Outstanding Student Achievement 2008 Guide to …

UPPER ST. CLAIR SCHOOL DISTRICT

St C lair ENE N E W S LE TT E R

1820 McLaughlin Run Road ? Upper St. Clair ? PA ? 15241

vol. 4, issue 3

INSIDE...

SUPERINTENDENT'S MESSAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 2

KUSHNER'S KORNER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 3

BRAVOS AND KUDOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 4

SUMMARY OF PRELIMINARY 2008-09 GENERAL FUND BUDGET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 6

USCSD ADOPTED 2008-09 CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 7

NEW IMMUNIZATION REGULATIONS

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .page 11

CENTRAL OFFICE ADMINISTRATION

DR. PATRICK O'TOOLE SUPERINTENDENT

DR. TERRY KUSHNER ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT/

DIRECTOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION

DR. JOHN BORNYAS DIRECTOR OF

PROGRAMMING, OPERATIONS

AND

MIDDLE LEVEL EDUCATION

DR. JUDITH BULAZO DIRECTOR OF

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

AND

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

June 2008

Outstanding Student Achievement

? 11th Graders ranked #1 for the fourth year in a row! ? 8th Graders earn top scores in reading, math and writing for the past four years!

2008 Guide to Western Pennsylvania Schools

The Pittsburgh

the 105 school districts

Business Times

in Allegheny,

2008 Guide to

Armstrong, Beaver,

Western

Butler, Fayette,

Pennsylvania Schools Washington, and

"crunched the results Westmoreland

of the Pennsylvania

counties, Upper St.

System of School

Clair's rankings were:

Assessment (PSSA) Overall District 1

exams to determine

11th Grade 1

which district's

8th Grade

1

students scored the

7th Grade

2

highest on these tests." 6th Grade

2

5th Grade

5

Of the 501 school

4th Grade

4

districts in the state of 3rd Grade

3

Pennsylvania, Upper

St. Clair School

USC school

District placed FIRST, administrators cited the

based on the students' following reasons for

performance on

these placements:

PSSAs.

? Slightly longer-than-

According to PBT, of average school year

2007 Upper St. Clair PSSA Scores

(listed on page 128 of the PBT 2008 Guide)

? Extensive staff professional development programs ? More teacher inservice days to focus on student achievement ? Frequent assessments to measure student needs and progress ? High degree of staff commitment in doing "what's best for students" ? Student-centered attitude among our staff and in the community ? Frequent reviews and revisions of curriculum ? Increased offerings in international studies ? Differentiated

instruction and "something for every type of student" ? Concept of "developing the whole child" ? Encouragement of students to be motivated to succeed ? Non-academic advisor time with the four core subject middle school teachers ? Small group instruction with the same teachers ? Teaming and team identity of the middle school program ? A culture of commitment to educational excellence.

SCHOOL DIRECTORS

MRS. ANGELA B. PETERSEN PRESIDENT

MRS. AMY L. BILLERBECK VICE PRESIDENT

MRS. BARBARA L. BOLAS MRS. CAROL B. COLIANE

DR. DANIEL IRACKI MR. HARRY F. KUNSELMAN

MR. LOUIS A. PICONI MRS. REBECCA A. STERN DR. WILLIAM M. SULKOWSKI

PAUL FOX EDITOR

JOE KALLIS LAYOUT & DESIGN

11th Grade Math Reading Writing 8th Grade Math Reading Writing 7th Grade Math Reading 6th Grade Math Reading

Superior 86% 93% 99% Superior 95% 96% 95% Superior 93% 91% Superior 92% 92%

Basic 94% 97% 100% Basic 96% 98% 100% Basic 97% 97% Basic 99% 98%

5th Grade Math Reading Writing 4th Grade Math Reading 3rd Grade Math Reading

Superior 94% 85% 82% Superior 94% 92% Superior 96% 94%

Basic 99% 97% 100% Basic 97% 97% Basic 100% 99%

REVIEW

THE 2008-09

PRELIMINARY BUDGET

TURN TO PAGE 6

uscsd.k12.pa.us

412-833-1600

Highest Achievement ? Safe and Healthy Environment ? Excellent Value in Education

