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 Back To School - South
Baldwin-Whitehall The cafeteria has been renovated with a food court and after-school snack area. Dual dining halls are equipped with audio, video and data systems for in-service training, meeting and classroom use. Conversion of the former high school library to a full media center continues with technology access and the latest electronic card catalog access system replacing a text version. There will be 16 student work stations. Two new computer labs will have teacher-supervised Internet access. There will be instructional software especially for foreign language tutorials. Plans call for the addition of a high school video lab similar to one at the middle school.
Bethel Park There will be two new faces and 174 new computers for students and staff to use when classes start at the Bethel Park School District. Dorothy Stark, a former elementary school principal in the Trinity Area School District in Washington County, will be the new principal at William Penn Elementary. Nancy Rose, a former middle school principal at the Bethlehem-Center School District also in Washington County, is the new principal at Independence Middle School. New computers include 14 in the chemistry and biology areas of the high school science building. Software would permit data to be collected from experiments as they take place and be displayed on a computer screen, said David Carbonara, director of data processing and technology. For example, students can use a thermometer attached to the computers to measure the temperature of material in a beaker with temperature changes plotted on a graph on the computer. Fourteen new microcomputers in the high school math lab will allow students to see geometry in motion by allowing them to manipulate geometric designs. "They could take a triangle and reconfigure (it) thousands of times and see that its angles will always add up to 180 degrees," Carbonara said. New computers in the high school guidance office will allow counselors and students to obtain information about careers and matching skills. All school libraries will have new microcomputers so students can search computerized card catalogs. There will be 32 at the high school, 20 at the middle school and five at each of the elementary schools. Even kindergarten pupils who can't read can use the computerized catalog, which also has an icon catalog of subjects from which the little ones can choose. In addition, the computers at the high school library will have Internet access for supervised student research. Principals and support staff also will receive new computers and e-mail capability. The district is considering opening e-mail accounts for students next year.
Brentwood School officials expect renovation of the middle school/high school to start in January. A new wing will include four science labs, 15 classrooms and two home economics rooms. The district is preparing to hire an assistant principal, a guidance counselor, a science teacher and a middle school teacher. School directors will meet soon with borough and county officials to decide on a financing option for the proposed Brentwood Town Center at the current location of the Brentwood-Whitehall Shopping Center and adjacent Brentwood Village.
Chartiers Valley Exterior sidewalks at the middle and high schools have been replaced and paving resealed. All secondary science labs have new work stations and casework that resist damage from chemicals. The press box at the high school stadium has been painted with the school's new logo, which features a CV mascot colt on a blue circle surrounded by the district's name in red letters. Ninety-five new computers, printers and work stations have been installed in middle and high school classrooms and the entire computer system upgraded. NetNanny, an Internet protection device, has been added to the primary school computer systems to detect and restrict the viewing of inappropriate web sites. McFee, a computer virus detection program, and the Netscape 3 web browser have been added to district computers. Teachers will be able to simplify their clerical tasks with GradeQuick, which permits the entry of individual grades, attendance and other student information in a confidential manner. All data located on a disc can be transferred to the teacher's classroom, another classroom or the teacher's home. The Student Nutrition Accounting Program, a debit card system implemented in 1995, has been upgraded to reflect special dietary information and students' account balances.
Clairton The school district moved from a seventh- and eighth-grade middle school to a fifth- through eighth-grade middle school. The first floor of the Clairton Education Center will house grades K to four, the second floor, grades five to eight, and the top floor, grades nine to 12. Susan Haun, formerly with the Bethel Park School District, was hired as assistant middle-high school principal to aid Dr. Joseph Carroll, as his duties as middle/high school principal expanded from last year's grades seven to 12 to this year's fifth to 12th. Two new computer labs will be in place by the start of school: one in the elementary grades, the other in the high school. High school students will no longer be allowed study halls. Each student will be registered instead for one or both new one-semester courses: Current Issues and The Law and You.
Duquesne Construction of the $14 million Duquesne Education Center has caused the late Sept. 14 start of classes. Superintendent Ronald Mento said a large part of the center should be completed by then, but some students may begin the school year in trailers or other buildings. The administration hopes the center is completed by the end of 1998. The building will contain state-of-the-art technology, including two computer labs for elementary and secondary students. Computer hook-ups for some classrooms will be in place by Sept. 14; all others will be connected by the end of 1998. The home economics classroom is computerized; the shop classroom will be computerized within a few months. The school-to-work program will include a new computer system in industrial arts, drawing designs and mechanical drawings, with offerings such as Careers With College, Careers Without College and 40 other items. New course offerings include black history, calculus and psychology.
