest test scores.

Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B- diversity

Another Pittsburgh-based school, Baker Elementary School has a 16-1 student-to-teacher ratio with 433 students in its care. Its most recent batch of test scores reports proficiency rates of 87% and 92% for math and reading, respectively.

Location: Swarthmore, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A academics, A+ teachers and B diversity

Swarthmore-Rutledge School posts a 14-1 student-to-teacher ratio with a student body of 561 students, Niche reports. Roughly 82% and 90% of the school’s 561 students are proficient or better in math and reading, respectively.

Location: Allison Park, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A academics, A+ teachers and B+ diversity

Out in the Pittsburgh suburbs, Hosack Elementary School boasts a 14-1 student-to-teacher ratio. Recent standardized test scores found at least 77% of the school’s 373 students are proficient or better in math, while at least 87% are proficient or better in reading.

Location: Wallingford, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A academics, A+ teachers and B diversity

This top-rated public school offers a 12-1 student-to-teacher ratio. At least 77% of its 554 students are at least proficient in math, while roughly 90% of its students are proficient or better in reading.

Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B- diversity

Back in Pittsburgh, this school boasts a 13-1 student-to-teacher ratio spread across 252 students. Foster Elementary School’s most recent test scores indicated proficiency rates of 87% and 92%, respectively, for math and reading.

Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and C diversity

Markham Elementary School joins Foster Elementary School in Pittsburgh’s Mt. Lebanon School District. With 305 students in its care, this school posts a 14-1 student-to-teacher ratio and proficiency rates of 87% and 95%, respectively, in math and reading, according to the latest standardized tests.

Location: Devon, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and A- diversity

Devon Elementary School educates 406 students and offers a 14-1 student-to-teacher ratio. Its most recent test scores indicate proficiency rates of 82% and 92% in math and reading, respectively.

Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B- diversity

Another Pittsburgh School, Fairview Elementary School has a 14-1 student-to-teacher ratio. The school’s latest batch of standardized test scores indicate proficiency rates of 92% and 95% for math and reading for its 397 students, respectively.

Location: Radnor, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A academics, A+ teachers and B+ diversity

Back near Philadelphia, Radnor Elementary School has a 13-1 student-to-teacher ratio with 595 students in its care. The school’s students are at least 75% proficient in math and roughly 87% proficient in reading, according to test scores.

Location: Berwyn, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B+ diversity

Hillside Elementary School boasts a 13-1 student-to-teacher ratio throughout the school, which offers grades K through four. According to state test scores, 87% of the school’s 428 students are proficient or better in math, while 92% are proficient or better in reading.

Location: Bala Cynwyd, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B+ diversity

Cynwyd Elementary School, aptly named after its location, has a 13-1 student-to-teacher ratio. At least 86% of its 560 students are at least proficient in math, while roughly 89% of its students are proficient or better in reading.

Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A academics, A+ teachers and B diversity

Peebles Elementary School boasts a 14-1 teacher-to-student ratio with 419 students in its care. Recent standardized test scores found at least 82% of the school’s students are proficient or better in math, while at least 87% are proficient or better in reading.

Location: Wynnewood, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A teachers and A- diversity

Penn Wynne School maintains a 13-1 student-to-teacher ratio across a student body of 760 students. Its most recent standardized tests showed math and reading proficiency rates of 85% and 89%, respectively.

Location: Wayne, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B+ diversity

Wayne Elementary School offers a 12-1 student-to-teacher ratio spread across 537 students. Its most recent standardized test scores indicated proficiency rates of 76% for math and 87% for reading, Niche reports.

Location: Narberth, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and A- diversity

Penn Valley School boasts a 12-1 student-to-teacher ratio covering 638 K through five students. Recent standardized test scores found proficiency rates of 81% in math and 87% in reading.

Location: Merion Station, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B+ diversity

With 579 students, Merion Elementary School offers a 12-1 student-to-teacher ratio. Its most recent batch of standardized test scores indicated proficiency rates of 84% for math and 90% for reading.

