The Kiski School announces residential, online options for 2020

A Westmoreland County boarding school says it will open its campus this fall with a hybrid program that will provide for simultaneous in-person and online learning.

The Kiski School, a 132-year-old boarding school with 187 boys in grades 9-12 last year, was forced to shutter its campus and go to online learning with the coronavirus shutdown in March.

Kiski Headmaster Christopher A. Brueningsen said school records indicate campus closed briefly only once before during a flu pandemic in the 1950s.

The school quickly adapted to the recent shutdown. Students adapted even faster. Brueningsen recalled one student from China who simply flipped his days and nights to account for the time difference when classes were beamed live around the world.

“He didn’t miss a single class,” Brueningsen said.

Now officials with the school have tweaked that approach and are preparing to reopen this fall with a program dubbed ONE Kiski. It makes allowances for fully on-campus, as well as fully online learning.

“Kiski is fortunate in that we welcome students from dozens of countries and states. We realize that it is highly unlikely that they will all have the same travel and visa allowances,” Brueningsen said. “We knew that we needed to create an educational model for this fall and beyond that enables students to get a full, well-rounded educational experience, no matter where they are physically located.”

While some private residential schools may be dealing with the prospect of declining enrollment, Brueningsen said the school located on a hill high above the Kiski River Valley in rural Loyalhanna Township has actually seen a 50% increase in applications.

He attributed that in part to the school’s decision last winter to reduce tuition by 20% for the coming school year. Residential tuition will drop from $61,300 to $48,500 for the 2020-21 school year.