• Community Sponsor Information

     

    2025 Senior Experience Elective:  May 5 - May 30
     
    For over 50 years, seniors at Conestoga High School have had the opportunity to explore a potential career or area of interest during the month before Graduation. With the help of a Faculty Advisor, the Program Coordinator, and you, the Community Sponsor, students will gain experience in their areas of interest, possible college majors and potential careers. Students will also learn responsibilities and skills necessary in a work environment. Senior experiences will take place at a wide variety of businesses, professional fields, and service organizations.
     
    In 2025, seniors may do a traditional in-person experience, a virtual experience, or a combination of both.

    Thousands of professionals in our community and extended area have offered training, expertise and guidance to Conestoga students over the years. The continued success of the Senior Experience Elective program is due to the generosity and willingness of these Community Sponsors to provide this unique opportunity to Conestoga students. The students are expected to be present at their experience for 7 hours/day, 5 days/week for the sponsoring business/organization.
     
     
    Background Clearances for Community Sponsors
    As you may know, there has been increased awareness and conversation regarding the topic of protecting our youth.  The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania takes this issue very seriously and has passed the Child Protective Services Law to ensure that employees and volunteers who have regular and repeated contact with students have appropriate background clearances.  This law was recently amended to include adults who supervise, are responsible for, and have direct contact with a child in an internship externship, work-study, co-op or similar program (House Bill 1276, Chapter 63).
     
    To be compliant with this law, Community Sponsors for Conestoga internships must have the necessary background clearances to work with Conestoga students who are under 18 years of age, as of May 5, 2025.  These include (1) the Pennsylvania Criminal Background Check, (2) the Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance, and (3) the Federal History Criminal Record.
     
    Instructions for Obtaining Background Clearances 
     
    Effective July 1, 2016, revisions to the Pennsylvania Child Protective Services Law will require school volunteers (any adults serving in unpaid positions in the District) who have regular and repeated contact with students and who are responsible for care, supervision, guidance or control of children to have the background clearances described below.
     
    The Child Protective Services Law requires volunteers who have not been a continuous resident of Pennsylvania for the last ten years to obtain an FBI criminal history check, which is not administered by the State government. Volunteers who need the FBI criminal history check will still be responsible for the $25.25 fee. Volunteers who have lived in Pennsylvania for a full ten-year period may provide a signed and witnessed waiver in lieu of the FBI criminal history check.
     
    1. The Pennsylvania Criminal Record Check can be done either online or by mail. The online results are available right away. If you choose to mail the form, it could take up to 8 weeks for the results to be returned to you. To complete the process online, go to https://epatch.pa.gov  and click on “New Volunteer Record Check” and follow the instructions.  At the end of the process, you will need to print two copies of the certification form. You must click on “certification form” in order to pull up the correct form to print. Please keep a copy of your Criminal Record Check for your personal records. If you choose the mail-in option, please click here for detailed instructions and to download and print "Criminal History Request form: Volunteers Only SP4-164A (updated 12/2017).  You will need to submit the completed application to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The results will be mailed to your home. Note: the fee for the PA criminal record check will be waived for school volunteers effective July 25, 2015.

    2. The Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance (Act 151) application can be submitted online. Once you enter the link you will be directed to the Child Welfare Portal where you must create an account or log in if you already have an account. Note: you will need an email address to create an account. Click here to submit the Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance application:  https://www.compass.state.pa.us/cwis/public/home. Note: the fee for the PA child abuse history clearance will be waived for school volunteers effective July 25, 2015.
       
    3. The FBI Federal Criminal History Record (Act 114) - for volunteers who have lived in Pennsylvania for less than ten years

      Steps for obtaining FBI Clearance

      1. Register online at https://uenroll.identogo.com/.  
      2. Enter the following Service Code:  1KG6ZJ (for volunteering in PA public schools - DHS -Volunteer).
      3. Choose your fingerprint site and schedule your appointment.
      4. An email will be sent to confirm your appointment. 
      5. After being fingerprinted, either mail/email a copy of the Applicant Registration ID form to Human Resources or to volunteerclearances@tesd.net or send a copy of the clearance you receive in the mail to Human Resources. *It can take up to 7-10 business days for the results to be mailed to you.*


      1. Pennsylvania Ten-Year Resident Waiver Form: Volunteers who have lived in Pennsylvania for the entirety of the previous ten-year period and who affirm in writing that they have not been convicted of a similar offense in another jurisdiction will not need to complete the FBI Federal Criminal History Record/fingerprinting and will only need to obtain the PA Criminal History and PA Child Abuse History clearances listed above. The affidavit form will need to be signed and witnessed before sending to the District Personnel Office in the Tredyffrin/Easttown Administration Offices at 940 West Valley Road, Suite 1700 in Wayne.

        Volunteers who have lived in Pennsylvania for less than ten years will need to obtain the PA Criminal History and PA Child Abuse History clearances listed above and will also need to obtain a federal criminal history clearance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which requires the applicant to be fingerprinted. 

    Please contact Jeanne Braun, Community and Volunteer Services Coordinator, at braunj@tesd.net or 610-240-1913, if you are interested in becoming a Senior Experience Elective Community Sponsor or if you have any questions.