SUPERINTENDENT'S MESSAGE Dr. Patrick O'Toole

Planning continues on our middle school facilities renovation and modernization project. With the assistance of consultant Dr. William DeJong, a planning team of Upper St. Clair teachers, administrators, board members, parents, and community members participated in four educational specifications labs and one community workshop to explore our future facility needs. The planning team was asked to envision future middle schools. What will students

and staff be doing? What will learning environments look like? How will schools and community collaborate? What will be the impact of technology? How can we create flexibility in learning environments? Based on the future projections, the planning team discussed the facility needs for 14 program areas. ? Core academics ? Special needs ? Library/media ? Foreign language ? Visual Arts ? Music ? Family & Consumer Science ? Technology Education ? Gifted ? Large group instruction ? Physical Education

? Administration ? Food service ? Custodial/maintenance. Important non-programmatic facility issues were also identified and addressed by the planning team, including technology, safety and security, site issues, green schools, aesthetics, and community use alternatives. Finally, the team constructed design options, revising the spatial relationships of the building layouts of both Boyce and Fort Couch.

The work of the planning team was presented to the community at a workshop and dialog session on May 5. Over 50 community members were present, giving input into the space

design considerations for our programmatic and nonprogrammatic planning needs.

The final report of the planning team was reviewed on May 28, and will be turned over to the district's architectural firm, Graves and McLean. The architects will work with the board to analyze the needs, develop options, and estimate project costs before making any final decisions regarding the scope of the project.

To inform the public about the status of the project, a link on the district's website has been dedicated to the middle school renovation and modernization project. Go to uscsd.k12.pa.us.

Congratulations, Madam President!

We must arm our students with the skills to compete in the global society. Our schools must civically engage our students and help them to understand the world in which they live. -- Barbara Bolas

Barbara Bolas, member of the Upper St. Clair Board of School Directors since 1985 and former past president of the Pennsylvania School Board Association, was elected the 61st president of the National School Boards Association (NSBA) at the organization's annual

conference in Orlando. Ms. Bolas is currently serving her second three-year term on the NSBA Board of Directors and fulfilled the office of president-elect last year.

Carrying the USCHS International Studies' "mascot" named "Globey" on her trip to Florida, Ms. Bolas presented a keynote address at the annual NSBA conference.

"Barbara Bolas is an outstanding leader who has consistently demonstrated a commitment to educating all children. She has served the public schools of Pennsylvania exceptionally well, and we are proud that she will be leading NSBA at

this critical time for public education," said Thomas J. Gentzel, PSBA executive director.

"We are extremely fortunate to have Barbara Bolas as our president during this crucial year as school districts deal with serious economic challenges, and we work toward the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act," said Anne L. Bryant, NSBA executive director. "She will be a powerful and effective voice for school board members and children as she travels across the country urging greater support for public education."

Barbara Bolas received a Bachelor of Science in

Elementary Education from the State University of New York at Brockport and did graduate course work at the University of Pittsburgh. She has held various teaching positions in Canada, New York, Wisconsin, and Venezuela. She has worked with Head Start, Latchkey, Girl Scout, and Safe Neighbor programs. In addition, she has been employed as a finance director and administration coordinator for fund-raising activities.

During her term as NSBA president, Ms. Bolas plans to emphasize the role of public education in strengthening global consciousness.

2 SCSt.EClN air E

News and awards from the Upper St. Clair Schools

K ' USHNER SKorner

evaluating the quality of a school district. Once again, Upper St. Clair is at or near the top in all of

Great news! For the

these areas.

third consecutive year, the Upper St Clair School District tops the rankings in the Pittsburgh Business Times 2008 Guide to Western Dr. Terrence Kushner Pennsylvania Schools. Based on student scores on the Pennsylvania System of Student Assessment (PSSA), Upper St. Clair is ranked first of the 501 Public School Districts in the state by the Business Times. This is truly a remarkable achievement.

