Last week Souderton Area School District welcomed over 6,000 students back for the 2023-2024 school year!  As we begin a new school year, we thought it would be fun for our alumni to reminisce about their early days of school in SASD.

It was an extra special day for the Salford Hills Elementary School community as they welcomed a new principal! SASD Alumni, Todd Burns '97 was appointed to take the place of beloved retiring principal Dr. Dave Purnell. What many of the Salford Hills community may not know is that once, not too long ago, Mr. Burns was a student there himself! In fact, Dr. Purnell was Mr. Burns' 5th-grade teacher at Salford Hills, making this transition extra special for him.

We couldn't let this occasion pass without asking for some pictures! Hopefully, some of Mr. Burn's classmates will get a kick out of seeing these!

Mr. Burns in 2nd Grade	Mrs. Ludt 1st Grade (1985-86)	Miss. Ritter 3rd Grade (1987-88)

While we were enjoying the pictures from Mr. Burns at it we decided to check in with another one of our principals, who also happens to be a SASD Alumni! Dr. Graf '96 has been the principal at Vernfield Elementary School since 2013. Prior to Vernfield Jon was the principal at EMC Elementary School and taught at Indian Crest Middle School. Dr. Graf attended Lower Salford Elementary School! Ironically enough if he were in elementary school today, he would be a student at Vernfield.

Dr. Graf in 4th Grade

Mrs. Megan Case, a 1st grade teaching at Vernfield Elementary School, graduated from Souderton in 1996 and was a classmate of Dr. Graf's from Kindergarten-12th grade at Lower Salford Elementary, Indian Valley Middle School, and then Souderton Area High School.  Her favorite memories are the relationships she made playing sports, and she is still friends with many of those athletes today.  She began teaching in Souderton Area School District in 2003 and Dr. Graf is now her principal!

Mrs. Case (Buzdygon), 12th Grade

Mrs. Case (far left) and Dr. Graf (far right) as part of the Homecoming float at Indian Valley

Another notable Alumni who decided to make his career here in the Souderton Area School District is Mr. Andy McClintock! Andy is the Team Leader for Team Endeavor at Indian Crest Middle School and teaches 8th-grade Social Studies.  Here is Andy, not too long ago when he was a student at Salford Hills Elementary School!

Matt Haines, Class of 1993, is now the assistant principal for 11th grade at Souderton Area High School.  Mr. Haines was recently honored as a standout assistant principal in an article published in K-12 Dive.  Matt currently serves on the Board of the Indian Valley Education Foundation and has been an integral part of many of SAHS's major projects, most recently including the SASD Greenhouse, the Almac Space, and the redesign of the Souderton Area High School Library.  Here is a picture of Mr. Haines when he was a student at West Broad Street Elementary school.

Matt Haines as a student at West Broad Street Elementary School