Education category, Page 58
Schools across Western Pa., U.S. try to keep students safe in face of increased threats
A barrage of threats against several school districts across the region — including Allegheny County this week and Westmoreland several weeks ago — sent administrators reaching for action plans to help thwart any potential danger to students and staff. Violence at schools is spiking as students return to in-person classes...
Reach Cyber partners with carpenters’ union to offer online carpentry programVideo
In recent years, school districts have made a stronger push to gauge student interest in trade careers, extolling the virtues of the region’s technical schools and the wide-open job market for skilled laborers. In Pennsylvania, one cyber charter school is looking to add some of those elements to its curriculum....
West Mifflin High School switches to remote learning after threat
Students at West Mifflin Area High School learned remotely on Wednesday after the district was targeted by an online threat. Superintendent Jeffrey Soles said the threat did not appear to be credible, but the district opted to keep students at home out of caution. West Mifflin police are investigating the...
Faculty retirements at Pa. state universities are double the number of a typical year
Nearly half of the 165 faculty members who signed up for its most recent incentive to retire by next summer work at a Pennsylvania state university slated for consolidation in the 2022-23 school year. Figures provided by Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education show 50 of those faculty members who...
Social media threats prompt switch to remote learning at Propel Schools in Pittsburgh
The 13 Propel Schools throughout Pittsburgh will switch to remote learning Tuesday after threats were posted on social media, according to Tribune-Review news partner WPXI. School leaders alerted families that the move was made from “an abundance of caution.” Administrators said initially that Propel Hazelwood and Propel Montour would go...
Highlands broadens curriculum to bolster career readiness; decreases graduation credit requirement
Highlands High School seniors will need slightly fewer credits to graduate in coming years. The school board on Nov. 15 approved a motion to reduce the credit requirements from 24.5 to 24, beginning with the 2022-23 school year. Highlands already requires more than the state minimum of 21 credits to...
Threat prompts Woodland Hills to take high school classes virtual
Woodland Hills High School students participated in classes virtually Friday because of a threat made against the school, according to a message from its principal. In a Facebook post Friday morning, Principal Shelly Manns said that officials on Thursday night received a screenshot of an individual who had made a...
New laws steer some teachers away from race-related topics
New measures that restrict how race is addressed in classrooms have spread confusion and anxiety among many educators, who in some cases have begun pulling books and canceling lessons for fear of being penalized. Education officials have nixed a contemporary issues class in a Tennessee district, removed Frederick Douglass’ autobiography...
Students, staff at Greensburg Salem Middle School move to remote learning
Greensburg Salem middle schoolers are moving to remote learning for almost two weeks following a spike in covid-19 cases, district officials said. According to Kenneth Bissell, acting superintendent, the spike caused the 14 day total of positive cases to rise to about 5% of the total student and faculty body....
Penn State to use $1.5M grant on workforce programs in New Kensington
Penn State will use a $1.5 million federal grant to create workforce education and retaining programs targeting Southwestern Pennsylvania, the university announced Wednesday. The university’s New Kensington campus, located in Upper Burrell, and its Digital Foundry, under construction in downtown New Kensington, will lead the project. It will be known...
Woodland Hills students to be part of historic public library card giveaway
Woodland Hills High School and its students will be making history Friday in a very positive way. The Woodland Hills School District has partnered with the three public libraries that serve the students for the “Library Cards for All” initiative. The libraries — the Braddock Carnegie Library, the C.C. Mellor...
University of Pittsburgh issues non-sexist language guidelines – including term ‘yinz’
What’s in a name? Enough to lead people to be unintentionally dismissive and disrespectful of someone by misgendering them, according to the University of Pittsburgh. But now, Pitt has published a gender-inclusive language guide that includes a set of “non-sexist language guidelines and resources” to help students and faculty avoid...
Schools debate: Gifted and talented, or racist and elitist?
NEW YORK — Communities across the United States are reconsidering their approach to gifted and talented programs in schools as vocal parents blame such elite programs for worsening racial segregation and inequities in the country’s education system. A plan announced by New York City’s mayor to phase out elementary school...
Grounds crew: Goats cleared ravine at Sewickley Academy, became teaching tool
Earlier in October, as students at Sewickley Academy walked into school, the youngsters noticed images of goats on their lockers. They were puzzled until they looked out the window. The meaning behind the pictures came into full view. Eight live goats were grazing in the ravine behind the early childhood...
Operation Safe Stop puts spotlight on stopping for school buses
The only misbehavior on the road Wednesday morning during a state police ride-along on a Greater Latrobe school bus was from a deer and three raccoons. No motorists broke the law while Trooper Brandon Boyd was on board, but many of the youngsters catching a ride to school were thrilled...
Penn State expands employee vaccine mandate to 6 branch campuses
Penn State is extending a covid-19 vaccination mandate to all faculty and staff at University Park to six of its regional campuses. The mandate is an effort to comply with President Joe Biden’s executive order requiring federal contractors to vaccinate employees. Penn State has a number of contracts and research...
Pitt faculty members vote to join United Steelworkers
Faculty members across the University of Pittsburgh celebrated the end of a five-year organizing drive Tuesday with the announcement that they had won a vote to become members of the United Steelworkers union. Officials said preliminary vote results indicated 71% of the eligible faculty members who cast ballots in the...
Mandatory masking in schools: A nuisance, but no big deal for most students
Parents have been at the forefront of urging school administrators to take a stand against the state’s September mandate requiring mask-wearing in K-12 schools. Meanwhile, objections from students have been rare. And school administrators responsible for enforcing mask-wearing have reported little to no issues from students. After the state Department...
Pa. state universities enrollment drops to lowest point since 1986
Enrollment declined 5.4% across Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities this fall, slipping to 88,651 — a low not seen in 35 years. Officials were anticipating a slight decline in enrollment, but nothing prepared them for the totals the universities reported after three weeks of classes. Enrollment has not been this low...
CCAC to offer free introductory course for court reporting
If you’re looking for a new career path, it’s hard to top an education program with a 100% placement rate. Those earning certification of a two-year associate’s degree in the Community College of Allegheny County’s court reporting program also earn an average starting salary of around $40,000, according to CCAC...
Arizona can’t use covid money for anti-mask grants, feds say
The Biden administration on Tuesday ordered Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to stop using the state’s federal pandemic funding on a pair of new education grants that can only be directed to schools without mask mandates. In a letter to Ducey, the Treasury Department said the grant programs are “not a...
Slippery Rock president will get tattoo if more students get covid vaccineVideo
William Behre, president of Slippery Rock University, is issuing a call to arms — at least for himself — to encourage more students to get the covid-19 vaccine. Behre vowed to receive a permanent Slippery Rock University-themed tattoo on his upper arm during an on-campus event if the student vaccination...
Penn State professors will protest university’s covid policies in a unique way this week
More than 50 Penn State professors — mostly from University Park — will protest several university-related covid policies this week by holding a “Teach-Out(side),” where classes will be moved to the safer outdoors and away from their usual locations. The protest, organized by the faculty-based group Coalition for a Just...
Pa. officials calling thousands in effort to address bus driver shortage
Pennsylvania officials are searching statewide for school bus drivers as the driver shortage plaguing the nation continues to hit close to home. PennDOT is reaching out to about 375,000 people across the state who have commercial driver’s licenses to highlight the need for bus drivers and the process for obtaining...
Bill would give parents front-row seat to what students are being taught in Pa. schools
Parents of public school students would be able to access the contents of a school curriculum, textbook titles and lesson plans with a few clicks on a computer keyboard under legislation that is advancing in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Andrew Lewis, R-Dauphin County, would...
