Education category, Page 23
IUP advances toward medical school opening, calls FAFSA mess ‘a debacle’
What would be this state’s first college of osteopathic medicine on a public university campus is advancing toward a possible fall 2027 opening, Indiana University of Pennsylvania President Michael Driscoll says. But as the 2024-25 academic year begins, a more immediate concern exists over IUP’s likely fall enrollment — uncertainty...
Carnegie Mellon restricts protests, demonstrations in updated policy
Protests, rallies and other expressive events at Carnegie Mellon University with 25 or more participants must be registered in advance or officials may prevent or disband the gathering and weigh sanctions against its organizers. The language comes from an updated policy on such demonstrations that senior leaders notified campus of...
Schools are competing with cellphones. Here’s how they think they could win
Isabella Pires first noticed what she calls the “gradual apathy pandemic” in eighth grade. Only a handful of classmates registered for service projects she helped organize at her Massachusetts school. Even fewer actually showed up. When she got to high school last fall, Isabella found the problem was even worse:...
Greater Latrobe teacher introduces junior high students to drone career options
Future graduates of Greater Latrobe School District may one day be providing an eagle eye’s view of crop fields for a farmer, real estate for a surveying firm or power lines for a utility company. “There is a high demand for drone pilots in many different disciplines,” said Greater Latrobe...
Westmoreland County recognizes paraeducator as she pursues teaching certificate in pilot program
After more than three decades working as a paraeducator in Westmoreland County, Terri Pajak’s favorite part of the job is watching her students grow. Approaching her fourth year working at Greensburg’s partial mental health hospitalization program, Pajak fills in any needs her middle and high school students may have —...
Outgoing Pa. state system chancellor Greenstein reflects on achievements and challenges
Months after becoming chancellor of Pennsylvania’s state-owned universities, Daniel Greenstein shared an ambitious goal for a system already underfunded and headed toward controversial campus mergers and spending cuts. “In a transformed system — a sharing system — every student on every campus has access to the full breadth of academic...
Dartmouth basketball players union accuses school of unfair labor practices over refusal to bargain
The union representing the Dartmouth men’s basketball team filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the Ivy League school on Wednesday because it has refused to negotiate with the players on a collective bargaining agreement. Service Employees International Union Local 560, which already represents some other workers at the Hanover,...
GOP lawmakers praise University of Kentucky for removing Office of Institutional Diversity
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Republican lawmakers who sponsored anti-DEI bills earlier this year are praising the University of Kentucky for deciding to eliminate its Office of Institutional Diversity. The GOP-controlled state legislature this spring tried but failed to pass bills targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs — commonly referred to as...
Greensburg diocese’s Catholic schools start year with building upgrades, new programs
With air conditioning units installed, security upgrades completed and a plan in place to deepen students’ faith education, Greensburg Central Catholic High School is ready to welcome students back to its halls Wednesday. For Superintendent Nancy Rottler, there is no time like the present to be a student at Greensburg...
Pittsburghers’ English tutoring helps them connect with immigrants settling in region
When Eliane Totti’s stomach ached in her native Brazil, she’d take pineapple, collard greens, lemon and ginger from the homeopathic shop she ran four hours north of Sao Paulo and whip up a juice. The businesswoman learned more about American healthcare after immigrating to Mt. Lebanon two years ago. She’s...
Oakland bustling as Pitt, Carnegie Mellon students move in
Brand-new pillows still in their packaging, bulky room fans and other poundage piled into overburdened moving carts explained the frazzled looks on some entering dorms at the University of Pittsburgh on Monday. Then there was Devin Knause, 17, a first-year student from Tenafly, N.J., who arrived outside Litchfield Tower A...
‘History in the making’: PennWest professor sends students to political conventions
Sydney Speicher, a rising senior at Pennsylvania Western University, rode an overnight Amtrak train to Chicago so she could spend this week living a political science major’s dream. There’s no guarantee Speicher, 22, of Midway will witness a major candidate’s speech up close, just because she’s earning academic credit by...
Millions of kids are still skipping school. Could the answer be recess — and a little cash?