For example, Upper St. Clair was positively recognized as a district offering foreign languages outside the realm of the traditional in preparing students for the global workforce. Roger Cranville, senior vice-president of global marketing for the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance notes that "324 foreign-owned companies have operations in the 10-county region of southwestern Pennsylvania, signaling a need for local schools to produce future employees who are multilingual and understand the cultures of other countries." Upper St. Clair is addressing

For the past four years, the Business Times has published a guide to education with information on the schools in the seven-county Pittsburgh

this need through the introduction of Chinese, Arabic, Asian Studies, and International Studies into the curriculum.

region. It offers a profile of all public, private and charter schools in the area, as well as a ranking of all public school districts across the entire state. The guide is aimed at helping parents to choose a school that is best for their children. Ethan Lott, researcher for the Business Times indicates that "picking a school could be daunting. It's easy for parents to be overwhelmed when trying to determine the best educational opportunity for their child or gauge how their district is performing." The Upper St Clair School District is portrayed in a very favorable light in the comprehensive Business Times report.

On an interesting side note, the staffing for the Chinese program at Upper St. Clair will be fully funded through the Confucius Institute at the University of Pittsburgh, a grant from The Freeman Foundation, and a contribution from the Community Foundation of Upper St. Clair. These resources provide us with the possibility of securing new revenue sources by broadcasting Chinese to other school districts. We were previously on the receiving end of a distance learning course in Chinese from Beattie Vo-Tech School, and we successfully piloted the broadcasting of Chinese from our high school to the Greenville School District during the

The Business Times notes that "these rankings don't determine which schools are best-- there is more to overall quality of a district than student test scores. Rather, the rankings show which students or districts have the highest scoring students." Test scores, however, do play a significant role in determining overall school performance and Upper St. Clair is at the top. Additionally, the Business Times has identified several

2007-08 school year. A room at the high school will be equipped this summer with state-of-the-art technology to enable us to both broadcast and receive distance learning courses and initiatives more effectively in the future. Through the help of Senator John Pippy, this project will be financed by a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Community and Economic Development.

other key factors that contribute to

In another key area, Upper St. Clair has the highest composite (mathematics, verbal and writing) SAT scores of all public schools in the seven-county area surveyed by the Business Times. Once again, this is a significant achievement. The Business Times report states, however, that "test scores are important, but they aren't the only measurement for choosing a school." Co-curricular activities and sports also play a significant role in the process. A Business Times survey of the local school districts reporting the number of Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) sponsored sports indicates that only North Allegheny, with a student population nearly double that of Upper St. Clair, offers more PIAA sports. Once again, Upper St. Clair is at the forefront of providing opportunities for students.

Finally, tax millage across Allegheny County shows Upper St. Clair comparing very favorably with other districts. While consistently rating as a top performer, Upper St. Clair's 22.45 millage ranks 18th of the 42 reporting county school districts in the Business Times survey. It appears that the return on investment in education is high in Upper St. Clair.

We realize that while the Business Times is only one source of information for the public in comparing schools, it is a valid, legitimate source. We also know from past research and from information gathered from parents new to the school district that a primary reason for moving to Upper St. Clair is the quality of the schools.

"If you don't move forward, you fall behind." This is the rough translation of the motto (Qui non proficit, deficit.) on the Upper St. Clair High School seal. In order to continue to provide the high quality education expected of the Upper St. Clair schools, we must continue to "move forward." Rest assured that we intend to do so with energy, enthusiasm, and efficiency.

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News and awards from the Upper St. Clair Schools

BRAVOS and KUDOS

The following staff and students were recognized at meetings of the Upper St.

Clair Board of School Directors on February, March, April

and May 2008.

Boyce and Fort Couch Middle Schools earned the "Don Eichhorn Schools to Watch" awards, presented by the Pennsylvania Middle Schools Association. Don Eichhorn organized the first middle school in Pennsylvania, Fort Couch Middle School. Dr. Eichhorn was passionate about the middle level and designed a program to meet the developmental needs of all students. This award is presented to the middle school that demonstrates the best middle level practices and commitment to the middle level philosophy. Boyce and Ft. Couch were the only two schools in the state to receive this recognition. Congratulations to our staff, students, and community for this outstanding achievement.

The Engineering Team earned 4th place out of 250 teams at the National Engineering Design Challenge in Washington, DC on February 15th. Team members are Matt Moretti, Andrew Lee, Brian Stevenson, Daina Allison, Matt Leahy, Brian Toth, Josh Gao, Mohit Kudaravalli, Alex Lippold, Trey Grunnagle, John Subosits, Scott Bussey, and Adam Chrissis.

