Education category, Page 79
School districts plan summer learning, fearing learning loss from time outside classroom
After spending nearly a month out of class for a pandemic, Pittsburgh Public Schools is hoping the summer might provide an opportunity to make up for lost time – but planning the programs has become a challenge. The district is looking for ways to modify and extend the annual Summer...
Western Pa. college students in line for cash from coronavirus stimulus package
Students struggling to make ends meet after colleges and universities shuttered earlier this spring could soon see extra cash in their bank accounts. Schools across the country are receiving millions of dollars for eligible students as part of the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act. It provides students...
Murrysville school plans ‘drive-thru graduation’ for kindergarten students
The drive-through service model is working well for restaurants and some other businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, so Mother of Sorrows School officials in Murrysville thought: why couldn’t it work just as well for kindergarten students making the transition to first grade? The school, on Old William Penn Highway, will...
North Hills taking steps to avoid hiking taxes for 7th consecutive year
The North Hills School Board has approved a preliminary budget for the 2020-21 school year that holds the line on property taxes, maintains all programs and curriculum, and keeps staffing at its current level. “Due to the extreme financial difficulties faced by many at this time because of covid-19, we...
All Pittsburgh students will receive passing grades, as district struggles to meet tech needs
All students in Pittsburgh Public Schools will receive passing grades for the fourth quarter, district leaders announced Thursday in a virtual news conference. “The grading guidelines are designed to hold students harmless,” said David May-Stein, chief of school performance. “Not all kids are going to be able to do this...
Tuition freeze, early retirement incentives approved for Pa. state universities
Citing financial challenges families are facing in the coronavirus pandemic, officials with the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education froze tuition for the second consecutive year. The move is the first time in the state system’s 38-year history that it has frozen tuition two years in a row. Base tuition...
Western Pa. high school students struggle to make college plans during pandemic
Lydia Musser had her heart set on attending college outside of Pennsylvania. The Kiski Area senior, 18, had campus visits scheduled throughout March at East Carolina University, the University of Tampa and West Virginia University. Then, all of her visits were canceled. She’s now planning to attend Duquesne University instead,...
Pittsburgh Public School Board leaves grading guidelines up to the superintendent
The Pittsburgh Public Schools Board refrained from establishing new grading guidelines for the district Wednesday afternoon, leaving the decision up to Superintendent Anthony Hamlet. In a legislative session Wednesday that was livestreamed, board member Cynthia Falls, of District 7, moved to uphold a long-standing policy that leaves all grading guidelines...
Web chats slated to help Westmoreland parents adjust to students’ virtual learning
Parents, as well as children, are adjusting to the reality of virtual learning at home, since the coronavirus pandemic closed Pennsylvania schools for the remainder of the academic year. The Westmoreland Intermediate Unit has planned a series of weekly online chats in May to help area parents better navigate this...
Carnegie Mellon braces for coronavirus financial losses, potential delay of fall semester
Carnegie Mellon University is freezing hiring and salaries and will reduce executive pay as the Pittsburgh school grapples with uncertainties created by the coronavirus pandemic, President Farnham Jahanian said Tuesday. In a lengthy letter to the university community, Jahanian said officials also developed an array of contingency plans for the...
Community colleges expect an enrollment spike because of pandemic
Community colleges may become a more viable option for students this fall, as the covid-19 pandemic continues to alter various aspects of higher education. In Western Pennsylvania, schools are preparing for a myriad of possibilities but remain uncertain exactly how the pandemic will affect them, said Stuart Blacklaw, provost at...
Chancellor, top Pitt leaders pledge portion of earnings to university
In a move that could set a standard across colleges facing financial shortfalls in the coronavirus crisis, University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Patrick Gallagher and eight Pitt senior vice chancellors have pledged a portion of their salaries to the university. Their pledges — Gallagher promised to commit 20% of his salary...
