Gateway School District prepares for events in October

Gateway students made appearances at the Sept. 20 school board meeting to update the community on events at the high school.

Student government representative Lucy Miller attended the meeting to announce happenings in October.

• Gateway High School career fair will take place Oct. 12.

• Preliminary SATs are scheduled for Oct. 25 for 10th-graders. Students in 11th grade are able to take a second PSAT on the same day but will have to schedule ahead of time with their guidance counselors.

• The Student Government Association Homecoming carnival will take place on Oct. 6.

• The Homecoming dance will be on Oct. 8 in the high school’s auxiliary gym.

• There will be a six- to eight-week fall elementary Spanish boot camp, taught by high school students in Spanish IV and V classes.

Some members of the Moss Side Middle School Student Help Desk attended the meeting with their advisers, Jesse Smillie and Jenn Czyzewski. They gave an update on their progress with their program and their hopes for its expansion.

The group began with a nine-week summer program, to assist with minor technology issues, that the participants decided to extend into the school year. Thus far, students have worked on approximately 2,100 devices.

Help desk members work during first, sixth or seventh period, depending on their class schedule. Advisers are hoping to expand the program to seventh grade students and as they continue through the grades and for students to take their work to the high school.

Pam Bodziok, a teen librarian at Monroeville Public Library, took to the school board podium to speak about the library’s teen after-school program. High schoolers are welcome to go to the library to de-stress, relax and focus on social engagement.

The program started in 2017, took a hiatus due to Covid-19 and is starting again this school year. The library will be opening up the program to include seventh- and eighth-grade students since they are on the same campus during Gateway Middle School renovations.

In other business:

• The board reviewed this school year’s bullying policy. A portion of students from the elementary, middle and high school took a voluntary survey,the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire, regarding experiences with bullying.

The Olweus test revealed that the majority of bullying is verbal and occurs in the hallways and classrooms. This information will be used to assist staff in remaining vigilant throughout their day to prevent any mistreatment.

There will be roundtable discussions held at the elementary schools to further discuss the matter. Evergreen Elementary will host on Oct. 26, Cleveland Steward Elementary on Nov. 30 and Ramsey Elementary on Jan. 25.

• The board approved the minutes of its August meeting and bills for September. There were seven resignations approved from Moss Side Middle School, Gateway High School and Evergreen Elementary School. Twelve transfers within the district were also approved.

Nine event workers and two cyber facilitators were taken on for the 2022-23 school year. A number of supplemental contracts were approved for district organizations. Ten volunteers were approved for work in the district, and one volunteer coach was approved for middle school football.

• Dr. Anthony Kane Jr. has been contracted as an independent consultant for diversity, equity and inclusion services. He will be partnering with the district to ensure that the district creates a welcoming space for each of its members.

Kane is the dean of students at Saint Vincent College. He previously worked at Duquesne University as the head director of Diversity and Student Inclusion. He held this position for two years, with an additional seven-year history of employment at the university. He intends to use his years of experience studying D-E-I methods to help Gateway utilize its existing resources, or adding needed resources in order to accomplish equity within the district.

• The district will be collaborating with Indiana University of Pennsylvania to design a Teaching Academy to address the national teacher shortage. The project will help IUP students get early field training and complete their residency year with Gateway, and the district will be able to welcome teacher candidates of all levels of field experiences into classrooms.

• A list of agreements was approved, including facility uses, a student teacher affiliation agreement with Slippery Rock, and Olweus training and consulting. Police supervisors and assistant police affiliated with Gateway schools received an hourly rate increase.

• A new list of change orders for the Gateway Middle School renovation project was approved at the approximate amount of $6,500. The total net change orders for the project amount to a little over $2.1 million.

The board also awarded a bid of $152,200 to J.M. Paving Inc. for a paving project at University Park and Ramsey Elementary Schools. Board members will be discussing different options for pricing and designs for the installation of a new softball and baseball scoreboard at Gateway High School.

For more information regarding upcoming events in the Gateway district, visit www.gatewayk12.org.