Education category, Page 33
New Greensburg Central Catholic principal aims to ‘be a part of moving it into the future’
For Theresa Szmed, the past month has been all about listening. Szmed was hired as principal for Greensburg Central Catholic Junior-Senior High School in November and took the reins in January, with assistance from interim Principal Sharyn Zalno. “It’s been a fantastic adventure, and it’s been overall positive,” said Szmed,...
High school financial literacy requirement long overdue, experts say
Rina Foley would like to see some of her peers boost their personal finance prowess. “I honestly don’t think this generation has a good knowledge of how to handle their finances,” said Foley, 21, of Leechburg, who is a senior at Seton Hill University. That’s bad for young adults and...
Slovak president to visit Pitt and tour Nationality Rooms
Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová will visit the University of Pittsburgh on Sunday to meet with Chancellor Joan Gabel and other campus leaders, months after a delegation from that country visited to explore potential academic collaborations. Both trips come at a time when Pitt and other universities are emerging from a...
IUP eyes potential location for medical school, state announces ‘investment’ in project
The state will invest $2 million in startup funds toward developing a College of Osteopathic Medicine at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, state Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman announced Wednesday night. Pittman, R-Indiana, delivered the news at a public reception welcoming the proposed college’s recently named founding dean, Miko Rose. It...
Pitt graduate workers request union recognition
Graduate workers at Pitt are asking for voluntary recognition of their union, claiming majority support for collective bargaining. Hundreds of graduate workers, United Steelworkers organizers and unaffiliated supporters gathered on the first floor of the Cathedral of Learning Tuesday to deliver a letter to Chancellor Joan Gabel with a request....
Report highlights ongoing racism at 10 Pa. State System universities
More than one Black university student recalled being compared to an animal. Another found a Confederate flag on his dormitory door. Others spoke of white peers saying, “I hate Black people.” And there was this anecdote which, like the others, was shared with a Pennsylvania senator traveling the State System...
Schools are using surveillance tech to catch students vaping, snaring some with harsh punishments
When Aaliyah Iglesias was caught vaping at a Texas high school, she didn’t realize how much could be taken from her. Suddenly, the rest of her high school experience was threatened: being student council president, her role as debate team captain and walking at graduation. Even her college scholarships were...
Long-sought charter school changes on table as Pa. lawmakers plot education funding overhaul
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. HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania lawmakers are considering significant changes to the way charter schools are funded as they undertake a monumental overhaul of public education mandated...
Despite rising salaries, there’s a shortage of qualified superintendents. Politicized school boards and covid fallout have contributed
Superintendents of two of the largest school districts in Westmoreland County — Hempfield Area’s Tammy Wolicki and Norwin’s Jeff Taylor — announced last week they would be leaving their posts. Their departures come on the heels of Leechburg Area Superintendent Tiffany Nix’s resignation. She announced in December that she would...
Nicely Elementary School STEAM night spotlights creativity in Greensburg
Students, parents, siblings, teachers and community members all packed into the hallways of Nicely Elementary School in Greensburg Salem School District this week for the school’s annual STEAM Night. The event, a collaboration between the school and the Parent Teacher Organization, spotlights science, technology, engineering, art and math through student-created...
Shapiro’s higher education overhaul plan and $1,000 tuition proposal draws intrigue, skepticism
Already there are questions about the cost to cap tuition and fees for many state university students at $1,000 a semester and who would pay — not to mention bringing state universities and community colleges under one umbrella. There are regulatory, legal and logistical hurdles, all in a state whose...
Shaler Area students double as baristas, bakers at Cafe 118
“Large iced coffee with a pump of vanilla!” “A hot chocolate and two cinnamon rolls at the counter!” Believe it or not, these are the phrases heard from classroom 118 in Shaler Area High School every Thursday and Friday morning. Since its opening in September, Cafe 118 has quickly become...
