Former Schenley star signs with Marshall - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review The up-and-down recruiting saga of former Schenley basketball star DeAndre Kane is over.Kane went to 13th grade, a prep school in North Carolina. Why in the world can't we have a prep year option, a 13th grade, in our city -- as part of the new Pittsburgh International School, the IB School?
Kane, the leading scorer in Western Pennsylvania as a high school senior, signed a national letter of intent to attend Marshall.
We could. We should.
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You have to call it what it is: those prep schools are diploma/eligibility mills. I don't want to speak specifically to Kane's prep school, but I'd have a hard time imagining it's anything different.
So the question then becomes, why can't we have a diploma mill where local athletes can get eligible for college right here in Pittsburgh? I'm sure the coaches at Pitt - and Duquesne and Robert Morris - would probably appreciate not having to drive to upstate New York or North Carolina or Valley Forge to recruit the kids they placed in prep school.
Not only do the local coaches benefit -- but SOME of the local students would benefit too. Our students have to go to NY, North Carolina, Florida, etc. For some, it is not in the realm of possible. Some are clueless. And, by gosh -- the clueless are the ones who most need it, don't you think.
For a kid, an extra year can mean the world. Do we go the extra mile here -- or ship em out?
I say, it would be great -- and easy -- to do it here too.
For sure, the kind of thing you're talking about is good for kids who need that extra year. Most of my exposure to post-graduate has been in the realm of athletics, where kids go to the prep schools to get eligible for college, but in the end it's a joke, with the football coaches teaching classes and nobody really taking education seriously. Sure, the kids end up getting to college, so I guess the ends justify the means, but I think there are different levels of prep schools.
To answer your main point, though, yes, it would be nice to have some post-graduate options in Pittsburgh for students who need it.
Good points.
It is NOT my intention of putting out a prep year option (13th grade) as part of Pgh Public Schools that is lame and meaningless. Sure, it should have some flexibility, but I don't want to waste anyone's time. We already have schools with sagging expectations and less than sterling reputations. Let's not corner that market too.
Rather, a 13th grade in the I.B. school would be different and be with some demands -- offering a bridge to college success for students.
Furthermore, getting to college is just the next step, but the the end game. Staying in college is where PPS kids are really suffering. Getting into great colleges and being excellent scholars, as well as scholar-athletes, is what we need to aspire to with this program / school addition.
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