Elizabeth Foward As the district's first technology director, Thomas Armbruster will be responsible for helping teachers integrate computers, video, Internet and other technology resources into the classrooms. Previously, he was an educational technology support specialist at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit. David A. Bowline, former dean of students at Thomas Jefferson High School, was hired as assistant high school principal. A new graduation requirement is for each senior to work under the direction of a faculty adviser and mentor knowledgeable in the career field or topic the student chooses. Mentors can be from the local, business, industrial or artistic community, from the vocational-technical school, or from the district's teaching staff. The requirement underscores the need for students to concentrate on the job market. All district elementary special education students will return to their home schools, as each of the five elementary schools will house special education classrooms. An emotional support class has been established for secondary students at the high school. A seventh- and eighth-grade coed soccer program will be started this year.
Keystone Oaks New computers are expanding teacher and student options in Keystone Oaks School District. Several computers were added to the high school library to allow access for up to 30 students at one time. Administrators hope the additional computers will encourage teachers to schedule class time in the library for research projects. Computer arts will be offered at the high school for the first time. The class will provide students historical knowledge of art and hands-on design using computers. Twenty computers also were purchased for the writing lab. Two new classes, introductory courses in health and human services and engineering, have been added at the high school level. The district also has made it mandatory for all freshmen to take a study skills class.
McKeesport Twenty-five of 27 teachers placed on furlough in June will return Aug. 31 to their classes in McKeesport Area School District. The layoffs were needed to help remedy a $4.6 million budget deficit. But a millage increase, coupled with teacher and administrative salary concessions, enabled the near-total call back. The district will introduce a K-8 integrated language arts curriculum. It incorporates reading, English, language, spelling and writing in thematic units. Previously, the subjects were taught separately with limited overlap. The goal is to promote consistent learning. Report cards will have a new look and be easier for parents to understand. Cards for second-graders will resemble those used for grades K-1. Instead of using a grading scale, the cards will use words such as "proficient," "developing," and "not yet achieved" to evaluate a child's progress. Cards for third through 12th grades will change from a point system to a straight percentage system. District students will no longer receive full days off during staff development. Instead, there will be eight two-hour school delays on the first Wednesday of each month, from October through May 1999. Since school start times vary by building, parents will be sent detailed monthly reminders. At the high school, new classes include theater arts, dance, music, academy arts and advanced computer usage. Also, North Hall has a new computer lab. Middle and senior high tutoring programs and the high school's travel and tourism and protective services programs have been eliminated. A math series, "Facts and Math," will be introduced in grades K-4. A gymnasium was added to White Oak Elementary School.
Mt. Lebanon Renovation of the middle schools and exodus of the sixth grade from the elementary level and seventh and eighth grades from the high school has led to lots of changes for students in the entire system. "This is the most dramatic change we've gone through in a decade," Superintendent Glenn Smartschan said. The high school can finally stretch out. District officials hope each teacher has his or her own classroom. The elementary schools will use extra space to expand computer labs. And some schools will generate income by renting extra space. The Kids R Us day care center at Hoover Elementary doubled its space and a new special education disability class will use space in Foster Elementary. K-6 students will have a new math program called "Math Central." Its introduction is unusual, Smartschan said, because most curriculum changes are phased in. This program will begin for all participating grades this year. Sixth-graders will be exposed to a foreign language and have counselors at their disposal. Middle school students will have sports and intramural programs.
Peters Township The district will spend $853,000 on technology this school year during installation of a wide area network. The program includes 48 computers and peripherals for the middle school computer labs and upgrades for the high school library station and computers at both McMurray and Pleasant Valley Elementary schools. Technology Director Dean Bouzos said, "With the implementation of the technology plan, we will afford students many opportunities and prepare them well for the future." High school students will be offered new math courses in academic statistics and advanced calculus. David Parry is the new assistant superintendent. A more strict school conduct policy has been adopted. Students who misbehave while wearing a uniform representing the school or while participating in a school activity - on or off school grounds - will be punished. Administrators will be afforded discretion in imposing penalties, but punishment could include removal from extracurricular activity. The district also will install camera boxes on several of the district's buses.
South Allegheny The district will formally establish a middle school in the junior-senior high school building in Liberty Borough. It sports a new roof and will be renamed South Allegheny Middle School/Senior High. Under the middle school concept, seventh- and eight-graders will be confined to portions of the first floor during a school day, which runs from 7:45 a.m. to 2:55 p.m. Ninth- through 12th grade classes will be held throughout the remainder of the building. They will start and end 15 minutes earlier than in lower grades. The two grade groups will have separate bus schedules. For seventh- and eighth-graders, new exploratory courses include French-Spanish and computer literacy. General music, previously an elective, will now be required. There will no longer be study halls. New seventh-grade courses include health and conflict resolution. Thomas Starmack, the high school's former acting dean, is now high school principal. Former secondary special education teacher Janet Sardon is acting middle school dean of students. Former secondary curriculum principal Michael Pietronigro is director of secondary education. Seven new teachers were hired. Of them, three are elementary instructors, three are secondary teachers and one is a middle school counselor and reading teacher. New computer labs are expected to be up and running at the middle school at all elementary buildings.
