Education category, Page 73
Grove City College Department of Music to play through pandemic
At Grove City College, not even a pandemic can stop the music. The school’s marching band, concert band, orchestra and choirs are ready to start a new year, with new covid-19 guidelines in place. The Wolverine Marching Band launched its annual band camp this week, forging ahead despite a postponed...
Educators hope to attract more adult students to free machining coursesVideo
When Ken Pedder was in high school, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do as a career. “I really had no direction or plans,” Pedder said. Eventually, he applied to Central Westmoreland Career & Technology Center. He was looking to follow somewhat in the footsteps of his father, a...
School districts tweak reopening plans again to require full-time mask use
Districts across the region once again are amending reopening plans after the state released additional guidance this week. Students attending in-person classes are now required to wear face coverings at all times while in school with few exceptions, according to the state education and health departments. The changes are based...
2 Pitt students test positive for covid-19
Two University of Pittsburgh students tested positive for covid-19 in the school’s first round of surveillance testing, according to data released by the university. The university had announced it would choose students at random to participate in the self-administered testing. In the first round of testing conducted Aug. 12-13 as...
Virtual teaching: Be improvisational, engage students, experts say
As teachers get ready to return to a school format in which many will have to do virtual instruction, area experts in online teaching offer some advice. Connect with students, offer rigorous instruction, be a bit improvisational and refrain from simply providing students at home with the same lesson as...
Officials left wondering how many students will choose charter schools
School districts face a daunting future as they prepare for several possible scenarios for the coming year. But one looming question remains largely unanswered — how many students will switch to out-of-district cyber charter schools that have impacted school budgets for years? Surveys sent to families as reopening plans were...
Allegheny College finishes fundraising campaign with $202 million
Allegheny College has raised more than $202 million, concluding a five-year-long fundraising campaign and setting a record as the college’s largest fundraising campaign ever. The campaign, called “Our Allegheny: Our Third Century Quest,” was officially launched during the college’s bicentennial celebration in 2015 with a goal of raising $200 million....
Penn-Trafford school staffer tests positive for covid-19
A Penn-Trafford School District staff member has tested positive for covid-19, district officials announced Friday. The staff member had been in close contact with other staffers, district Superintendent Matthew Harris said in a notice posted on the district website. “As soon as we became aware of the positive case, we...
Diocese of Pittsburgh to delay elementary school reopening
The first day of elementary school for the Diocese of Pittsburgh will be Tuesday, Sept. 8, school administrators announced . The diocese said the change is in response to some elementary school teachers requesting more time to implement new health and safety protocols. High schools in the diocese will reopen...
Penn Hills School District approves reopening plan, moves start date to Sept. 8
Penn Hills School District officials unanimously approved their reopening plan Wednesday night and pushed back the start of the upcoming school year. The reopening plan includes hybrid learning as well as an online option for families not confident just yet with sending their children back into the buildings during the...
Point Park University implements new safety measures for fall reopeningVideo
Point Park University’s plans for reopening include thorough signage, capacity limits in rooms and elevators and a lot of Plexiglas. As students prepare to return to campus this fall, university leaders have implemented a variety of new measures to promote social distancing, mask-wearing and other safety protocols to prevent the...
Mt. Pleasant PTO hoping to buy $40,000 in air-conditioning units for elementary buildings
Almost every child wants to look cool when they go back to school. In Mt. Pleasant Area School District, parent-teacher organization members want children to feel cool as well. The group hopes district officials will allow them to buy about $40,000 worth of portable air-conditioning units for its elementary schools,...
School reopening plans could change multiple times prior to first day
Weeks before students are expected to return to school, some districts are scrapping reopening plans in an effort to match state guidance and to account for spikes in coronavirus cases. At least two area districts, Franklin Regional and Bethel Park, drastically altered health and safety plans school leaders worked on...
Hempfield approves reopening plans with phasesVideo
After months of work, Hempfield leaders approved a health and safety plan that will welcome students back through a blended approach. On Monday, board members unanimously approved the plan, which will bring back students in a phased approach starting Aug. 27. An initial phase has students following a staggered schedule...
Community college leaders tout cost advantages as 4-year schools go online
As families weigh the rapidly evolving landscape at colleges across the state, officials at Pennsylvania’s 14 community colleges say they are ready to accommodate students faced with last-minute decisions about the fall semester. “We estimate a student could save as much as $20,000 on the cost of an education if...
Western Pa. colleges awarded federal funds to underwrite reopening costs
Seven local colleges and trade schools were awarded more than $900,000 in federal grants to help underwrite public health and safety plans for reopening shuttered campuses. The grants that flowed through the state are part of a $28 million pool of federal CARES Act money state officials set aside to...
Pa. leaders tell schools to be consistent but flexible in reopening plans, teaching methods
As schools prepare to resume teaching, the leaders of Pennsylvania’s health and education departments on Monday said districts should be consistent in approach but flexible in how they educate students. A spike in covid-19 cases in a county may require districts to change how they plan to teach students, said...
Trade schools offer training in high-demand, essential careersVideo
Candace Carlton recently earned a massage therapy license. Unfortunately, the past six months have made it tough to put it to use. “That doesn’t do too well during a pandemic,” Carlton said. The prospect of going back to school also is challenging, given that school districts, colleges and education centers...
Schools face major virus test as students return to classroom
Reopening schools is easy. Keeping them open will be the hard part. As educators prepare to welcome students back to class for the first time in months, schools’ ability to quickly identify and contain coronavirus outbreaks before they get out of hand will be put to the test in thousands...
Students’ college plans change as virus drives changes on campus
When Ethan Wyman graduated from Fox Chapel Area High School a semester early last winter, his plans were pretty much set. The O’Hara Township teen would keep working at Giant Eagle and then head to the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg campus this fall. He and his family liked the...
Report: State hotline fielding more calls about student suicide, self-harm concerns
Reports of suicidal or self-harming thoughts by Pennsylvania students reported to the state’s Safe2Say Something tip line increased after schools shut down in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to an analysis by Attorney General Josh Shapiro. Between July 2019 and March 13, 17% of all tips received by...
Westmoreland Academy enrolling students; Hempfield school to start Aug. 27
The Westmoreland Christian Academy, a private interdenominational Christian school in Hempfield, is enrolling students and plans to reopen on Aug. 24, said the school’s administrator. The school, which features a Bible-based curriculum, had about 30 students in kindergarten through 12th grade last year, said Justin Tomson, middle school and high...
Pittsburgh Promise offering gap year for students during pandemic
The Pittsburgh Promise will offer a gap year for recipients affected by the covid-19 pandemic, the organization announced Thursday. Pittsburgh Public Schools students who graduated high school from 2017 through 2020 will have five years — rather than the usual four — to utilize their scholarship award. “We know that...
Pitt to launch study of medical marijuana use to ease pain in sickle cell patients
Finding a way to use medical marijuana to treat sickle cell anemia will be the focus of a $3 million research program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. It is part of a 10-year agreement with Goodblend Pennsylvania LLC, Pitt’s new affiliate in medical marijuana research. State officials...
Hempfield Area names new assistant superintendent of elementary education
Hempfield Area School District has a new assistant superintendent for the 2020-21 school year. Kimberlie Rieffannacht was approved unanimously by the school board this week for the assistant superintendent of elementary education position. The job was previously held by Matthew Conner who was named assistant superintendent for secondary education last...
