Pittsburgh, Pa. Friday, Jan. 9, 2009
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Pittsburgh, Pa. Friday, Jan. 9, 2009 |
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 What's new in South schools this year
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
Total enrollment is expected to remain virtually the same as last year as classes resume over the next two weeks in 18 public school districts in South's circulation area.
Renovated after macroburst damage, Lavelle School will open on time
Teachers teach teachers how to use technology in classroom
A projected loss of about 750 students in some districts is offset by a gain of almost 1,200 in other districts to nudge the count slightly above 55,000.
Of that total, slightly more than half will report to schools in one-third of the districts -- Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park, McKeesport, Baldwin-Whitehall, Upper St. Clair and Peters. Roughly one of every 10 pupils will attend classes in Mt. Lebanon, the largest of South's districts.
The greatest gains in projected enrollment are expected in Chartiers Valley and Peters, at 250 and 175 respectively. The largest losses are anticipated in McKeesport, at 400; Clairton, 150; Baldwin-Whitehall, 140; and Steel Valley, 100.
The Power4Kids Reading Initiative, aided by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, will become a staple in at least a half-dozen districts for students with reading problems. Renovated elementary and middle schools are completed or in the works in some districts, renovated stadiums in others, and new language and computer labs in still more.
Besides new superintendents in several districts, there are other new administrators, especially principals, in many districts. As usual, too, there is a host of new teachers, athletic coaches and band directors, new academic courses and new elective studies.
Police dog searches are being debated in at least one district, new tardy and/or truancy policies in others and an anti-bullying program in still another.
Staff and freelance writers for the Post-Gazette have compiled the following district-by-district summary of what students and parents can expect as the new school year begins.
-- Roger Stuart,
Baldwin-Whitehall
Classes resume Aug. 25
Projected enrollment: 4,760
New and newly assigned personnel include: Jose Alava, soccer coach; Mike Silianoff, football coach, psychologist Pat Baker, high school principal Stephen Puskar and Whitehall Elementary acting principal Darlene DeFilippo.
New teacher hires at the high school include two in mathematics, one in biology, one in chemistry and one in industrial arts.
The $596,000 roof replacement at Whitehall Elementary School should be completed by the end of October and is not expected to disrupt classes, Superintendent Charles Faust said.
The $3.2 million upgrade of the heating and air-conditioning system at Paynter Elementary took two years to complete but should be ready by the end of this month.
New class schedules are 8:20 a.m. to 3:05 p.m. at Harrison Middle School and 9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. at the elementary schools.
The federally funded Compass Learning program involves software for math and reading at Harrison.
Computers already are used for algebra courses and will now be used in geometry classes.
-- Al Lowe,
Bethel Park
Classes resume Aug. 26
Projected enrollment: 5,300
There will be three new principals in the Bethel Park schools this fall.
Fred Pearson is moving into that job at Washington Elementary. He previously was the assistant principal at Neil Armstrong Elementary.
Pearson's former position at Neil Armstrong will be filled by Tina Mayer, who was formerly a middle-school teacher in the Clairton School District.
At the high school, dean of students David Muensch was named assistant principal to replace James Robertson, who resigned to take a job with another district.
The school board is still searching for a dean of students.
There also will be new textbooks at the high school for chemistry, biology and physics and there are plans to upgrade two science labs, even though the board last week rejected initial bids that came for the upgrade. The project will be rebid with different specifications.
The high school also will offer new courses. They are Honors English 12, Writing Skills, Newspaper Journalism, Media Literacy, TV Film and Internet Advertising, Honors American History II, AP Computer Science, JAVA, and Advanced Web Page Design.
In addition, a new heating, ventilating and air-conditioning system is being installed at Independence Middle School.
-- Mary Niederberger,
Brentwood
Classes resume Aug. 27
Projected enrollment: 1,400
Parents dropping children off for school or picking them up will no longer be able to use the circle in front of the middle/high school but instead will have to go down Kaiser Way.
The change was originally made at a joint council/school board meeting with the expectation it will reduce traffic congestion.
Among new personnel is Jennifer Hughes, a former television anchor who will teach communications classes. Michael O'Brien, a former elementary school-teacher, is the new athletic/activities director.
Joseph Kozarian is the new director of security and facilities management and John Delia is the on-site maintenance supervisor, who is in charge of the custodial staff.
Shauna Coda is a new middle/high school special needs teacher and Dean Leventopoulos is a new long-term physics teacher substitute.