Location: Wexford, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and A- diversity

Back near Pittsburgh, Marshall Elementary School has a 15-1 student-to-teacher ratio across 903 students. State standardized test reports indicate proficiency rates of 83% in math and 87% in reading.

Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B diversity

This top-rated Pittsburgh-area school offers a 14-1 student-to-teacher ratio among 275 students. Hoover Elementary School’s students produced proficiency rates of 82% in math and 92% in reading through standardized tests, Niche reports.

Location: Bradford Woods, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B+ diversity

Bradford Woods Elementary School owns a 16-1 student-to-teacher ratio with 488 students in its care. A recent batch of standardized test scores showed proficiency rates of 87% and 91% in math and reading, respectively.

Location: Sewickley, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and B+ diversity

This top-rated school offers a 13-1 student-to-teacher ratio with 377 students under its wings. According to standardized test scores, roughly 88% of Franklin Elementary School’s students are proficient or better in math, while 95% of students are proficient or better in reading.

Location: Souderton, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and A- diversity

This charter school located in the Philadelphia suburbs hosts 235 students and has an impressive 10-1 student-to-teacher ratio, Niche reports. About 82% of the Souderton Charter School Collective’s students are at least proficient in math, while roughly 92% of them are at least proficient in reading.

Location: Bryn Mawr, Pa.

Grades: A+ overall, A+ academics, A+ teachers and A- diversity

Finally, the top-rated public elementary school in Niche’s Pennsylvania database is Ithan Elementary School, which hosts 470 students and offers a 12-1 student-to-teacher ratio. Roughly 85% and 92% of its students are proficient or better in math and reading, respectively.

"There were no flights available. The roads weren't an option," said Amir Sidiqi, a former Strath Haven High School graduate.

No compatible source was found for this media.

WPVI

WALLINGFORD, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- As hundreds of Afghan evacuees touch down in Philadelphia, Amir Sidiqi counts himself as one of the lucky ones.

Sidiqi is an American citizen and a graduate of Strath Haven High School in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. He was living in Afghanistan for the last 11 years as a contractor for the U.S. Army. Then, Kabul fell to the Taliban and he was trapped.

"There were no flights available. The roads weren't an option. You could just feel like you were getting caged in basically," Sidiqi said. "Everything had completely changed. The whole city. All the lights were out, nobody was out on the street. It was a haunted house."

Sidiqi, his wife and his 2-year-old daughter began their harrowing journey to the airport. He said they got stuck at the gate and were refused entry.

"I was screaming at the top of my lungs because I was holding my child and we were out in the dirt next to the flight line," he said. "Thousands of people were behind us."

They were forced to return home, defeated.

"There were a pile of dead bodies over here and another person getting compression with blood coming out," said Sidiqi.

Thousands of miles away in Wallingford was Kevin Haney, Sidiqi's former 9th grade English teacher at Strath Haven High School.

They had first met in 2001, right after the Sept. 11 attacks.

"He said 'if anybody ever says anything to you or makes you feel bad because of where you come from, you just let me know and I'll take care of it,'" Sidiqi recalled Haney's words from back then.

SEE ALSO: Delaware County man desperately seeks asylum for family members trapped in Afghanistan

The two have remained in contact over the years.

"I reached out to him and asked if there was anything I could do on my end," said Haney. "Amir responded with something a little haunting and said, 'If you're a man of God, pray.'"

Haney posted on social media, asking for more prayers to get Sidiqi and his family out of Afghanistan.

A childhood friend of Haney saw the post and, as luck would have it, he was a Department of Defense official based in Kabul. That friend was able to get Sidiqi's family safely into the airport.

"I just feel like the universe lined itself perfectly to get my buddy out of there and his daughter," said Haney. "So for me, it's still overwhelming."

Sidiqi said the real story is about the servicemen and women who helped him and countless others to safety.

"The selflessness, the painstaking hours," said Sidiqi. "The sheer will and the power of the American spirit that was there, that is what should be the focus of this."

Haney and Sidiqi said they later found out that the Air Force pilot who flew out Sidiqi and his family from Afghanistan was also a Strath Haven High School graduate.

