Education category, Page 67

Students who are eligible to receive free or reduced-price meals at school can now be reimbursed for the meals they are no longer getting. The Wolf Administration announced a new program Thursday that will let students benefit from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Students who are eligible through the...

State officials say the covid-19 pandemic may be driving college decisions for students. Applications for Pennsylvania’s need-based grants for college costs are down by 31,000 — or about 8% — since mid-March compared to this time last year, officials with the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) said Thursday. The...

Giant Eagle’s GetGo Cafe and Market convenience chain is celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week by giving teachers in the Pittsburgh region a cookie break. GetGo has purchased $25,000 worth of Tagalongs, Samoas, Thin Mints and other Girl Scout cookies for the doubly sweet gesture. Store officials noted the covid-19 pandemic has...

Mother’s Day is the final day to register for more than 50 online courses Penn State Extension is offering to the public at no cost, to help families and businesses during the coronavirus pandemic. Topics of the courses, which normally require a fee, include healthy meals, food safety, gardening tips,...

Plants from the Derry Area School District greenhouse will be sold to the public weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Friday through May 22. As part of covid-19 precautions, a maximum of four adults will be permitted in the greenhouse at a given time and are required to wear...

Shoes re-imagined as sea creatures and as iconic images from “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” could reap rewards for the Greater Latrobe Senior High art program. Greater Latrobe is among 25 high schools across the country vying for prizes of up to $50,000 in the annual Custom Culture Contest sponsored by Vans,...

Fallingwater is closed to the public at least through May 15, as part of precautions against spread of the coronavirus. But the Frank Lloyd Wright architectural gem in Fayette County, and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy that operates the famous rural residence, are offering several online programs. Virtual summer camps for...

After spending nearly a month out of class for a pandemic, Pittsburgh Public Schools is hoping the summer might provide an opportunity to make up for lost time – but planning the programs has become a challenge. The district is looking for ways to modify and extend the annual Summer...

Students struggling to make ends meet after colleges and universities shuttered earlier this spring could soon see extra cash in their bank accounts. Schools across the country are receiving millions of dollars for eligible students as part of the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act. It provides students...

The drive-through service model is working well for restaurants and some other businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, so Mother of Sorrows School officials in Murrysville thought: why couldn’t it work just as well for kindergarten students making the transition to first grade? The school, on Old William Penn Highway, will...

The North Hills School Board has approved a preliminary budget for the 2020-21 school year that holds the line on property taxes, maintains all programs and curriculum, and keeps staffing at its current level. “Due to the extreme financial difficulties faced by many at this time because of covid-19, we...

All students in Pittsburgh Public Schools will receive passing grades for the fourth quarter, district leaders announced Thursday in a virtual news conference. “The grading guidelines are designed to hold students harmless,” said David May-Stein, chief of school performance. “Not all kids are going to be able to do this...

Citing financial challenges families are facing in the coronavirus pandemic, officials with the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education froze tuition for the second consecutive year. The move is the first time in the state system’s 38-year history that it has frozen tuition two years in a row. Base tuition...

Lydia Musser had her heart set on attending college outside of Pennsylvania. The Kiski Area senior, 18, had campus visits scheduled throughout March at East Carolina University, the University of Tampa and West Virginia University. Then, all of her visits were canceled. She’s now planning to attend Duquesne University instead,...

The Pittsburgh Public Schools Board refrained from establishing new grading guidelines for the district Wednesday afternoon, leaving the decision up to Superintendent Anthony Hamlet. In a legislative session Wednesday that was livestreamed, board member Cynthia Falls, of District 7, moved to uphold a long-standing policy that leaves all grading guidelines...

Parents, as well as children, are adjusting to the reality of virtual learning at home, since the coronavirus pandemic closed Pennsylvania schools for the remainder of the academic year. The Westmoreland Intermediate Unit has planned a series of weekly online chats in May to help area parents better navigate this...

Carnegie Mellon University is freezing hiring and salaries and will reduce executive pay as the Pittsburgh school grapples with uncertainties created by the coronavirus pandemic, President Farnham Jahanian said Tuesday. In a lengthy letter to the university community, Jahanian said officials also developed an array of contingency plans for the...

Community colleges may become a more viable option for students this fall, as the covid-19 pandemic continues to alter various aspects of higher education. In Western Pennsylvania, schools are preparing for a myriad of possibilities but remain uncertain exactly how the pandemic will affect them, said Stuart Blacklaw, provost at...

In a move that could set a standard across colleges facing financial shortfalls in the coronavirus crisis, University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Patrick Gallagher and eight Pitt senior vice chancellors have pledged a portion of their salaries to the university. Their pledges — Gallagher promised to commit 20% of his salary...

The University of Pittsburgh on Sunday will host a virtual celebration to honor nearly 8,000 undergraduate, master’s, professional and doctorate candidates. Pitt’s in-person commencement ceremony was postponed last month because of the covid-19 pandemic. The virtual ceremony will begin at 11:30 a.m. and last approximately 30 minutes. The university will...

Phillip Woods needs no alarm clock. “I just automatically wake up at 4 a.m. every day, because I have so much on my mind,” said Woods, principal of Woodland Hills High School in Churchill. “I am continuously thinking about our students and their families and our teachers and our staff...

Carnegie Mellon University is working with Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration to develop a data dashboard, compiling information from agencies to determine what areas of Pennsylvania can safely reopen. The dashboard will help the state take a “regional and sector-based approach” to easing stay-at-home restrictions, according to CMU. Wolf announced Wednesday...

Greater Latrobe School Board is making plans for a potential return to physical classrooms in the fall of 2020 while completing the current school year with remote operations. Switching to a virtual format for its meeting Tuesday , the board voted to lease a classroom at Latrobe Elementary to the...

The Richard King Mellon Foundation has approved a $1.3 million grant for the Pittsburgh Promise to help high school seniors and college students navigate the coronavirus pandemic. Pittsburgh Promise Executive Director Saleem Ghubril said Tuesday that the money would help Pittsburgh high school seniors complete college applications. It will also...