South Fayette For the first time, elementary, middle and high school students will follow separate schedules for school starts and dismissals. Kindergarten sessions will run from 9 to 11:40 a.m. and 12:50 to 3:35 p.m. Elementary students in grades 1 through 4 will be in school from 9 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. Bus departure will be 3:40 p.m. The middle school, consisting of grades 5 through 8, will be in session from 8:10 a.m. to 2:55 p.m. Bus departure will be 3 p.m. Grades 9 through 12 will be in school from 7:20 a.m. to 2 p.m. with bus departure at 2:05 p.m. The high school Honors Academy will be expanded to cover 11th-graders who enroll in AP English preparation and AP American history. A new school store students will be set up for the district's younger students. The store will be operated by sixth-graders and coordinated by the PTA. The district will have a permanent diving coach for the girls' and boys' swim teams and a third cheerleading squad (junior varsity) has been added. High school principal Terry Doran resigned to take a position with West Mifflin. His last day in South Fayette was Aug. 14.
South Park District officials plan to break ground for the elementary school complex this school year and see the project completed within two years. Computer labs at district schools will be updated as needed. The district is building a $54,770 press box at Eagle Stadium. Richard Bucchianeri, former middle school assistant principal, is the new director of educational services. He replaced Ed Moyer, who retired. Jennifer Montuoro replaced Bucchianeri as assistant principal. Holly Miller is the new principal at Broughton, Stewart and Library elementary schools.
Steel Valley Steel Valley's new outdoor environmental center is located between the high school and the district's administrative offices. The center will be used primarily by the science department and the Environmental Club. It has several benches under a covered, open-air shelter. Next to it is a pond stocked with fish, frogs, ducks, muskrats and turtles. The center is a product of months of work by students, administrators and volunteers from the area. It was made possible by a combination of funds from the school district, corporations, students and residents of Homestead, Munhall and West Homestead. Students also will have a new fitness center, the brainchild of Jack Garrity, physical education department chairman. It is located on the ground floor of the high/middle school building.
Upper St. Clair The district's $34 million high school renovation, which began last spring, will not be completed until the start of 2000. Students returning to the high school will find a renovated nutrition center. The Commons area, designated for student recreation, has been moved from the hallway outside the nutrition center to directly in front of it. Patricia Smith is the new acting principal at Eisenhower Elementary School. Principal Robert Broggi is on sabbaticalleave. District staff members have created a Crisis Manual, which gives instructions to faculty and administrators on handling building and student emergencies. The district also has formed a Crisis Response Team. Spanish will be added to the elementary curriculum for first- through third-grades. The district hopes to add the International Baccalaurate program to elementary and middle schools. Technology, volunteer services and curriculum will be compatible with international standards.
West Jefferson Hills The installation of 45 computers completed the final phase of the district's technology upgrade. The one computer classroom concept, which connects the teacher's computer to a large monitor in the front of the classroom, is being integrated into the curriculum in grades K through 12. Curriculum Director Lyn Logelin said the program will allow teachers to integrate technology into what they do every day. "We believe technology supports good teaching, rather than the other way around," Logelin said. One teacher in each building has been given extra training to serve as a support for other faculty interested in introducing computers into their teaching. Michael Cenna has been hired as district band director. He previously was the band director at Allegheny Valley School District. He replaces Robert Matchett, who resigned in June. A new assistant principal, Patty Smith, has also been hired at the high school.
West Mifflin Key changes at West Mifflin Area school district include 15 new teachers, a new Harcourt Brace & Glencoe math series with multimedia software, and intense training in school safety strategies. Superintendent Joseph C. Dimperio asks that students be patient with unavoidable construction inconveniences stemming from the $25.7 million high school renovation and expansion program. During construction, math classes for the most part will be held in six modular classrooms at the Commonwealth Avenue side of the building. The auditorium will not be available all year, so concerts and basketball games will be relocated to the middle school on Camp Hollow Road. Two technology labs will be added for business, math and science classes. A new research initiative in foreign language studies will include classes taught by district staff, and additional computer software. Middle school computer labs installed last year will be refined. Students in grades 1 through 6 will begin hands-on studies with the ASSET science initiative. Kindergarten teachers who attended Carnegie Science Center's "Box It Or Bag It Math" professional development program will incorporate its concepts into classroom studies. Back-to-school stats
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