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 Back to School - West New courses and classrooms, healthier but costlier lunches, ever-changing teachers, principals and dress codes. All of the above are what await pupils in the West suburbs as they return to public, Catholic and private school classes. Here's a back-to-school preview of the changes students face as they begin the final school year of the 1900s:
Canevin Catholic Each grade will have its separate first day of school beginning tomorrow when only seniors come to classes. Juniors will report by themselves Friday and sophomores will be the only ones in school Monday. Freshmen and their parents will have an orientation at 6:30 p.m. Monday with students and parents touring the school with student council leaders during a simulated day. Only ninth-graders will go to school Tuesday. Classes begin for everyone next Wednesday.
Carlynton A stricter dress code will be in effect for all students when classes resume next Wednesday. Unacceptable school attire will include baggy pants, jogging suits, camouflage pants and very short clothing. Also prohibited will be windbreakers, hooded jackets, dog collars and chains. A new math curriculum will be instituted for the elementary grades. Also, school crossing zones will be in effect at both
Carnegie Elementary and Crafton Elementary Lasur Athletic Services Inc. is rehabilitating the high school track. Completion is expected in mid-September. Lasur has a 10-year contract with the district to maintain the track. A new field house that will contain dressing rooms for both home and visiting teams is under construction at the Honus Wagner Field, which is located adjacent to Carnegie Elementary. The new building is expected to be open in October.
Chartiers Valley Students returning tomorrow will find exterior sidewalks at the high and middle schools have been replaced and the paving resealed. All secondary science labs have new work stations 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 high and middle 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. Also, 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 more efficient, confidential manner. All data, located on a disk, then 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.
Cornell Students in Coraopolis and Neville Island will report to classes Tuesday. The district has implemented a new policy to deter terroristic threats that could force emergency evacuations of the building or disrupt the school day. Under the policy, which will be distributed to all students the first day of school, the student or students would be suspended, and the principal would notify the superintendent. The superintendent then would report the incident to police and ultimately recommend expulsion to school directors.
Elizabeth Seton Classes for students in grades preschool through eight begin tomorrow at the school in Sheraden. Youngsters from kindergarten through sixth grade this year will participate in the Police and Communities Together arts program. As part of the PACT effort, students will invite residents of West End neighborhoods to attend plays and musicals at the school. Youngsters also will work on service projects. During one activity, they'll make baskets and fill them with grooming aids for nursing home residents. Money raised by police will help fund the program. "Bon jour" and "merci" will be heard more often in the classrooms at Elizabeth Seton now that a greater number of students are learning French. The school has expanded its language program to include grades four through eight. Formerly, only sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders were given instruction in French.
Holy Child The Bridgeville school this year celebrates its 50th anniversary of educating children. It was founded in 1948 as St. Agatha School and kept that name until 1994, when it was renamed as part of a diocesan parish reorganization. Holy Child administrators would like to hear from alumni to find out where they are and how their early education helped them. Classes for current students begin with half-day sessions tomorrow and Friday for grades one through eight. On Monday, school begins in earnest with full days for preschool through eighth grade. Soccer players will be happy to know Holy Child has joined the coed diocesan soccer league. Students active in the chess group will get tips from members of the Pittsburgh Chess Club, who will visit the school to offer instruction. Holy Child is awaiting delivery of five cellular telephones from AT&T. AT&T is providing the phones as part of a safety in schools program. Teachers and support staff in various areas of the building and on bus and playground duty will be equipped with phones for instant communication with other school departments.
Holy Trinity When children report for half days of classes tomorrow and Friday, they will meet their new principal, Sister Mary Elizabeth Schrei. She succeeds Sister Mary Ann Lostoski who has transferred to SS. Peter and Paul in Beaver. Morning kindergarten pupils will report to this Robinson school at 8:40 a.m. tomorrow and afternoon pupils will report at 8:40 a.m. Friday. Regular schedules begin Monday. Orientations for parents of 4-year-old preschoolers will be 9:30 a.m. Monday for morning session children and 12:30 p.m. for afternoon session children. Preschool, which will be offered Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, begins Tuesday. Orientations for parents of 3-year-olds will be 9:30 a.m. Friday. Preschool, which will be offered Thursday and Friday, will begin Sept. 3. All preschool classes will be conducted in the former convent building. A second eighth-grade class has been added to accommodate higher enrollment, giving the school double classes for every grade except seventh.
