Education category, Page 3
Greensburg Salem discusses adjustment to board meeting schedule
Greensburg Salem school board could streamline its monthly meeting schedule. The board meets twice a month — once to discuss agenda items and again to vote. Three committees — facilities, finance and education — each have their own meetings, typically once a month. Under a proposal by Superintendent Ken Bissell,...
New literacy program at Pittsburgh Weil targets economically disadvantaged students
Educators at Pittsburgh Weil PreK-5 say a new literacy initiative will improve academics at the Hill District school. Weil teachers have implemented the enhanced core reading instruction program for students in kindergarten through second grades. “It takes a curriculum and enhances it,” said Principal Kira Henderson. “It provides teachers with...
Woodland Hills places superintendent on unpaid leave
Woodland Hills Superintendent Joe Maluchnik was placed on unpaid leave Wednesday following an internal district investigation, the latest in ongoing controversy in the district. The decision comes as the district has faced allegations of misuse of funds and questions surrounding Maluchnik’s leave. School board members Karen Lyons, Melanie Timbers, Laura...
Demand for student teacher stipends outstrips supply as Shapiro proposes boosting program
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG — A stipend aimed at getting more student teachers into Pennsylvania schools and easing the commonwealth’s educator shortage...
Don’t go there: Independence Health thoracic surgeon warns Hempfield Area students about vaping
Independence Health thoracic surgeon Michael Szwerc asked Hempfield Area’s ninth grade students to raise their hand if they believe vaping is dangerous. Nearly all 360 students seated in the Harrold School auditorium Wednesday afternoon shot a hand into the air. Szwerc, who has practiced thoracic surgery for 26 years, has...
‘Brilliant, bold and unapologetically proud’: Senior at Pittsburgh Obama leads, gives back to community
Zaire Howze-Jetter had previously told people he’d study veterinary sciences upon his graduation this spring from Pittsburgh’s Obama Academy. “That was just something I told people, because I didn’t really know,” said Howze-Jetter, 17. But as he progressed at the East Liberty magnet school, excelling in academics, he began to...
Reading nooks surface across Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh locations
The Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh launched a new initiative designed to support language skills and emotional regulation in children. The Early Literacy Initiative — launched during National Read Across America week and led by pediatrician Johanna Vidal-Phelan, who is The Children’s Institute’s president and CEO — added nine reading nooks...
Penn-Trafford to spend nearly $667K to purchase tablets for middle school students
Penn-Trafford will spend nearly $667,000 in the next four years to buy iPads for its middle school students. The school board voted unanimously Monday night to purchase the 1,300 devices. It will cost about $166,700 per year through the 2029-30 academic year. The vote comes nearly a year after the...
Where does Pitt rank in federal medical research funding?
A tumultuous time for federal research funding didn’t stop the University of Pittsburgh from increasing its annual haul through the National Institutes of Health. For the year ending Sept. 30, Pitt received roughly $670 million from the country’s top funder of medical research, up from $661 million the year prior....
Western Pa. school districts tally expected savings from cyber charter tuition reform
Three months after the state approved changes to the cyber charter tuition formula, administrators from Western Pennsylvania’s K-12 public schools are beginning to tally the expected savings. The state’s latest budget, approved in November after a 4½-month impasse, allows school districts to reduce their tuition payments for students to attend...
‘It’s a calling’: PennWest helps prepare sexual assault nursing examiners such as the one highlighted on ‘The Pitt’
One of Sierra Roman’s first cases as an emergency room nurse at ACMH Hospital — and one she’ll never forget — involved a victim of a sexual assault. Roman, who started at the hospital in August 2023, needed to perform a rape kit exam on her patient. “I’m nervous because...
Kennedy Aderogba to be Pitt marching band’s first Black woman drum major
Kennedy Aderogba had simple goals when she joined Pitt’s marching band two years ago: to have fun, learn more, and grow as a person and musician. She grew up playing instruments, but joined Pitt’s marching band with no prior marching band experience: her high school, The Ensworth School in Nashville,...
