School Movers & Shakers - January

Seneca Valley

During Seneca Valley’s School Board Meeting on Monday, November 3, board members approved the appointment of Dr. Samantha Flanhofer as the district’s new assistant principal of Ryan Gloyer Middle School.

A resident of Gibsonia, Dr. Flanhofer brings more than 15 years of experience in education. She previously worked in the Mars Area, Ambridge, Pine-Richland, and Allegheny Valley school districts.

Mars Area

Mars Girls Youth Lacrosse Association’s U12 Team took first place in the 2025 Graveyard Fall Tournament, held on Nov. 1 at the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Canton, Ohio). The team went undefeated. Team members include Mars Area Centennial School sixth-graders Reagan Anke and Ally Carlson, and fifth-graders Talia Carrabba, Taylor Dee, Kaylee Diroll, Norah Gehlmann, Genevieve Haggerty, and Caroline Kowatch. 

Mars Area Primary Center collected $1,940 as part of a Pie-in-the-Face fundraiser held Nov. 17-21. Students in kindergarten and first grade were asked to bring in donations to benefit the school’s Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS) program, which recognizes and rewards students for positive behavior.

Mars Girls Youth Basketball Association’s Sixth Grade Blue Team earned first place in the St. Gregory Turkey Shootout, held Nov. 19-23 at St. Gregory Catholic School (Zelienople). Team members include Mars Area Centennial School sixth-graders Sofia Airgood, Ruby Allsworth, Cayley Chaffee, Arianna Guerrieri, Summer Jessup, Meyer Mager, Allison Masuga, Gianna Sander, Nora Schlosser and Hadley Sichler. Sixth-grader Arianna Guerrieri was selected for the Most Valuable Player award. 

Construction for the $21.4 million Mars Area Elementary School Expansion Project began on Monday, Dec. 15. The project will include a new three-story classroom wing; cafeteria/kitchen; and an expanded STEAM classroom and guidance suite. On the building’s exterior, plans include a new, separate parent drop-off/pick-up area along the front of the school; a widened “Little Dipper” access road; a reconfigured Doc’s Way access road; a new cross-site roadway along the southern edge of the campus; and additional parking.

Fox Chapel

Five Fox Chapel Area High School students won awards at the annual Pine-Richland High School Speech and Debate Tournament. Paulomi Goel and Ottilie Happold won first place in Duo Interpretation. Sabina Mantella won fifth place overall in Student Congress. Juliet Chrissis and Amelia Tedesco won fifth place overall in Parliamentary Debate. 

Fox Chapel Area High School students received eight nominations in Prime Stage Theatre’s 6th Annual High School Drama Awards. The students were nominated for their performances and/or involvement in Our Town, the high school’s fall play. The students nominated are Lily Cannon, Solomon Edwards, Grace Gouwens, Abigail Haas, Molly Krajcovic, Faye Muller, Erin Stein, Robert Svenson, and Elias Zeiner.  Additionally, the fall play was nominated for the best student onstage run crew. The crew members were Sidney George, Josiah Woodard-Lehman, Henry Muller, Audrey Seiler, Rebecca Smith, and Patrick Svenson.

Eight Fox Chapel Area High School students had pieces accepted to the 2025 FUSION Youth Metal Arts Showcase. The students are Olivia Arca, Adele Grady, Raina Guzman, Riley Hemingray, Emma Kuhns, Mary Lynch, Elijah Turner, and Troy White. Additionally, Olivia won the top award, the Juror’s Grand Prize, for her piece, “Picnic for One,” and Adele won the prize for Best Use of Color for her piece, “Deep Sea Jewel.”

Eighteen Fox Chapel Area High School students placed in the 2025 Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) District 3 (regional) competition and 10 qualified for the state competition. Winners were Anna Chrissis, Aiden Drucker, Isaac Drucker, Cooper Fleming, Noelle Fouron, Ario Homayoun, Zoey Liu, Olivia Richter, Salam Saidi, and Maya Vyas. These 10 students qualified for the 2026 DECA State Career Development Conference in Hershey, Pennsylvania, February 18-20. They are Lucas Ahern, Marianna Iannarelli, Delaney Liu, Joseph McGivney, Dyutit Patro, and Nico Zgurzynski, Purv Patel, Dyutit Patro, and Dashel Wilson.  

Five Fox Chapel Area High School students were selected by audition to perform with the 2025 Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) District 1 Honors Band. The students are Jack Murray-Krezan, Joshua Shah, Nadre Digbohou, Rachel Kim, and Celestial Hou. The band was comprised of 120 of the best student-musicians from Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland counties.

The Fox Chapel Area Board of School Directors held its annual reorganization meeting December 2, 2025. Marybeth Dadd was reelected president. Ronald P. Frank was re-elected vice president. Vanessa K. Lynch was re-elected assistant secretary.