Montour Forest Grove Elementary School, which was evacuated April 23 after the detection of high levels of leaking underground natural gas, will reopen with the rest of the district's schools Monday. In addition, the district will place 113 computers in the high school. The typing room has been replaced with 30 computers, and three computer labs have been upgraded. About 1,240 students are enrolled in computer or related courses. Next year, all juniors will be required to take a computer course.
Moon Area When students return to school Monday they will be paying higher prices for lunch. Lunches will cost $2.35, an increase of 60 cents. A la carte items will increase an average of 10 percent. The higher prices are in response to the food service budget deficit. Also, the breakfast program at Allard Elementary School will be discontinued this year in another cost-cutting move. About 500 computers will be installed throughout the district this year under a $700,000 program.
Our Lady of Fatima A new principal will be on board when students report Monday to Our Lady of Fatima campus in Hopewell. Preschool begins next Wednesday. Linda Liberatore, a teacher for 22 years at St. John the Baptist School in Monaca, will be in charge. Liberatore said "the time was right" to make the transition from teacher to administrator and that the people at Our Lady of Fatima have been "warm and welcoming." Seventh-grade classes, which were discontinued for several years, resume this term. The school next year expects to reinstate eighth-grade sessions, Liberatore said.
Our Lady of Grace Students in grades one through eight head back to the Scott school today. Morning kindergarten students start classes tomorrow and afternoon kindergarten pupils begin Friday. Staff members at the Scott school were scheduled for an in-service day Monday to discuss school violence and conflict resolution. "Get Real About Violence" emphasized taking attention away from bullies or troublemakers and focusing on bystanders, school officials said. Students aware of violent situations will be instructed to discuss the matter with adults. School officials said they want children to be safe from physical violence, but also from emotional violence such as bullying or teasing. Plans are in the works for new equipment and renovations to the science laboratory. The work will be done with a $75,000 grant from a private foundation.
Lady of Sacred Heart New pupils will report tomorrow and the rest of the student body will report Friday to the Catholic high school in Moon. A biophysics of sports course, which will be advanced physics with a recreational twist, has been added to the curriculum for seniors. The course will replace advanced physics. Also, information/video presentations will be a new course for students in 10th to 12th grades.
Rhema Christian Service projects take high priority at Rhema school in Moon, with students preparing for a trip to West Virginia and a visit to a local nursing home. Today is the first day of school for grades preschool through eight. Seventh- and eighth-graders are getting ready for an October trip to West Virginia, where they'll help build houses through the Habitat for Humanity program. Some staff members and parents will accompany the group. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the school's participation with Habitat for Humanity. Fifth-graders will prepare for the first of monthly visits to an area nursing home.
Robinson Christian A grand celebration is planned for May to mark the 20th anniversary of the school's founding, and various programs will be held throughout the year to pay honor to its history. Alumni and founders will be invited to visit the school, and a tree planting will be held on campus to memorialize the anniversary. Seventh- and eighth-graders will participate in a new program, studying the French language, culture and history, including France's role during World War II. Students will be in charge of updating information on the school's Web site. School artwork will be featured as part of the Internet display. Classes begin today for grades kindergarten through eight. Preschool sessions for 3-year-olds begin Sept. 8. Four-year-olds start Sept. 9. This year, the school has added an afternoon preschool class. Previously, only morning sessions were held.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Classes resume with half-day sessions tomorrow and Friday. Preschool classes at this Carnegie school for 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds start Sept. 9. First-graders will have Cathleen Priddy as their new teacher. Projected enrollment in the Catholic elementary school will be 109, or an increase of nine pupils from last year. There will be more children in pre-school this year, too.
St. John of God The school year opens with half-day classes today and tomorrow in the Mother of Sorrows CCD center in Stowe. Classes have been moved from the former McKees Rocks Catholic and St. Francis de Sales building in McKees Rocks as a cost-saving measure. The Very Rev. Donald Wuerl, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, will bless the school in a few weeks. There will be numerous education programs introduced for children in grades one-eight. St. Joseph Classes begin with half-day sessions tomorrow and Friday for grades one-eight. Kindergarten pupils will report for a half day Monday. Crews spent the summer painting the library of the Catholic elementary school in Coraopolis. A "Windows on Math" video disk program will be offered to grades kindergarten through five. Teachers will use a special video player for the course, which will serve as an instructional aid. Teachers will use bar code readers in presenting their math lessons with the electronic program. Lunch prices will increase by 50 cents to $7.50 per week.