MEDFORD, Mass. — Flerentin “Flex” Jean-Baptiste missed so much school he had to repeat his freshman year at Medford High outside Boston. At school, “you do the same thing every day,” said Jean-Baptiste, who was absent 30 days his first year. “That gets very frustrating.” Then his principal did something...
Firm suggests closing 16 Pittsburgh Public schools, opening 2 new ones
Pittsburgh Public Schools officials have received recommendations to close more than a dozen schools and potentially merge Carrick and Brashear high schools. A consultant hired by the district said, through a facility use report, that the urban school system should close 16 of its schools and open two new ones,...
Student loan repayments on pause for some as court fight continues over federal debt relief program
Millions of student borrowers facing college loan payments are getting temporary relief following court decisions this summer blocking implementation of the federal debt relief program known as SAVE. Their payments and any interest are effectively paused — at least while a court fight plays out between Republican-led states suing to...
Will Israeli-Palestinian conflict protests, encampments resurface when college resumes?
Alon Leshem, a rising senior at the University of Pittsburgh, is energized to finish his computer science degree and to take secondary field of study courses involving Israel and Palestine. But, like other Jewish students at Pitt and elsewhere, his enthusiasm is tempered by knowing fall could bring renewed pro-Palestinian...
State funding to bolster special educator workforce benefits Western Pa. schools
As the state Department of Education pushes out nearly $1.5 million in grants to help grow the special educator workforce, Western Pennsylvania schools are taking advantage. More than 75 universities and K-12 schools will benefit from the grants — including Bethel Park, Mt. Pleasant Area, Plum and Pittsburgh Public school...
FAFSA forms again delayed for many after last year’s troubled rollout
As fall classes approach, a problem-plagued rollout of the federal government’s revised FAFSA — the form needed to secure financial aid — could pose more trouble and slow some college students’ ability to pay bills. The latest glitch is being felt as the U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday announced...
Grove City College president to retire
Paul J. McNulty, whose tenure as Grove City College president has seen campus growth on multiple fronts, will retire after the 2024-25 academic year, school officials announced Tuesday. McNulty, a 1980 graduate of the Christian liberal arts and sciences college, returned to his alma mater after a 30-year law career...
Penn State fraternity brothers plead guilty in student’s 2017 hazing death
Two former Penn State University students and fraternity leaders pleaded guilty to their roles in the 2017 hazing death of Timothy Piazza, the Attorney General’s Office announced on Tuesday. Brendan Young, 28, and Daniel Casey, 27, pleaded guilty this week to 14 counts of hazing and one count of reckless...
6,300 University of Pittsburgh staffers gain chance to join Steelworkers union
For University of Pittsburgh staff who watched as 3,400 faculty colleagues gained collective bargaining rights a few years back, what’s coming in the mail soon represents their own moment of choice. The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board will oversee another union election at Pitt. This time, it’s for 6,300 staff. Ballots...
Chancellor of State System of Higher Education announces resignation
Daniel Greenstein, chancellor of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education, is resigning this fall after a transformative six-year tenure that saw controversial campus mergers, a historic jump in state university funding, and no tuition increases. Greenstein notified the system’s Board of Governors on Monday of his intention to leave, effective...
Hempfield Area to spend $111K for 6 weapons detectors for random student screening
Hempfield Area School District plans to start this school year with a new weapons detection system. At a school board meeting Monday, the board decided on buying six OpenGate weapons detectors for a little under $111,300. The machines cost about $18,000 each and were tested by the district earlier this...
New PennWest president reveals ‘secret sauce’ of W.Pa.’s second largest public university
Pennsylvania Western University’s new president had this to say Monday about the struggles preceding him to merge three century-and-a-half-old institutions with proud histories into one: “Integration is really tough,” Jon Anderson said. But the 50-year-old educator from Utah, who became PennWest’s chief executive on July 1, nonetheless is bullish on...
Franklin Regional sees benefits of ‘Parents as Allies’ program
Members of a family that just moved to the Franklin Regional School District from overseas might not have the confidence to get up at a school board meeting and ask a question. But get a few of those families together for dinner at a local Italian restaurant, and conversations start...