Lunch prices have increased by a quarter. The new prices are: $1.50, elementary; $1.75, middle and high school; and adults, $2.75.
Richard Briner is the newest board member, replacing Jim Bombara, who resigned.
Superintendent Anne Stephens plans to have teachers enroll middle school students for its new Junior National Honor Society.
The University of Pittsburgh will lend instructors to give writing tips to teachers during staff development days.
The curriculum has been revamped to include new software for various K-12 subjects.
The Power4Kids Reading Initiative will involve new methods of teaching reading to those having problems. Grant money will pay for a substitute teacher to handle classroom duties while the regular teacher works with the slower students.
-- Al Lowe,
Chartiers Valley
Classes resume Aug. 25
Projected enrollment: 3,700
Teachers were to return yesterday, with new teachers inducted the previous day.
Four additional Middle School classrooms will be ready for use, as well as a new English as a Second Language room and new high school boys' and girls' locker rooms.
Among the new teachers are Daniel Budday, a high school technology education instructor; Taryn Briggs, a kindergarten Title I reading teacher at the Primary School; and William Douglass, who along with another teacher still to be hired, will teach the Spanish program that has now expanded to the Middle School seventh-grade.
The seventh-graders have been receiving Spanish instruction since they started kindergarten. The seventh-grade Spanish curriculum will be offered for a full period and will include integrated content with reading, English, science and social studies.
There are several additions to the high school curriculum, including an entrepreneurship course, a theater design course that focuses on aspects of the theater besides performing, and a college-developed engineering principles course for which students may receive college credit.
Other new high school courses are a one-semester Web page design course, a yearlong television and media course that will involve experience with the district's CVTV television station and a home economics elective titled Quick and Easy Foods. The subject will focus on how to obtain proper nutrition in today's on-the-go lifestyle.
-- Carole Gilbert Brown,
Clairton
Classes resume Aug. 27
Projected enrollment: 949
A new anti-bullying program will be stressed this year, with a bullying hot line, 412-233-9200, ext. 511, set up to receive reports of bullying behavior. Psychologist Jennifer Frazier is coordinating three teams of students, parents and school staff to work toward eliminating bullying and harassment.
The new times for the elementary students are 7:50 a.m. for start of classes and 2:31 p.m. for dismissal.
The administrative offices will move from the education complex to a former residence at 502 Mitchell Ave. that has been converted to house the superintendent's and business offices.
Business manager Bill Boucher expects the move to be completed by early September and said the additional space will be used for classrooms. Due to lack of space, classes are currently being taught in the school library.
Frazier said more parent coffee hours are planned in the evening with guest speakers and refreshments.
District Justice Armand Martin will speak to student assemblies about the importance of school attendance.
A computer-based supplemental reading program will be instituted for kindergarten through second grade, and the teachers' progress will be monitored by an educational consultant, JP Associates.
-- Al Lowe,
Duquesne
Classes resume Aug. 25
Projected enrollment: 900
Students returning to school will see Jacquelyn Webb, director of curriculum, wearing two hats. She has been the acting superintendent since JoAnn Wells resigned in June.
Webb received a six-month contract as acting superintendent. Chairman of the board of control Nick Staresinic said the district is happy with the choice of Webb in her new position.
Staff development will be increased and students will receive math and reading tutoring. Math coaches will be available for those in need of extra help.
Last spring the school entered into the America's Promise Program through Robert Morris University. The program brings college students in two days a week for mentoring and tutoring.
A full-day kindergarten has been added this year. Pupils in grades K-3 will benefit from the class reduction initiative this year.
-- Beth Hope-Cushey,
Elizabeth Forward
Classes resume Aug. 25
Projected enrollment: 3,010
Jennifer Meliton is the new middle school principal and Paul Cindrick is the new assistant middle school principal. The school board is expected to approve a new elementary school principal for the Mount Vernon and Greenock Elementary school at this evening's board meeting.
Students in the district this year won't be able to hit the snooze button on their alarm clocks due to the newly adopted districtwide attendance and tardy policy. By promoting regular attendance, it is expected that academic achievement will improve, Superintendent Paul Mueller said.
Students now must present written excuses for early dismissals, tardiness and absences. Excused absences will be accepted for illness, religious holidays, health care from a state-licensed practitioner and educational family vacations. If students do not comply under the policy, they may face failing grades, non-participation in extracurricular activities and revoked driving privileges.
Besides the 19 new teachers and the new attendance policy, the district has been chosen to participate in the Power4Kids reading initiative aided by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.