Five Upper St. Clair High School students successfully

auditioned for two highly competitive area choral festivals.

These students were chosen to

participate in the PMEA District

1 Chorus Festival held at

Elizabeth High School on

February 6-8, 2008. Based on

second try-outs, invitations

were sent to all five singers to

perform in the PMEA Region I

Caroline Campanella and Mitchell Warmbein participated in PMEA States.

State Chorus Festival held at

Hickory High School on March

26-28, 2008. Congratulations were extended to Caroline

Campanella, sophomore, Soprano I (3rd chair), Sidney

Kushner, junior, Tenor II (3rd chair), Mitchell Warmbein,

senior, Tenor II (1st chair), Gage Colangelo, sophomore, Bass

I, and Tyler Lehman, senior, Bass II. The students are

members of the high school choirs and taught by Lorraine

Milovac.

For the second consecutive year, the Upper St. Clair Academic WorldQuest team placed first among 42 teams throughout the region. Academic WorldQuest is an annual knowledge-based competition focusing on international affairs, current events, the global economy, geography, and

4 SCSt.EClN air E

world history. Team members are seniors Tyler Lehman, Nathan Rubright, and Shawn Summers, and freshman Matthew Vernacchia. The teacher/coach is Pat Palazzolo. The event was held on Tuesday, February 5 at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall. The first-place team goes on to the National Academic WorldQuest competition in Washington, D.C. sponsored by the World Affairs Councils of America. The following finalists in the 2008 National Merit Scholarship Competition are commended: Scott G. Bussey, Jerome F. Grunnagle, Liyun Jin, Nicole E. Kish, James E. Kostas, Christine A. Lee, Angela Liu, Brindusa A Manolache, Silvia N. Manolache, Matthew B. Moretti, Noah N. Simmons, Kevin C. Su, Shawn F. Summers, and Brian D. Toth.

At the South West PA Odyssey Spontaneous Skills Tournament on Saturday, February 23, the following students were commended for their outstanding results: DIVISION II -- 1st Place -- Fort Couch (team 1) Kyle Austin, Jaime Lease, Joshua Simmons, Sydney Turnwald, and Helena Zatawski DIVISION II -- 1st Place -- Fort Couch (team 3) Andrew Belack, Lizzy Faeth, Dan Finkel, Michael Hartman, Garrett Himler, Katherine Kepler, and Michele Scherf DIVISION II -- 2nd Place -- Fort Couch (team 4) Paul Austin, Victoria Cavrich, Nicole Churbock, Rahul Das, Michael Gollihugh, Adam Snyder, and Paul VanRyzin DIVISION I -- 2nd Place -- Baker (team 4) Alican Demirci, Daniel Geffrey, Geet Punjabi, Priya Rajawat, Abigail Shoemaker, and Darrick Yee PRIMARY (K-2nd grade) -- 3rd Place -- Eisenhower Alex Brufsky, Ben Diffendal, Evan McClelland, Olivia McClelland, Lizzie Rankin, Rachel Shoemaker, Jeri Stoller On Saturday, March 8th, all 14 USC Odyssey of the Mind teams competed in the South West PA Regional Tournament. Of the 9 teams eligible for advancement (grades 3 and up), five USC teams qualified to compete at the Pennsylvania State Finals. Students earning this distinction are: High School -- 2nd Place (Division III, Tee Structure) * Riyana Bilimoria, Bridget Hubbard, Abby Massaro, Molly Patterson, Noah Simmons, and Rachel Simmons *also received most prestigious Odyssey creativity award to qualify a 2nd time for States! Fort Couch -- 1st Place (Division II, Tee Structure) Kyle Austin, Jaime Lease, Josh Simmons, Sydney Turnwald, and Helena Zatawski Fort Couch -- 2nd Place (Division II, DinoStories) Paul Austin, Victoria Cavrich, Nicole Churbock, Rahul Das, Michael Gollihugh, Adam Snyder, and Paul VanRyzin Boyce -- 1st Place (Division II, Eccentrics) Brenna Carse, Joshua Kane, Rishabh Kewalramani, Shubham Kokkula, Nikhil Narayanan, Genevieve Tankosich, and Aditya Thakur

