Superintendent Dr. Bill Harner and several municipal officials recently held a summit for about 50 Realtors, explaining the reasons their clients should be moving into homes and starting businesses in the towns contained within the Quakertown Community School District.
“We are very proud of what we are accomplishing here,” said Harner, who hosted the meeting at the high school. “We’ve had great support by the School Board and families in the community.”
The event was put together by Shelby Miller and Vickie Landis of Keller Williams Realty, which funded the high school’s new bowling teams.
“This was a great opportunity to get local Realtors in the area to learn all about the great things happening in Quakertown,” Miller said. “The support that the municipalities provide not only to the people in their communities but also with each other is unlike other areas. Dr. Harner does a fantastic job ensuring people are aware of all that is happening in our community and Realtors now know how to assist their clients in buying, selling and investing in homes in Quakertown.
Besides Harner, speakers included Doug Wilhelm, Quakertown’s director of community development; Naomi Naylor, executive director and Main Street Manager for Quakertown Alive!; John Roth, Milford’s assistant manager; John Butler, chief operating officer of the Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority; and Paul Stepanoff, Richland’s manager and a former School Board member.
The common themes from speakers was the description of the area as “up and coming … safe” and “affordable” with lots of history, a great parks system, and “collaboration” between the communities and district.
Stepanoff, who praised Quakertown and Richland police for their accreditation and keeping the communities secure, also gave a shout out to district students.
“We have great kids,” he said. “If our kids travel anywhere, you speak to people in the hotels, you speak to bus drivers, the one common theme is they are the best behaved kids anyone outside of this area has ever seen.”
Harner, who later gave tours to Realtors who haven’t seen the newly renovated high school, highlighted district’s academic excellence attained through the hard work of students and teachers.
QCSD has 28 Advanced Placement courses, World Languages in grades 6 to 12, Spanish and coding in kindergarten to fifth grades, and outstanding STEM programs.
“It’s really cool and getting robust,” Harner said of the technological achievements. “We could only imagine that years ago, and our youngest students are doing it now.”
A year ago, Quakertown finished first in Bucks County and 12th in the state in the Pennsylvania School Performance Profile.
With a 34 percent poverty index, Harner said “no one with anywhere near 34 percent outperforms us. The value of what we’re doing here is excellent.”