Pitt to celebrate virtual commencement Sunday
The University of Pittsburgh on Sunday will host a virtual celebration to honor nearly 8,000 undergraduate, master’s, professional and doctorate candidates. Pitt’s in-person commencement ceremony was postponed last month because of the covid-19 pandemic. The virtual ceremony will begin at 11:30 a.m. and last approximately 30 minutes. The university will...
Heroes: Woodland Hills principal helped students get technology for online learning
Phillip Woods needs no alarm clock. “I just automatically wake up at 4 a.m. every day, because I have so much on my mind,” said Woods, principal of Woodland Hills High School in Churchill. “I am continuously thinking about our students and their families and our teachers and our staff...
Wolf administration to use Carnegie Mellon-developed data dashboard in reopening Pennsylvania
Carnegie Mellon University is working with Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration to develop a data dashboard, compiling information from agencies to determine what areas of Pennsylvania can safely reopen. The dashboard will help the state take a “regional and sector-based approach” to easing stay-at-home restrictions, according to CMU. Wolf announced Wednesday...
Greater Latrobe leases classroom, enrolls kindergartners as online lessons continue
Greater Latrobe School Board is making plans for a potential return to physical classrooms in the fall of 2020 while completing the current school year with remote operations. Switching to a virtual format for its meeting Tuesday , the board voted to lease a classroom at Latrobe Elementary to the...
Grant will help Pittsburgh Promise students during coronavirus pandemic
The Richard King Mellon Foundation has approved a $1.3 million grant for the Pittsburgh Promise to help high school seniors and college students navigate the coronavirus pandemic. Pittsburgh Promise Executive Director Saleem Ghubril said Tuesday that the money would help Pittsburgh high school seniors complete college applications. It will also...
High schools plan graduation ceremonies through uncertainty of a pandemic
It’s a challenge to stay optimistic, but Lauren Michaels, 18, is doing her best. The Kiski Area High School senior was disappointed when she learned schools would not reopen this academic school year. She doesn’t mind finishing her courses online, but the prospect of missing out on certain year-end rites...
Pitt plans for fall could include hybrid semester
University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Patrick Gallagher is broaching the possibility that Pitt, one of the region’s biggest universities and a major factor in the local economy, may not be able to reopen for business as usual this fall. Like schools across the nation, Pitt was forced to close its campuses...
Franklin Regional will implement pass/fail grading system for remainder of academic year
The Franklin Regional School District will implement a pass/fail grading system for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year, but school board members had a lengthy discussion about its merits and shortcomings. “I would rather our teachers focus on creating assignments and lessons to engage students instead of focusing on...
Robert Morris students raise money for food bank with gaming marathon
A Robert Morris University student club is hosting a virtual gaming marathon this weekend to raise money for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Nearly 100 students and faculty will tune into the platforms Discord and Twitch to participate in the 48-hour marathon, playing a variety of games independently and...
Pitt student wins Truman Scholarship for establishing gun violence prevention nonprofit
University of Pittsburgh junior Kathryn Fleisher has been awarded a 2020 Harry S. Truman Scholarship, one of 62 students in the country to win the prestigious award and the 13th in Pitt’s history. The Truman Scholarship is awarded to students who excel in their commitment to public service. Following the...
Hampton School District gets creative with plans to honor graduating seniors
Faced with orders to keep schools closed for the remainder of the year, Hampton School District officials have come up with a plan to celebrate graduating seniors. Seniors and their families will receive a letter this week from high school principal Marguerite Imbarlina outlining the variety of activities planned. “I...
Coronavirus pandemic continues to impact financial health of colleges, universities
Less than a month into a shutdown that forced colleges and universities across the country to transition to online classes, covid-19 is exposing new fractures in higher education. When students were forced to leave campus months before the end of the spring semester, residential campuses had to come up with...
College students cope with shortcomings of online learning during coronavirus
Ironic and goofy humor fills this Facebook page. There’s a picture of a tombstone that reads “Here lies my motivation to do online college classes.” There are GIFs and memes repurposing lines from “Parks and Recreation” and “SpongeBob SquarePants.” Each post is a lighthearted joke, and each one has received...
