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MacKenzy Linger looks for her locker at the start of  kindergarten orientation at  Bon Meade Elementary in the Moon School District.
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Students in Pittsburgh's west suburbs head back to school

Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette

Students in Pittsburgh's west suburbs head back to school

The school year is underway throughout the West suburbs. Here’s our first installment of our back-to-school roundup of new classes, personnel, schedules and curriculum:

Carlynton

Students returned to classes Thursday.

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Over the summer, a new roof was installed at Carnegie Elementary School in Carnegie.

Crafton Elementary students have a new principal, Marsha Burleson. She formerly worked at Propel School in Braddock Hills.

The district has created the Cougar Collaboration Learning Center, a new multi-media learning lab at the junior/senior high school. It features computer and multi-media work stations with software and enrichment materials.

Officials said the purpose of the center is “to encourage and promote the infusion of digital literacy with a platform for exploration and expansion of creative solutions via critical thinking and problem solving.”

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Administrators have announced that a new district website will be unveiled soon. The site will be accessible from a smartphone. It also will provide a more efficient alert and notification system.

The curriculum has been upgraded and revised districtwide to meet all Pennsylvania Core Standards. Through curriculum mapping, it has been refined to prepare all students to achieve in all areas of academia. 

Kim Lawrence

Cornell

In the elementary school, a classroom is being transformed into the Cornell Maker Space, where students will participate in hands-on activities and make things.

The Maker Space is possible through a $20,000 STEAM grant. It’s funded through the Grable Foundation.The grant request was written and submitted by Robert Morris University, which is part of the Ohio River Consortium, which includes the Cornell, Moon Area, Avonworth and Quaker Valley school districts. 

The district, which serves Coraopolis and Neville Island, has about 645 students in grades K-12.

The high school has a new principal, Douglas Szokoly. For the past five years, he has been the unit principal at Mt. Lebanon High School. 

Mr. Szokoly earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from California University of Pennsylvania. He received his principal and curriculum certificates from the University of Pittsburgh, where he is currently working toward his doctorate.

Moon Area

Students returned to school Monday. Elementary students and their parents attended a school bus orientation at their prospective schools.

Changes at the elementary level include renovated J.A. Allard and J. H. Brooks elementary schools and a change in grade configuration so that primary (K-2) students attend Brooks and Bon Meade schools and intermediate grade children (grades 3-4) attend Allard and McCormick schools.

R. Hyde Elementary was closed at the end of last year to be converted into a resource center.

Both of the renovated school buildings underwent a $26.2 million makeover that included a complete overhaul of the heating, ventilating, air conditioning, plumbing and electrical systems as well as new windows and roofs.

Allard has had a gymnasium and main entrance vestibule added.

The new grade configuration enables the implementation of a multi-tier model of instruction for math and English language arts for all elementary students, according to district officials.

Students will be instructed each day by their regular teacher. Following the main lesson, students will be grouped based on academic needs to provide more focused remediation, continued instruction and enrichment activities. Students will move from one group to another as their academic needs change.

Caroline Johns, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, said the model “enables more focused learning to occur within the classroom that better meets the individual needs of all students.

“We’ve previously accomplished this through pull-out services for both ends of the spectrum. Now our teachers will be able to meet these needs within the classroom every day in both math and English language arts.”

In addition, a $40,000 Project Lead The Way grant enables the implementation of additional STEM programming in grades 3-4.

Third-graders will study two stability and motion units: Science of Flight, which focuses on the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object, and Forces and Interactions, which focuses on the effects of a force on an object.

Fourth-graders will participate in two energy units: Collisions, focusing on the effects of a collision, and Conversion, identifying energy conversion in everyday situations.

At the middle and high schools, students will have an additional guidance counselor. The high school college and career counselor will focus on post-graduation research and planning with students and families. 

Sonja Reis

Our Lady of Fatima

Technology and safety top the list of noteworthy enhancements for the 2015-16 school year, said principal Linda Liberatore.

Returning students will notice faster Internet speeds and increased Wi-Fi access now that access points have been installed in every classroom.

As part of the school’s five-year technology plan, additional tablet computers have been purchased for students in the primary grades and laptops for upper elementary students. Technology will be shared at stations that have been set up in the classrooms.

Future purchases include a server for the mobile lab and desktop computers for the stationary lab.

Safety updates include the application of a laminate material to the school’s glass front doors to make them shatterproof and the installation of security cameras throughout the building.

Custom-made locks were fabricated for every door in the school that slide under the door from the inside of the classroom and spring-lock to prevent intruders from entering. Each classroom is also equipped with a safety kit that contains supplies that would be needed in a lockdown situation.

In-service training by a local emergency management team has also better equipped teachers to handle emergency situations.

“It makes the parents feel a little more comfortable,” Ms. Liberatore said.

A future goal for the school is the addition of a STEM, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics, program and lab.

First day of school for students was Monday. Enrollment for grades K-8 is about 150. 

Shannon Nass

First Published: August 28, 2015, 4:00 a.m.

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MacKenzy Linger looks for her locker at the start of kindergarten orientation at Bon Meade Elementary in the Moon School District.  (Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette)
Hadley helps her father, Chris Bereznay, carry a Little Tikes kitchen unit as they arrive for kindergarten orientation at Bon Meade Elementary. The kitchen is to be used for a discovery room at the school.  (Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette)
Tiffany arrives with her mother, Katie Hainaut, for her kindergarten orientation at Bon Meade Elementary.  (Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette)
Tiffany arrives with her mother, Katie Hainaut, for her kindergarten orientation at Bon Meade Elementary.  (Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette)
Tristan, 5, and Peyton, 3, pose for a picture with their father, Lanny Stottmeiser in front of Bon Meade Elementary, where Tristan is starting kindergarten. Lanny is with the U.S. Army Reserve.  (Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette)
First grader Ariana Reed arrives at Bon Meade Elementary on the school bus.  (Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette)
Braden Wildasin, 5, pulls up the straps of his new backpack as he arrives for kindergarten orientation at Bon Meade Elementary.  (Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette)
Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette
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