The extended-day kindergarten pilot program, which was held at Elizabeth Elementary School last year, has been expanded to the Mount Vernon Elementary School this year.
-- Beth Hope-Cushey,
Keystone Oaks
Classes resume Aug. 28
Projected enrollment: 2,583
Changes awaiting Keystone Oaks students as they begin the school year include new computers in eighth-grade classrooms and special education classrooms in the high school.
New administrators are Athletic Director Noreen O'Malley and middle school assistant principal Matthew Friedman. New coaches include boys' varsity basketball head coach Michael Pfeuffer and varsity wrestling head coach Drew D'Agostino.
Police dogs may be used for reasonable-suspicion searches for drugs on district grounds, in lockers and cars, according to a policy adopted in May. A trained police officer would be the dog's handler.
The district replaced all 17 teachers who retired at the end of the 2002-03 school year, but not necessarily in the same positions.
In the elementary schools, the district is piloting a new language arts series of textbooks. Also in the elementary schools, the communications electronic components will be replaced this year to make them compatible with the 100 Megabit service already in place at the middle and high schools.
The middle school science curriculum was rewritten to be more balanced in relation to all areas of study in science. The change is expected to result in a greater connection with the elementary and high schools' science curricula.
For the first time, eighth-graders will be able to choose electives for subjects such as band, technology lab, television production, art and astronomy.
To ease transition to the high school, eighth- and ninth-graders without an identified learning disability but needing extra support will receive it for math, reading and English. Social activities for all eighth- and ninth-graders are also planned.
Later this year high school students will have access to a new high-tech digital foreign language laboratory. The lab enhances the state-of-the-art educational packages in existing labs for business, English, reading, industrial technology, and computer-assisted design.
Repair of the high school steps and sidewalks is expected to be completed, weather permitting, by the start of school.
-- Margaret Smykla,
Classes resume Aug. 27
Projected enrollment: 4,800
Superintendent Stephen Tomaino will retire Oct. 31 after 38 years of service, and Assistant Superintendent Frank McLaughlin will become superintendent. Shirley Golofski, the present director of curriculum and instruction, will be promoted to assistant superintendent.
The district has hired 22 new teachers and will make additional selections over the next week.
Effective Nov. 1, Michael Brinkos, the present special education director, will become director of pupil services.
Michael Matta, the principal at Francis McClure Middle School, was promoted to director of federal and state programs, and White Oak Elementary Principal Rula Skezas was made principal at Francis McClure.
Robert Pupich, formerly a Francis McClure Middle School teacher, has been named the district's acting athletic director.
District public relations specialist Robyn Tedesco will become district public relations coordinator.
Assistant Elementary Principal Catherine Lobaugh was named White Oak Elementary principal. Title I teacher Stacie Fitzpatrick has been promoted to assistant elementary principal.
Mark Jeney, was promoted from acting dean of students to dean of students, and Jeffrey Ingel,was promoted from temporary acting dean of students to acting dean of students at the high school.
Tim Gabauer, the high school's North Hall assistant principal, was promoted to associate principal/pupil transition coordinator.
Francis McClure Middle School teachers Karen Chapman and Daniel Como were promoted to acting dean of students for McClure Middle School and North Hall.
Temporary acting dean of students and special education teacher Paul Sebelia has been promoted to acting dean of students for Cornell Intermediate.
-- Mary Dunn,
Mt. Lebanon
Classes resume Sept. 2
Projected enrollment: 5,569
At Mt. Lebanon, it's the staff that's new. In fact, the top administrators all are either new to the district or are in new positions.
Leading the pack is Superintendent Margery Sable, who took over July 1. Zeb Jansante was named the new high school principal and the middle schools have two new principals. Mellon Middle School's principal is Vince Barone, who was promoted from his former position as assistant principal. Mellon's new assistant principal is Bridget Gill, who has been a reading specialist in Mt. Lebanon since 2001 and a teacher at Keystone Oaks prior to that. Maggie Allison is the new principal of Jefferson Middle School.
Interim principal Mary Ann Schnirel was made the official principal of Hoover Elementary.
The district is still in the process of renovating all seven elementary schools. Extensive renovations at Howe and Foster elementaries are to wrap up this month. The high school stadium will have new turf and a six-lane track.
-- Laura Pace,
Peters
Classes resume Sept. 2
Projected enrollment: 3,868
Several changes will greet students when they return to township schools this year, the most evident being the newly renovated high school stadium. Stadium improvements, which cost $306,000, include new artificial turf with full-color logos and new goal posts.