Bethel Park teacher continues deep delve into Holocaust education
Photographs posted in Leigh Ann Totty’s Bethel Park High School classroom portray some of her travel destinations in Europe. Among them is Terezín, a small Czech Republic town about 50 miles north of the capital city, Prague, and once was home to the Theresienstadt Ghetto, a Nazi transit hub for...
Gov. Shapiro discusses AI regulation in schools during Carnegie visit
High school students are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence for homework help, advice and even companionship — leaving school administrators wondering where to draw the line. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro brought that discussion to the Carnegie Clubhouse at Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania on Friday, meeting with students...
Carnegie Mellon’s $100M Hazelwood Green robotics center will build the future, officials say
Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood community has always been a place for builders, says Sonya Tilghman. “For generations, families have worked in the mills and powered the region,” said Tilghman, executive director of the Hazelwood Institute. “We know what it means to build things that matter and take pride in skilled work. “So...
Slippery Rock to offer bachelor’s degree in nursing
For years, prospective students interested in attending Slippery Rock University would ask if the school offered a bachelor’s degree in nursing. For a long time, the answer was no, said Christine Karshin, dean of SRU’s College of Health Professions. Starting in the fall, that no longer will be the case,...
Carlow, Promise Center launch literacy tutoring initiative in Homewood
Carlow University and the Promise Center of Homewood have launched a joint literacy tutoring initiative for children in Homewood. The after-school program was developed over several months by Carlow’s College of Education and Social Work in partnership with The Promise Center, Carlow officials said. It will focus on reading skills,...
9 Greensburg Salem High School students vie for ‘Mr. GS’ title in annual pageant fundraiser
Nine Greensburg Salem High School students will compete next month in a pageant raising money for the district’s student activities fund. This is the eighth year the district has held the “Mr. GS” competition. The show will open with an introduction video and a group dance before competitors face off...
Computer science majors and professors grapple with AI advancements
These are not your father’s computer science students. And for good reason. To find a job in the fast-growing, fast-moving field, college graduates are required to possess more than simple coding skills and the ability to troubleshoot. Artificial intelligence is driving a demand for a more advanced, polished graduate who...
Larry Summers will resign from teaching at Harvard during review of Epstein ties, university says
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers will resign from teaching at Harvard University as the campus reviews his ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the university announced Wednesday. Summers, who has been on leave since November and whose name appeared hundreds of times in newly released Epstein...
Town hall about proposed Pennsylvania cellphone ban in schools draws crowd
Momentum is growing for a push to ban cellphones in the state’s public schools. State Reps. Mandy Steele, D-Fox Chapel, and Jill Cooper, R-Murrysville, are among those spearheading House Bill 1814 to restrict cellphones in classrooms. It’s a proposed bell-to-bell ban, meaning students would secure their cellphones in a lockbox...
Justice Department suit accuses UCLA of failing to protect Jewish employees from campus hostility
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is suing the University of California over allegations that UCLA failed to protect Jewish employees from antisemitic harassment amid pro-Palestinian protests that roiled the campus in 2023 and 2024. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in California, is the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s campaign to...
For Pitt’s 10th annual Day of Giving, it’s all about engagement
Tuesday marks the University of Pittsburgh’s 10th annual Day of Giving. The 24-hour fundraising challenge, which began at midnight, encourages Pitt community members to support the university through monetary commitments. It has become “quite the tradition,” said Jake Strang, associate vice chancellor for individual giving and university programs. “Our goal...
Hempfield Area will replace 4 grass fields with synthetic turf following split vote by school board
Hempfield Area School District will spend nearly $5.4 million to replace four of its grass fields with synthetic turf following a divided vote by the school board Monday night. The district will place turf on its high school baseball, softball and multipurpose grass fields this summer. District officials cited rainy...
Spring break plans scrapped as violence erupts in Mexico
Rising tensions in Mexico are forcing students to rethink their spring break getaways. Tina Devita, a mother of a Penn State University student, was already uneasy about her 19-year-old son’s planned trip to Puerto Vallarta. After watching political tensions escalate this week, she decided to tell him to cancel it....
