Education category, Page 79
Report: State hotline fielding more calls about student suicide, self-harm concerns
Reports of suicidal or self-harming thoughts by Pennsylvania students reported to the state’s Safe2Say Something tip line increased after schools shut down in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to an analysis by Attorney General Josh Shapiro. Between July 2019 and March 13, 17% of all tips received by...
Westmoreland Academy enrolling students; Hempfield school to start Aug. 27
The Westmoreland Christian Academy, a private interdenominational Christian school in Hempfield, is enrolling students and plans to reopen on Aug. 24, said the school’s administrator. The school, which features a Bible-based curriculum, had about 30 students in kindergarten through 12th grade last year, said Justin Tomson, middle school and high...
Pittsburgh Promise offering gap year for students during pandemic
The Pittsburgh Promise will offer a gap year for recipients affected by the covid-19 pandemic, the organization announced Thursday. Pittsburgh Public Schools students who graduated high school from 2017 through 2020 will have five years — rather than the usual four — to utilize their scholarship award. “We know that...
Pitt to launch study of medical marijuana use to ease pain in sickle cell patients
Finding a way to use medical marijuana to treat sickle cell anemia will be the focus of a $3 million research program at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. It is part of a 10-year agreement with Goodblend Pennsylvania LLC, Pitt’s new affiliate in medical marijuana research. State officials...
Hempfield Area names new assistant superintendent of elementary education
Hempfield Area School District has a new assistant superintendent for the 2020-21 school year. Kimberlie Rieffannacht was approved unanimously by the school board this week for the assistant superintendent of elementary education position. The job was previously held by Matthew Conner who was named assistant superintendent for secondary education last...
Allegheny, Westmoreland school districts reveal plans for upcoming classes
In March, school districts across the state were ordered closed by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf to help curb the spread of coronavirus. Now, they are now developing new health and safety protocols in an effort to restart instruction in the coming weeks. Some will begin with online instruction, some will...
IUP limits campus access for fall classes
Thousands of students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania who thought they would head back to campus this fall learned Monday that will not be the case. IUP will be offering both in-person and online learning when classes resume Aug. 24. But only incoming freshmen, international students, graduate students and those...
Pittsburgh Public Schools to delay classroom instruction for first quarter
Pittsburgh Public Schools will officially use remote instruction for the first quarter of the school year, the board of directors voted Friday afternoon in a virtual meeting. The vote came in response to a resolution made last week by Board Member Kevin Carter, who proposed the district stay online for...
WCCC will offer remote and in-person classes
Westmoreland County Community College will offer its 5,000 students a mix of in-person classes, remote classes and online classes when it reopens Aug. 17, the school announced Friday. The plan developed by college administrators is subject to change, depending on mandates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and...
IUP cancels in-person commencement for May, August grads, moves to virtual platform
Indiana University of Pennsylvania announced Friday that an in-person commencement for the class of 2020 has been canceled and replaced with a virtual ceremony. The school had planned an in-person ceremony on Sept. 12 to honor May and August graduates. Citing more restrictive guidelines for indoor gatherings and increased concern...
Enrollment booming for cyber schools, online academies
With families concerned about the safety of students returning to schools amid the covid-19 pandemic, cyber charter schools and the online academies run by school districts are seeing an increase in demand, officials of the schools said. “Pennsylvania’s public cyber charter schools have been inundated with inquiries about their schools...
Wilkinsburg School District to open with online classes in August
The Wilkinsburg School Board voted unanimously to begin the new school year with a full distance, online learning curriculum on August 31. The vote was 9-0. The decision was made based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data regarding the coronavirus pandemic, guidance from the Pennsylvania Department of Health...
Point Park University, IUP partner on human resources programs
Two of the region’s universities have partnered to form a path for students to receive a master’s degree in human resources — a business specialization that focuses on the administrative duties and policies in an organization. Point Park University students who receive a bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Management can...
Penn Hills School District’s reopening plans to focus on hybrid learning
Penn Hills School District officials plan to welcome students back to school with a hybrid in-person learning model, as well as a continued online learning option for families who might not be comfortable sending children back into the buildings. Administrators are expected to officially present the two options during a...
Woodland Hills School District reopening plan begins with online classes
Woodland Hills School District on Tuesday released a plan for reopening its schools, beginning with virtual instruction. The academic year will begin on Aug. 24, as planned, but there will be no students in the classrooms. Per the document outlining the plan, schools may reopen for in-person classes after “14...
Pitt’s School of Public Health welcomes students with opera about obstetrician who championed hand-washing
With uncertainty hanging over the campus during the pandemic, the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health was kicking around socially distanced ideas of how to welcome students back. That’s when the school hit upon the notion that a screening of a modern opera about the “father of sanitation...
Keeping Pa. private colleges closed will hurt small communities, officials say
The covid-19 pandemic has upended procedures for colleges and universities throughout the country, and many of Pennsylvania’s private institutions are struggling to find the best path forward, officials said Tuesday. Auditor General Eugene DePasquale has hosted Facebook Live conversations with industry leaders semi-regularly during the pandemic. On Tuesday, he met...
Columbus schools, Ohio’s largest district, going virtual
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Children attending Columbus city schools, Ohio’s largest district, will take classes virtually at least through October, city officials announced Tuesday. The district had considered a blended approach involving online and in-person learning for students through middle school, but worsening public health conditions led to the decision to...
Civil rights group rebuffs member, supports ethnic studies programs
RIO RANCHO, N.M. — The nation’s oldest Latino civil rights organization said Friday it strongly supports Ethnic Studies programs in colleges and won’t participate in the “glorification of historical figures” or defend monuments that eulogize violence like those around Spanish conquistadors. The League of United Latin American Citizens said Ethnic...
Baldwin-Whitehall School District reopening plans released amid school transitions
Baldwin-Whitehall School District officials are planning around the covid-19 pandemic while transitioning former elementary school students to a repurposed middle school. The aging K-5 W.R. Paynter Elementary School closed in June. Those children will be moved to the J.E. Harrison Middle School, also referred to as Harrison Education Center. The...
Allegheny Intermediate Unit appoints new executive director
A new executive director took over the Allegheny Intermediate Unit this week, the organization announced Thursday. Robert Scherrer, who has served as an administrator at several local school districts throughout his career, was appointed to the position in February and started work on Monday. Scherrer will serve as executive director...
Virtual retreat equips Western Pa. teachers with tools for online education
When the coronavirus pandemic shut down schools across the nation, it wasn’t just students and parents who were tossed headlong into a brand-new challenge. Many teachers, counselors and principals faced the same dilemma. “All of a sudden, we found ourselves having to write game plans and blueprints for something that...
Pennsylvania schools setting in-person teaching rules as pandemic spreads
HARRISBURG — The many Pennsylvania school districts that have not settled on how and when they will restart instruction this fall will be making decisions in the coming weeks, and the pandemic plans that have been produced so far are all over the map. That’s by design, the state education...
Pitt reopening plan spurs questions, concerns from student newspaper, neighborVideo
The University of Pittsburgh’s plan to reopen its Oakland campus in phases beginning Aug. 11 is raising questions among students and neighborhood residents. The hybrid plan, which calls for a mix of in-person and online classes, was months in the making. Among other features, the plan includes measures to reduce...
South Fayette pushes back start, end of school year because of coronavirus concerns
South Fayette School District officials have changed the proposed start and end of the upcoming school year because of covid-19 concerns. The school board voted 6-1 Tuesday night to adjust the 2020-21 school calendar to move the first day of school from Aug. 19 to Sept. 2 and the last...