Gov. Shapiro pitches plan to restructure state-owned universities, community colleges
Gov. Josh Shapiro on Friday will propose uniting Pennsylvania’s 10 state-owned universities and its 15 community colleges under a new governance structure to make higher education in the state more efficient and affordable. The move is part of a blueprint for reform that emerged from a working group Shapiro assembled...
New Springdale High School classes aimed at boosting student cooking, technical skills
When students begin the semester in one of Mandy Harrison’s family and consumer science courses at Springdale High School, they don’t know much about home economics or kitchen skills. Some aren’t sure which pots or pans to use to make a certain food. Others don’t know how to prep the...
Citizen Science Lab receives Champions in Action award from Citizens Bank, Trib Total Media
The Citizen Science Lab in Bethel Park has been busy turning what started as a jar of mud into microbial fuel cell technology — all with the help of teenagers. Andre Samuel, president and CEO of The Citizen Science Lab, said the end goal of the Integrating Computational and Experimental...
Penn State branch campuses face large share of $94M in proposed budget cuts
Penn State University branch campuses — their enrollments down sharply — face the largest share of $94 million in universitywide spending cuts intended to erase an operating deficit and create what President Neeli Bendapudi calls “a more sustainable future.” The 20 campuses, including those in Western Pennsylvania, would absorb a...
W.Va. GOP majority pushes contentious bills arming teachers, restricting bathrooms, books
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia’s Republican-dominated Legislature pushed forward a slate of contentious bills Wednesday that would arm teachers, allow people to sue libraries over books that offend them and restrict where transgender kids can use the bathroom at school. Described by conservatives as efforts to protect children while they...
Texas school’s punishment of Black student who wears hair in locs is going to trial
ANAHUAC, Texas — A judge ordered Wednesday that a trial be held next month to determine whether a Black high school student in Texas can continue being punished by his district for refusing to change a hairstyle he and his family say is protected by a new state law. Darryl...
State university workers reach tentative contract with Pa. university system
The union representing 700 state university employees who work in admissions and financial aid, residence life, career services and other student support has reached a tentative contract agreement with the State System of Higher Education. The pact involving members of the State College and University Professional Association (SCUPA) would span...
New report sees a boost in undergraduate enrollment on college campuses
Research released Wednesday suggests fall undergraduate enrollment on college campuses across most of the nation rose for the first time since before the covid-19 pandemic, ending a slump that has strained many institutions. But while more than two-thirds of states saw overall gains, others — including Pennsylvania — continued as...
PennWest plans to transfer Clarion’s Venango campus to economic growth nonprofit
For decades, the modest hillside campus embodied the State System of Higher Education’s promise to deliver a public university education wherever needed — in this case, a small satellite location in the heart of Pennsylvania’s oil region. Students attending what was then the Venango branch of Clarion University in Oil...
Hempfield superintendent Wolicki resigns after extended leave of absence
Hempfield Area Superintendent Tammy Wolicki is officially retiring instead of returning to her job after an extended leave of absence. Wolicki was appointed as Hempfield’s superintendent in 2017. Her contract was renewed in 2021 and was set to run through June 2027. According to board solicitor Krisha DiMascio, Wolicki’s contract...
AI changes the game in college culture wars, experts say
Plagiarism detectors powered by artificial intelligence are emerging as a new and controversial weapon in the pitched campus culture wars between the political left and right. Some say the technology has the potential to unearth academic misconduct that previously might have gone unnoticed. Others warn it could unfairly upend careers,...
Carnegie Mellon University hit by cyberattack, informs 7,300 people possibly affected
Carnegie Mellon University informed about 7,300 people that their personal information may have been compromised in an August cyberattack that was quietly investigated by law enforcement and the university. The breach impacting one of the nation’s top schools for computing was acknowledged by the university as higher education in general...
IUP gets $500K donation for medical college project
Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s bid to open the state’s first college of osteopathic medicine on a public campus is getting a financial lift from IUP’s alumni association. The organization’s board of directors has authorized a $500,000 donation toward the endeavor that was first announced in December 2022, university officials said...
