Vote on closing Schenley High School delayed - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Vote on closing Schenley High School delayed - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "City schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt said he delayed a vote on closing Schenley High School to give supporters time to raise money to fix it and to study if it would be cheaper in the long run to repair the structure.

In other Schenley news:

The topic of this evening's PSCC was scheduling for next year's classes. Mrs. Facaros facilitated the meeting with counselors Dr. Dillard and Mrs. Martin. Sample course selection sheets for incoming 9th graders, 10 through 12, and IB Diploma Programmed Course Requirements were available. Counselors will be meeting with each student to plan schedules for next year; students will bring schedules home to be signed.

Grades and records of 10th grade students will be reviewed carefully before students sign for IB courses. An attempt will be made to coordinate the block schedules with non-IB classes for flexibility if the student has difficulty with the IB classes. The goal of scheduling is to find the right level of class for each student.

Schedules for next year are tentative, depending on the outcome of the school board's vote next week on the move to Reizenstein, the expansion of Frick to include 9th grade, the move of 9th grade students to Milliones for university prep, and the move of the tech program to Peabody. For example, if the moves do go through, it will eliminate culinary arts as an elective for all but the Peabody students. With the 9th grade in the basement of Frick, the food prep rooms will be eliminated; Reizenstein does not have facilities for food prep either.

Discussion on proposed moves: As usual when there are Schenley parents, there was an informal discussion of the proposed moves for next year. Time is passing very quickly to have classes in place for next September. As stated above, certain aspects of the schedule will have to be changed depending on the location of various students. If the 9th grade is to remain at Frick, renovations will be needed to the basement floor which currently houses the kitchen, sewing, industrial arts classrooms. After the location of students is determined, the placement of teachers will have to be determined. Teachers who have been trained for the IB program will have priority over teachers who have not been trained. At this time, it is planned that the 9th graders at all "Schenley" sites will follow the high school bell schedules. Teachers, especially world language teachers, will probably travel between the two IS sites. It is possible that buses will transport students for advanced math and after school activities although those details have not been worked out.

A parent requested and Mrs. Facaros will try to arrange a tour of the Reizenstein facility for those who would like to tour the building. This will need to be arranged before any renovations are begun on the building.

Although this was a short meeting, there was a lot of information. If anyone who was at the meeting has anything to add, please email me and I will make corrections/additions.

Next PSCC meeting: March 19. Topic: IB/IS
Please put the April 16 PSCC meeting on your calendar when Duquesne University will be doing a parent evaluation of High School Reform. We need parental input.

amy moore

Great, another institution doing an evaluation on high school reform after the deal has been cut. The evaluation needs to happen in April -- for changes in say 2010 and unfolding to 2014.