BRAVOS AND KUDOS continuing on page 5

News and awards from the Upper St. Clair Schools

Streams -- 1st Place (Division I, Road Rally) Brendan Allen, Connor Byrnes, Liam Carse, Neal Sharma, Jimmy Vitcavage, and Tia Watts

2nd Place: Chenhao Yang 3rd place (tie): Patrick Myron and Shaokang Yuan 4th place: Owen Meiman

Further distinction was bestowed on USC, as one of the Odyssey of the Mind coaches, Jan Komara, received the OMER award in recognition of exemplary dedication to her team. Jan is a five-year Odyssey coach of her son's team. Luke Kwiecinski is currently a Fort Couch student.

Pat Palazzolo, Gifted Education Coordinator at Fort Couch Middle School and Upper St. Clair High School, was the sole female among over 25 presenters at the 2007 AMSAT North America Space Symposium held in Pittsburgh October 26-28. Presenters and attendees came from all over the United States and Canada, as well as from Europe, South America, and South Africa. Her paper, "Launching Dreams: the Long-term Impact of SAREX and ARISS on Student Achievement" was published in the symposium proceedings. The paper featured accomplishments of Upper St. Clair students with whom Pat has worked since 1989. The national amateur radio magazine, CQVHF, has now published Pat's paper as one of the articles in the current issue. A photo of a space education event that Pat organized at Fort Couch in 1990 is featured on the front cover. In addition, NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center has asked for permission to put the paper on its website.

Four Fort Couch students competed in the Annual Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest Showcase of Finalists held on February 18. Samantha Dreyer performed "Julia" from The Two Gentleman of Verona. Maya Craig, Daniel Finkel, and Anna Rosati performed "Romeo," "Juliet," and "Nurse" from Romeo and Juliet.

High School science teacher Dawn Mostowy, along with faculty members from the University of Pittsburgh "GeneTeam," has provided high-tech microscopes for the high school biology students to do inquiry-based genetics experiments. The students received instruction, materials, and equipment that resulted from Dawn's work with this program. In addition, Dawn has been asked to further her work with the "Gene Team," becoming an advisor to the program as they continue to train more teachers and students.

The following Fort Couch Middle School students were recognized for placing in the "Top 5" for the Pennsylvania Math League Contest on February 26, 2008. 8th Grade 1st place: Akhil Venkatesh 2nd place (tie): Maya Chandrasekaran and Poorwa Godbole 3rd place (tie): Jared Horvitz and Vijay Viswanathan 7th Grade 1st place: Megan Adamo

The Pennsylvania State Modern Language Association (PSMLA) awarded the PSMLA Exemplary Program (PEP) Award to the Upper St. Clair Foreign Language Department. This award is based on a set of eleven benchmarks. The USC program reached eight of those eleven benchmarks, including high enrollment and performance-based assessments across levels, and achieved the "Golden Globe," which is the highest level of the PEP award. Congratulations went to the Foreign Language Curriculum Leader, Deanna Baird, and her staff for this achievement.

Sophomore Kevin Egeland, a member of Troop 366, completed his Eagle Scout award. His project was to renovate a preschool exercise room. Kevin was honored at a recognition ceremony on April 27.

Streams principal Dr. Claire Miller won the William Alexander Award, bestowed by the Pennsylvania Middle School Association for significant contributions to middle level education. This award is not given annually, but only when someone has been determined to have merited the honor.

The following 7th through 9th graders participated in the PMEA District 1 JHS/MS Orchestra Festival held at the Upper St. Clair High School Theatre on April 5 and 11, 2008. USCHS Orchestra members (freshmen) Yudi Chen, violin Jessica Cohen, viola Masashi Iida, violin Joe Merchant, bassoon Jon Phillips, violin Vijay Venkatesan, violin Fort Couch MS Orchestra members Elizabeth Altherr, viola Joe Ardolino, string bass Brooke Boehmer, French Horn Kathy Chen, violin Michelle Hoch, flute Beth Mittelman, violin Rachel Szucs, violin Akhil Venkatesh, violin Dan Zora, violin

BRAVOS AND KUDOS continuing on page 8

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