Work is continuing on the $1 million expansion and upgrade of the district's maintenance/transportation facility, where 10,000 square feet will be added to provide more inside parking, washing and maintenance; a planning room; a conference room; and a lunch room.
The high school will return to an alphabetical guidance program. Counselors assigned to students in their freshman year will work with those students throughout their four years in high school.
A new grading scale has been approved. Under the new system an A = 90-100, B = 80-89, C = 70-79, D = 60-69, and F = 59 and below.
All district students will be required to have a physician's or der for over-the-counter and prescription medication. Parents can download the permission form on the district's Web site at www.ptsd.k12.pa.us.
A new tardy policy will be given to students and parents in a handbook to be passed out at the start of the school year.
Robert Scherrer will become the high school's assistant principal and Toni Sulkowski has been appointed to the newly created districtwide position of director of educational and informational technology. Sulkowski will remain as principal at Bower Hill Elementary until a successor is named.
-- A.J. Caliendo,
South Allegheny
Classes resume Aug. 26
Projected enrollment: 1,826
Completion of the new South Allegheny athletic field is set for next spring. The field will consist of two baseball playing areas and an area for soccer.
Additionally, new administrators include middle school principal Richard Fine, and high school principal Janet Sardon. Thomas Starmack will become assistant superintendent, replacing Walter Niesdziela, who has resigned.
Joel Tachoir is the new technology systems director. His roll will include systems administration and grant writing for the school district.
Laura Thompson, previously a first-grade teacher in the district, has been trained to take on the new educational reading program, Power4Kids Reading Initiative. The program, sponsored by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, will focus on pupils in grades 3-5 who perform low in reading.
-- Mary Dunn,
South Fayette
Classes resume Aug. 25
Projected enrollment: 1,865
For the second time in three years, South Fayette is undertaking a major building project to fit its burgeoning student body more comfortably into district facilities. Work is expected to begin in a couple of months.
Last year South Fayette opened a new $25 million high school. This year it will launch an $18 million project to renovate and expand the middle school. Until 27 new classrooms open in fall 2004, some middle-schoolers will continue to receive instruction in auxiliary trailers near the main building.
"Growth is a challenge," said Superintendent Linda Hippert.
As part of the $18 million project, the stadium will be resurfaced after the football season with artificial turf to provide greater durability and to allow for wider usage.
Enrollment is up by about 60 from last year. The student population has been growing 5 percent to 7 percent for the past several years, Hippert said. Notable, she said, is growth of this year's ninth grade, which will have 176 students compared with 150 in last year's eighth grade. A record at 164, the number of children registered for kindergarten is up by 40 over last year.
A half teaching position has been added for kindergarten and a full position for fifth grade. The high school will have new English and social studies teaching positions, as well as a biology teacher/assistant principal split position.
The district is launching a K-3 initiative aimed at ensuring that all elementary pupils are reading at grade level by the end of fifth grade. Four teachers will undergo intensive training and then coach the other teachers to identify children who need remediation and to develop strategies to help them, Hippert said.
The South Fayette Elementary PTA contributed $10,000 for basketball hoops and other equipment at the school playground, which was resurfaced, enlarged and upgraded over the summer.
Under state mandate, there will be 180 days of instruction, the last on May 28.
-- Patrick Ponticel,
South Park
Classes resume Aug. 28.
Projected enrollment: 2,285
The Elementary Center is piloting a new fourth-grade band.
The middle school is pursuing the theme "Connecting with Parents," as part of the No Child Left Behind Program.
The high school will begin giving weighted grading for Honors and AP students, a Standards class designed to enhance writing and reading skills and an expanded gifted program to enhance or give enrichment opportunities for students.
Jeffrey Puhala has been hired as the new marching band director and middle school music teacher.
-- Mary Carney,
Steel Valley
Classes resume Aug. 28.
Projected enrollment: 2,150.
New personnel include Luanne Szcczypinski, the new Barrett Elementary School librarian; math teacher Brian Savolskis, language arts teacher Rebecca Riddle; and Spanish teacher Eric Jabs.
The new principal at Barrett is Kevin Walsh, who was the assistant middle school principal at Franklin Primary Center in the district.
The middle school concept will be implemented, with teams of four teachers assigned to groups of students. The starting and ending times will now be the same for the sixth, seventh and eighth grades.
