The varsity cheerleading squad finished first among eight schools in the medium varsity mount division of the recent cheerleading competition on the Lagoon stage at Kennywood Park.

The 13 girls performed their routine in 2 minutes and 30 seconds. As a prize, they received a blue Kennywood Park directional sign to display at the high school.

The school district, Robert Morris University, the township and Mooncrest Neighborhood Association are collaborating to enter Mooncrest on the National Register of Historic Places.

Mooncrest is a seven-block community of nearly 400 brick row houses with around 1,300 residents on a bluff overlooking the Ohio River. Constructed in 1943, the neighborhood contained some of the more than 614,000 units built by the Federal Works Agency under Franklin Roosevelt's National Defense Housing Act.

Mooncrest housed Dravo Corp.'s employees supporting the World War II effort by building landing ship-tanks in Neville Island shipyards.

After the war, the U.S. Air Force opened Mooncrest to families from a local base and in 1958, the row houses were sold to private developers, who sold the units.

The neighborhood worsened and after years of neglect by some absentee landlords, it is being revitalized by Mooncrest Neighborhood Association and programs by the Felician Sisters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.

With few other World War II defense housing neighborhoods remaining, preserving Mooncrest by adding it to the register that lists significant historic properties is vital, says John McCarthy, Robert Morris University assistant professor of history.

Grant applications for $10,000 to $20,000 to offset the costs of applying to the National Register will be submitted to the U.S. Department of the Interior in December.

• Students excelled on Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests in 2007-08 and math, reading and writing proficiency rose throughout the district.

Every building made Adequate Yearly Progress and students achieving advanced and proficient reading requirements improved 3.1 percent, advanced and proficient math requirements climbed 2.1 percent and advanced and proficient writing requirements jumped 1.3 percent over the previous year.

Nearly 86 percent of Moon Area students scored proficient and higher in reading, 85.1 percent reached proficient or higher in writing and 83.8 achieved proficient or higher in math.

Middle school scores improved 4.1 percent in math and 3.8 percent in reading. The previous year, the middle school was given warning status -- one step below AYP -- with a possibility of dropping to school improvement status, prompting the district to begin intervention and online remediation programs.

The same efforts behind those improvements will be implemented throughout the middle school curriculum this school year, said Jeffrey Zollars, Moon Area curriculum director.

Study Island, an online tool, will be used in sixth-grade language arts classrooms and during seventh and eighth-grade computer classes. Measuring Up, a workbook, will become part of sixth, seventh and eighth-grade language arts and math curriculums. And, an after-school program will continue.

The second annual Lion Pride Day will feature players and coaches from the sports teams and the Little Green Machine marching band from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday in the high school stadium.

There will be games, activities, a dunk tank, bingo and food from local vendors. The parade of athletes, led by the Little Green Machine, including alumni, will begin at 8.

The evening concludes with a fireworks display at dusk. The event is free. For information, visit www.southfayette.org.

The Lion Pride Organization was formed last year to combine the work of the athletic organizations and Little Green Machine marching band to promote school community spirit and pride.