Education category, Page 80
2 Laurel Highlands school employees test positive for covid-19
Two Laurel Highlands School District employees tested positive for covid-19, according to a letter posted on the district website by Superintendent Jesse Wallace. Neither employee has been inside a school district building in the last couple of weeks, he said. Both employees are assigned to Hutchinson Elementary School. The employees...
Match Day becomes day of giving for Pitt medical students during coronavirus pandemic
Match Day is an occasion University of Pittsburgh medical students eagerly await each spring. It’s a national event during which the majority of medical students across the country receive their residency assignments. The aspiring doctors usually gather together to simultaneously open letters that announce their residency training location — a...
Adapting: The ‘second first day of school’
Editor’s note: Adapting is a regular series spotlighting the ways the global coronavirus pandemic is changing the everyday lives of people in Western Pennsylvania. On Monday, students in many areas across Pennsylvania had their “second first day of school,” in the form of school districts’ online learning plan going into...
Woodland Hills School District seeking donations to provide laptops to all students
A high school principal has set out to buy 700 laptops, which could cost around $171,500, for his students so they can begin mandatory online instruction in April. Since launching a fundraising effort March 27, the Woodland Hills School District has received around $30,000 in donations from the community, according...
Greater Latrobe changes meal schedule, grading system during coronavirus closure
Greater Latrobe School District has changed its student meal distribution schedule and grading process as the statewide coronavirus-driven closure of schools continues indefinitely. The district consolidated distribution of Grab-and-Go meals for students from every weekday to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays while schools remain closed. Multiple meals will be provided from...
Reports of Schoology crash as school districts transition to online learning
Connectivity is a top priority for students, as many school districts began official distance learning on Monday. Amid the transition, one learning management system, Schoology, experienced server issues, kicking students out of online classrooms and producing load errors. “We are aware some users are experiencing degraded service when accessing Schoology....
Feds call temporary halt to collection on defaults on federal student debt
Borrowers in default on federal student loans are getting a 60-day reprieve on collections and wage garnishments. U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos on Wednesday announced that the move that will affect about 830,000 borrowers nationwide will last “at least 60 days from March 13, 2020,” as the U.S. battles...
At a glance: Distance learning in your school district; when classes could resume
Many school districts are conducting or have plans to begin distance learning for students while schools are closed. Below is information released by districts about when distance learning will begin and when, eventually, students might return to classrooms. This list will be updated and school districts added as information becomes...
Pennsylvania Secretary of Education says on time graduation for high school seniors a priority
Ensuring that high school seniors graduate on time is among his top priorities as Pennsylvania grapples with the prospect of an extended school shutdown because of covid-19 fears, Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera said Wednesday, stressing that the school year cannot be extended beyond June 30. “We’ve put a full...
Local officials criticize Liberty University as students return
RICHMOND, Va. — Officials in Lynchburg, Va., said Tuesday they were fielding complaints about the hundreds of students who have returned from their spring break to Liberty University, where President Jerry Falwell Jr. has welcomed them back amid the coronavirus pandemic. “We could not be more disappointed in the action...
Western Pa. teachers posting motivational, inspirational selfies for studentsVideo
Teachers in the region have taken to self-portraiture to let their students – or “kids” – know they care for them through the coronavirus pandemic. The teachers’ selfies have appeared in compilation videos made by staff at Deer Lakes and Mars Area school districts, and Penn Hills School District is...
Pitt allows students to convert classes to pass/fail grading
The University of Pittsburgh is allowing students to convert their courses to pass/fail grading when classes resume online next week. In a letter to faculty members, Provost Ann Cudd said all undergraduate and graduate students can convert any of their courses to pass/fail grading after the semester ends. Passing grades...
All Pennsylvania standardized testing canceled amid coronavirus pandemic
All Pennsylvania System of State Assessment (PSSA), Pennsylvania Alternate System of Assessment (PASA) and Keystone exams have been canceled for the 2019-2020 school year amid the covid-19 pandemic, the state Department of Education announced Friday. “Our school communities are operating within unprecedented conditions,” said Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera. “Schools...