Grades 3-5 will undertake the Power4Kids program, designed to improve reading skills.
-- Al Lowe,
Upper St. Clair
Classes resume Sept. 2.
Projected enrollment: 4,149
When school begins, James Lombardo, the new superintendent, will not be the only new leader in the district.
Don Pickell, a 1992 Upper St. Clair High School graduate, is the new band director, succeeding James Bennett, who retired in June.
Pickell, who has a degree in music education from Northwestern University, has been a teacher in the Seneca Valley School District for the past four years, as well as an assistant band director at Upper St. Clair for the past two years.
He will also join the Upper St. Clair faculty as a music teacher.
Baker, Eisenhower and Streams elementary schools have a new look. The approximately $25 million face lift and expansion of the three schools is completed.
Each school has a vestibule, that will be the only entrance for visitors. They must register in the school office to receive the required pass.
Pupils will participate in the experimental Power4Kids research. The countywide experiment is aimed at learning which methods are most effective helping students who don't read well in the third and fifth grades.
Also, the International Baccalaureate Diploma program will continue. Tuition students are being accepted into the program, which awarded its first diplomas in June.
-- Lori Humphreys,
West Jefferson Hills
Classes resume Sept. 2.
Projected enrollment: 2,878
Returning students will find the most changes at the Pleasant Hills Middle School, which had its east side renovated over the summer.
The nine classrooms received new walls, flooring, heating, lighting and ventilation systems. Also, the exterior curtain wall was removed and new energy efficient windows installed. New lavatories and locker areas will be completed a few weeks after school opens.
Similar renovations will occur throughout the building in phased stages during 2003-04 and next summer. There will also be a total renovation of the mechanical and electrical systems, new ceilings, and a new entrance lobby.
New public address and sprinkler systems for the school have been completed. Construction of a three-story addition housing eight classrooms is under way, with expected completion by the start of 2004.
Spurred by the school's having been built during the 1960s and undergoing change, pupils will discover an educational theme of "The Sixties: A Decade of Change." Topics to be addressed by social studies teachers are: the Vietnam War; America in space; toys, TV shows, and fun; social and civil unrest; new forms of music and dress; and national and world leaders.
Students will read, "The Watsons Go to Birmingham -- 1963," about a black Detroit family confronting segregation and tragedy on a trip to Birmingham, Ala. The issues the book raises will be discussed.
The school's vice principal position is expected to be filled before the start of classes, as is the position of band director at the high school.
New this fall at the high school is a student ambassador program, in which volunteer students accompany district administrators to local conferences, meetings and workshops.
The reading and language arts curriculum was revised for students in grades K-12. The new curriculum will incorporate strategies to strengthen skills in phonemic awareness, vocabulary development, writing process, oral language and listening.
Pupils returning to Gill Hall and McClellan elementary schools will find two new, state-of-the-art computer labs, and new, full-court gymnasiums. McClellan's recently renovated kitchen will also be usable for the first time.
-- Margaret Smykla,
West Mifflin
Classes resume Aug. 27.
Projected enrollment: 3,266
The school board has been discussing renovating or completely rebuilding the middle school and possibly moving all fifth-grade classes there to relieve crowding.
Another possible measure to relieve crowding is the district's plan to attach three trailer classrooms to Homeville Elementary School.
All Homeville pupils now have electronic photo identification cards, which they used to buy school lunches through a computerized system during a pilot program last school year. The tentative schedule for supplying all students with cards is: mid- to late October, Clara Barton, New Emerson and New England Elementary Schools; mid-November, the middle school; and mid-December, the high school. All district employees and administrators eventually will have photo ID cards as well.
A new aviation club starts at the middle school this school year. Anyone who would like to donate books, flight simulation games, models or other articles related to aviation may call sponsor Glenn Gougler at 412- 466-3200.
The middle school also has new seventh- and eighth-grade boys' and girls' soccer teams who will have their first game on Aug. 29.
Two new computer labs and a new library resource center with computers are also planned for the middle school.
The high school's recently approved Air Force Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps program will begin sometime in 2004.
A food service advisory panel is forming and will meet during the school year at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 29, Dec. 10, Feb. 24 and April 28 in the administration building, 515 Camp Hollow Road, West Mifflin.
West Mifflin police will be placing yield signs in school zones to make walkways safer. Wal-Mart awarded the borough a $600 grant, which will pay for about six of the signs.
-- Julie Spohn,
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 $229,900
$167,500
 $530
$500
$650
$435
$1,195
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