St. Margaret of Scotland The Green Tree School opens today with a half-day session. Each school day will begin and end 10 minutes later to accommodate busing schedules. Classes will begin at 8:45 and end at 3:10. A Spanish program will be introduced three times a week for grades six-eight, twice for fifth grade and for two 20-minute periods for grades kindergarten-four. Principal Cecilia Grandillo said the program will introduce children to non-English-speaking cultures. "It will help them foster a sense of humanity and friendship and heighten awareness of one's own language," Grandillo said. "Research shows that learning a foreign language seems to have impact on the academic achievements of students." Grandillo said Spanish was selected because "there are many Spanish-speaking people and the students might have an opportunity to use that language." St. Philip Pupils will report for half-day sessions tomorrow and Friday at this Crafton school. Maintenance crews have been stringing cable into classrooms so computers can be connected to the Internet. Each room will be online this year. Three new teachers have joined the St. Philip staff: Kimberly Baysek in first grade, Eric Jacoby in third grade and Christina McDowell in fourth grade. Enrollment for grades kindergarten through eighth has increased by 12 to 345. An additional seventh-grade class has been established, leaving the eighth grade as the only level with one class. The 4-year-old preschool program has expanded to include a new afternoon class, which complements the two morning groups and two 3-year-old groups.
SS. Simon & Jude Physical fitness programs have been updated at SS. Simon & Jude this term. The Scott school has added cross country-track to its sports programs, and, for the first time, the YMCA will come in to supervise gym classes. Students in grades five through eight were scheduled to be in classes Monday and yesterday. They'll then be off until Friday. Pupils in grades one through four will be in session today and tomorrow . Beginning on Friday, all students in grades one through eight will report to school. Kindergarten youngsters will have their first day Monday. Preschoolers will start Tuesday.
South Fayette For the first time, elementary, middle and high school students who returned to classes yesterday followed separate schedules for school starts and dismissals. Kindergarten sessions run from 9-11:40 a.m. and 12:50-3:35 p.m. while elementary students in grades one-four are in school from 9 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. Bus departure is 3:40 p.m. The middle school, consisting of grades five-eight, is in session from 8:10 a.m. to 2:55 p.m. Bus departure is 3 p.m. Grades nine-12 are in school from 7:20 a.m. to 2 p.m., with bus departure at 2:05 p.m. The high school Honors Academy that was implemented last year has been expanded to grade 11 students who enroll in AP English preparation and AP American history. A new school store for elementary students has opened for the district's younger students. The store is operated by sixth-graders and coordinated by the PTA. The district has a permanent diving coach for the girls' and boys' swim teams and a third cheerleading squad (junior varsity) has been added.
Sto-Rox The district's 1-year-old elementary school already is overcrowded, so temporary classrooms will be opened today for the first day of school. Two modular buildings will provide 10 additional classrooms to alleviate overcrowding. The air-conditioned, carpeted and paneled rooms will be occupied by the third grade and special education students. Curtis Kamenski is the new technology coordinator with the goal of increasing student access to computers and the Internet. Joe Herzing has been hired as home and school visitor to work with families and the school in resolving attendance problems. The goal is to reduce absenteeism by 2 percent to 4 percent.
West Allegheny Classes begin today in the district, and all first-graders will be served free lunches through Sept. 4 to ease the transition for pupils from their half days in kindergarten. Lunch prices are $1.30 for elementary students, $1.45 for secondary students and $2.50 for adults. The district has returned to managing its own cafeteria, and Andrew Adams has been hired as food service director. Adams said the district will shift from fast food to home-cooked items prepared on site. He said the change will give students healthier and more varied menus. Parents are reminded to call the school to report the absence of their child. After attendance is recorded each day, the list of absentees is matched with the list of students whose absence has been reported by a parent. The math and communications curricula have been updated to align with new state standards. Despite enrollments of fewer than 10 students per class, the district will offer these advanced classes: Statistics, Calculus II and Accounting II
This story was compiled by staff writers Ken Fisher and Grace Rishell and Tri-State News correspondents Carole Gilbert Brown and Lynn Shea.
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