Some Pa. school districts stop mandatory instruction, grading during closure
Some school districts have stopped assigning mandatory work during the state’s mandatory 10-day closure after a conference call with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit and district leaders. After Gov. Tom Wolf’s announcement last week that schools should close to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, Woodland Hills Superintendent James Harris...
Point Park University postpones spring graduation ceremonies
Point Park University postponed graduate hooding and commencement ceremonies scheduled for April 25. School President Paul Hennigan announced the decision Thursday morning. “I understand this news will disappoint many people, and I wish circumstances were different, but we must make the responsible decision to postpone the ceremonies,” Hennigan said in...
Westmoreland County school districts feeding students during prolonged closures
School districts across Westmoreland County scrambled this week to find ways to feed students after classes were canceled for at least two weeks in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Volunteers and district employees handed out more than 800 bags of food for breakfast and lunch between...
Highlands community groups offering additional lunch sites for students
Organizations in Highlands School District communities are working together to offer lunches for students in more locations. The school district previously announced it would be providing to-go lunches from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays, beginning Wednesday, at the high school in Harrison, elementary school in Tarentum and in Sheldon...
District leaders lament ‘very poor planning’ in Gov. Wolf’s decision to close schools
It had taken all day, but finally, the New Kensington-Arnold School District had a plan. Schools would be closed to students Monday, just Monday, so teachers and administrators could prepare for a potential transition to online learning — a growing possibility as the number of confirmed coronavirus infections in the...
Wilkinsburg closing 2 schools because of potential coronavirus exposure
Wilkinsburg School District announced Thursday it is closing Kelly Primary School and Turner Intermediate School on Friday and Monday due to a potential exposure to covid-19. Wilkinsburg Superintendent Linda J. Iverson said the district became aware that a staff member was in contact with a staff member at Colfax K-8...
Belle Vernon teachers strike averted; tentative pact reached in 11th-hour deal
Classes for about 2,500 Belle Vernon Area students continued as scheduled Friday after the teachers’ union and school board reached what they hope is a deal on a new contract, a union representative said. Details of the tentative agreement were not available. The contract still must be approved by the...
Penn State moves to online-only classes over coronavirus concerns
Penn State, along with several other Pennsylvania universities, will cancel in-person classes and move to online instruction over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus that causes covid-19. Officials announced Wednesday that Penn State will start remote learning for all classes at every campus location beginning March 16 through April...
Greensburg Salem teams sweep pasta bridge competition at Saint VincentVideo
Greensburg Salem School District swept the top three spots in Monday’s 14th annual Pasta Bridge Engineering Competition at Saint Vincent College. Juniors Adam Nichols, 16, and Kevin Burkhardt, 17, both of Salem Township, took first-place honors when their model bridge, crafted from various types of pasta and glue, stood up...
2019 H.S. performance score rankings for Allegheny, Westmoreland, Alle-Kiski Valley
The goal of most high schools is to have students graduate with skills that prepare them for success in life. One indication the school is making good on that intention is its building-level performance score — which is used to evaluate teachers and principals under Pennsylvania’s Educator Effectiveness System (Act...
Norwin’s Sheridan Terrace grabs top building score among Westmoreland elementaries
Teachers at Sheridan Terrace Elementary in the Norwin School District provided customized reading instruction for students and reached out to their families to reinforce educational goals. Those strategies paid off, as Sheridan led all elementary schools in Westmoreland County in 2019, based on state-calculated building-level scores. Sheridan achieved 93 out...
Penn-Trafford middle schools claim county lead in building performance results
Trafford Middle School used a flexible grouping approach to teach students last year, helping it to the top overall state performance score — 85.3 — among middle and junior high schools in Westmoreland County. Penn Middle School, also in Penn-Trafford School District, came in second with a score of 81.1...