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Greg and Gabrielle Miller had not planned to leave Philadelphia as soon as their first child was born.

“We thought we’d stay in the city for a year or two after our son, Hudson, was born,” she said. “After one day with all three of us in our condo, we changed our minds.”

They saw a 3,000-square-foot, four-bedroom home in Wallingford called Lindenshade. It featured a two-story library designed by Frank Furness for his brother. They kept looking at other properties, but Miller said they could not get Lindenshade out of their minds.

“We saw this home, then looked elsewhere,” she said. “But we always measured everything to Lindenshade, and nothing could compare.”

They bought the home in 2007 and set to work modernizing it.

“It took some creativity to see past the cement exterior, dated interior and wall air conditioners,” she said.

They added central air and dual-zoned climate control, refinished the library ceilings and moldings, and added stucco to the exterior.

“We also landscaped to try to keep the yard as Horace Howard Furness discusses in his letters,” Miller said.

Horace Howard Furness (1839-1912) was a Shakespeare scholar and collector. The Furness Memorial Library at the University of Pennsylvania, named for him, is devoted to the study of Shakespeare and other Tudor and Stuart dramatists.

Gabrielle Miller said Lindenshade’s library remains her favorite area inside the house.

“The space is enormous and welcoming, with many of Horace’s books and letters still in the stacks,” she said. “It’s like a book-filled oasis.”

The gardens are another property highlight, Miller said. The grounds include a pond with waterfalls and separate gardens. And the family has added some features.

“We put in a zip line, slack line, swing set, trampoline, and there are fish in the pond with three waterfalls,” she said.

Miller said a professional opportunity means she and Greg have decided to list the home for sale.

“I got a job offer I could not refuse,” she said. “It’s bittersweet to leave this incredible home.”

The home is listed with the Vince May Team at Coldwell Banker Preferred for $599,900.

"Since we can't have her here, I'm just thankful that she was able to save other lives," said the mother of Mackenzie Rose.

A Wallingford, Pennsylvania family's loss turned into life thanks to some miraculous odds.

WALLINGFORD, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- A Wallingford, Pennsylvania family's loss turned into life thanks to some miraculous odds.

Elizabeth Raiburn says anyone who knew her 7-year-old daughter Mackenzie Rose would tell you that she was something else.

"She was feisty and she was sassy. She definitely gave people a run for the money," said Raiburn.

A few months ago, Mackenzie Rose was diagnosed with a very serious blood disorder called Aplastic anemia. Her treatment included chemotherapy.

But the unthinkable occurred last Friday when Mackenzie Rose was undergoing a related treatment.

"When she got her bone marrow transplant on Friday she suffered a devastating brain bleed which ultimately left her brain dead," said Raiburn.

Among the people Raiburn wanted to notify was Martino Cartier, the founder of the Wigs & Wishes organization, to say 'thank you.'

Wigs & Wishes made a wig for Mackenzie Rose in anticipation of chemo-related hair loss.

But Raiburn also made a request.

She and her husband, Michael Barbagallo, wanted their daughter to live on by donating her kidneys to someone in need of a transplant.

By pure chance, Cartier's friend, Anthony Soriano, was on the donor list and scheduled to begin dialysis.

Still, the chances that Soriano and Mackenzie Rose were a match were very small.

"The transplant team said you have a better chance of winning the billion dollar Mega Millions jackpot than this working. Well, guess what, at 5:42, when they were taking her off life support ...I get a call -- exact perfect match," recalled Cartier.

Soriano quickly went in for surgery this weekend and received Mackenzie's gift of life.

After he woke up, Soriano recorded a message for Mackenzie Rose's family saying, "I am so beyond full of love and gratitude that words can not even express."

And Mackenzie Rose will also live on during the annual Night of Wigs & Wishes Gala where this year, and from now on, a champion of the cause will receive the "McKenzie Gift of Life Award."

This year's gala is scheduled for this coming November in Philadelphia.

"She should be here. But since we can't have her here, I'm just thankful that she was able to save other lives, and I just want her to live forever in people's hearts and memory," said Raiburn.