Friday, April 26, 2013
U.S. News and World Report's annual high school rankings are out and Woodland Hills High School didn't make the list.
Woodland Hills High School is unranked in U.S. News and World Report's annual rankings of America's best high schools released this week. The number one high school in Pennsylvania is Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School in Philadelphia. The highest ranked school in the Pittsburgh area was Upper St. Clair High School, which was ranked No. 7. Schools are evaluated based on overall student performance on state tests, Advanced Placement tests and International Baccalaureate exams; rankings also take into account how well students educate black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students, according to a release from U.S. News. The rankings are designed to capture how well high schools educate all of their students and…
Thursday, April 25, 2013
The Woodland Hills musical brings the scariest comedy to the stage.
Woodland Hills High School's spring musical "Young Frankenstein" is coming alive beginning this weekend! The school's department of performing arts presents the show on April 26 and 27, and May 2 to May 4 at 8 p.m. Saturday matinees will be at 1. Tickets cost $12. The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein is based on the 1974 comedy film of the same name written by Brooks and Gene Wilder. A parody of the horror film genre, this monster new musical is comedy in which Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, a young neurosurgeon, inherits the Transylvanian castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor von Frankenstein. Senior Marika Countouris is playing the role of Elizabeth Benning, Frederick Frankenstein's fiancee. "She only likes …
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
The event is scheduled for Thursday, April 25.
Propel Braddock Hills High School is hosting its first annual Financial Literacy Event from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 25. The evening will be full of financial literacy presentations and prizes to help families plan for a stable financial future. Charice Thomas will be on hand to talk about the in-school banking program. Officials from CCAC and Point Park University will speak to parents and students about financing college and careers in finance. Dollar Bank representatives will conduct personal finance presentations. In addition, juniors and seniors can participate in banking modules for scholarship opportunities. The grand prize scholarship is $2,000 and two runner-ups will receive $1,500. Scholarship winners will have to attend …
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Fred Applegate, musical theater actor, visited the young cast.
Woodland Hills High School musical cast members got some tips from a pro last week. Fred Applegate—an American actor, singer and dancer—surprised students while he was in town performing in the "Anything Goes" national tour. Applegate is an original cast member of "Young Frankenstein," this year's Woodland Hills musical. Applegate played the roles of Inspector Kemp and the Blind Hermit. Students gave him a sneak peek of what they've been working on, performing several of the musical's numbers. "The energy was great," he said. "This is so exciting." Applegate, in turn, offered them advice. "Do stuff," he said. "If you have the opportunity to perform, do it. " Forest Hills-Regent Square Patch will have a musical preview later this week. Stay…
SLB Radio Productions, Inc. and The Environmental Charter School at Frick Park team up to create program combining audio and writing, release student-produced audio features for public listening.
SLB Radio Productions, Inc. and The Environmental Charter School at Frick Park have completed an innovative in-school partnership that combines audio and radio, persuasive writing, self-expression and environmental issues. Between March 7 and March 20, SLB worked with 72 second graders in three classes at ECS, integrating the tools of radio broadcasting and audio production into the lower school’s persuasive writing unit. After learning about the use of microphones, mixers and digital recording and editing, students had the opportunity to make original audio recordings about themselves and their ideas for improving the environment. Students wrote and recorded short autobiographies, and discussed and recorded environmental issues and topics…
Friday, April 19, 2013
Families are invited to learn about the curriculum and tour the school on April 28.
East Catholic School in Forest Hills will host an informational open house for families who are exploring educational options for their children in grades Pre-K through eight. The open house will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 28, in the school cafeteria. The building's address is 2001 Ardmore Blvd. An informal program is planned with school tours and an opportunity to discuss grade level curriculum. Admission information will be available including details about tuition, financial aid, after-school care and extracurricular activities. Families will be able to meet some of the teachers and administrative staff. East Catholic offers elementary and middle school academic programs that are accredited by the Middle States …
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
In honor of Americans with Disabilities Month, the Steel Wheelers will play against the WHHS Wolverines on Friday.
Students in the Woodland Hills School District are celebrating Americans with Disabilites Month with a special event this week. Shaffer Elementary School's sixth-graders are sponsoring a wheelchair rugby game between the Steelwheelers, a local organization that offers athletic opportunities for people with physical disabilities, and the Woodland Hills High School Wolverines on Friday, April 19. The game will be held at the high school at 7 p.m. The cost to attend is one can of food per person, which will benefit the school's can food drive. Shaffer received a grant through the Woodland Hills Foundation that provided them the opportunity to listen to guest speakers, attend field trips and the opportunity to work with people who have …
Friday, April 12, 2013
The school board is expected to vote on conducting a superintendent search.
Woodland Hills School District officials are considering beginning an official search for a superintendent. On Wednesday, the Woodland Hills School Board discussed possibly approving a search at the April 17 legislative meeting. The new superintendent's three or five-year term would most likely begin July 31. But some board members aren't in favor of conducting a search at all. The board didn't extend former superintendent Walter Calinger's contract at the end of 2012—he had been on medical leave since April 2012. Assistant Superintendent Alan Johnson has been acting as deputy superintendent since. School board member Jeff Hanchett said going out for a search would be "very unfair" to Johnson. "He's worked very hard during this period of …
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
One Pittsburgh woman says so. Forest Hills-Regent Square Patch readers chime in.
An opinion piece recently published in the Post-Gazette has created quite the buzz on Facebook. Kathy Newman, an English professor and mother of a third grader, wrote that she is having her son "opt out" of this year's PSSA because the stressful tests "warp the educational environment." Her son attends Pittsburgh's Linden Elementary School. We asked our Forest Hill-Regent Square Patch readers on Facebook if they support Newman's decision and what they think of Pennsylvania's standardized tests, and we received a mixed bag of reaction. Two of the readers support Newman. "A teacher's, a class', a school's success or failure should not rise or fall on one specific test when there are multiple intelligences," Heidi McDonald wrote. Another …
Saturday, April 6, 2013
The Pittsburgh Business Times list the top schools in western Pennsylvania.
Woodland Hills School District remains No. 98 this year out of 104 schools on the Pittsburgh Business Times' annual western Pennsylvania school rankings. The newspaper released its list of western Pennsylvania school district rankings Friday. The rankings are based on three years of PSSA test scores in math, reading and science, according to the newspaper. Districts ranked below Woodland Hills include McKeesport Area, Sto-Rox, Aliquippa, Clairton City, Wilkinsburg and Duquesne City. Below are the top 10 districts in western PA:
TwoFists
4:16 pm on Tuesday, April 30, 2013
First of all Frank, I don't whine and I don't speak in code. It's been over 30 years now and we're still at the bottom 15% of the state. Was it really worth destroying the other districts for "diversity"? But, I do offer solutions too. You want to fix WHHS in 3 easy steps? 1. shut down the funding to all of the sports programs and not let them spend millions of dollars on more fields until they … more ›