Penn Hills School District changes graduation requirements for incoming freshmen

Penn Hills School District officials have adjusted graduation requirements to help make future high schoolers more well-rounded learners.

The school directors unanimously voted Feb. 24 to increase the graduation requirements from 23 to 24 credits. They must include at least one online class and community service through the Penn Hills Way course.

The Penn Hills Way course is a transitional class for ninth graders. It deals with peer pressure, personal finance and a variety of other topics. Instructors will add a community service component in the coming years.

“It helps the kids in the future,” board president Erin Vecchio said. “We’re trying to challenge them more to get them up with what’s going on in the world. It looks better on their college applications when taking that many credits.”

The additional credit would come from an elective class, which students can select.

“We really want the kids to be well-rounded,” Superintendent Nancy Hines said. “There is research, and it’s best practice to have kids experience and explore different career options once they settle in to prepare themselves for college. … We want them to dabble in more than one thing.”

Changes will not impact current high schoolers but will effect the class of 2025 and beyond.

District officials said there are about 1,175 high school students including 295 seniors. There are 242 eighth graders currently enrolled.

“The board asked us to look at it, and I have thought for years that we should really think about an increased requirement,” Principal Erik Kostic said. “We wanted to make the requirement a student choice and not a directive or a specific content area. That’s why we put the extra credit in the elective area. Service learning is a growing push to make sure that our students and our community both benefit by helping one another.”

The district reduced the graduation credit requirements from 25 to 23 about five years ago.

Hines said one of the reasons for the credit reduction was an increase in dual enrollment — students taking college courses while in high school.

Community service is something widely encouraged throughout the high school, particularly in athletics.

Football workouts were canceled earlier this year so players could go into the community and shovel snow for residents. Student-athletes also participated in food distributions in October.

“Our residents, they sacrifice a lot so that we can have a public school,” Hines said. “Why not give back to our community, right? I think it’s really good for the kids, and it’s definitely helpful for the community. You can see our teenagers in a very positive light. A lot of times teenagers throughout the world get a bad wrap, and that they’re not necessarily cooperative or not committed.

“We have really good kids, and let’s showcase them.”