Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The meeting at Woodland Hills High School auditorium begins at 7 p.m.
Woodland Hills School Board will hold a special legislative meeting at 7 p.m. tonight (Wednesday) to consider and possibly vote on the sale of administration building and discuss the possible move of the administrative staff to offices in Braddock. The meeting will take place at the Woodland Hills High School auditorium, 2550 Greensburg Pike, Churchill. Speakers were required to register by Jan. 22 but public comment will be taken at the end of the meeting. The meeting will include presentations by Substitute Superintendent Alan Johnson and TREK Development Group of Pittsburgh, which has offered to buy the administration building at 2430 Greensburg Pike for $625,000. The group would raze the former Churchill Elementary School building, now…
Friday, January 18, 2013
January is School Board Director Recognition Month.
In this day and age, school board members not only have to contend with hiring staff and deciding curriculum issues, but struggle with tightened state funding and fluctuating local revenue. Substitute Woodland Hills Superintendent Alan Johnson pointed out the tasks that face district school board members as he took time to recognize their efforts during Wednesday's board meeting. Johnson noted that board members are unpaid and give what's probably more than 20 hours each month to serving the district. Woodland Hills board members are: President Regis Driscoll, Vice President Marilyn Messina, Robert Clanagan, Brian K. Estocin, Colleen Filiak, Jeffrey Hanchett, Fred Kuhn, Tara Reis and Robert Tomasic. In addition to receiving a certificate, …
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Maddy Adams responded to last week's afterschool brawls in Swissvale by posting her own take on Woodland Hills on WPXI-TV's Facebook page.
When you hear the words "champion" and "Woodland Hills" in the same sentence, the first thought is one of the high school sports teams. That was not the case Wednesday night when Woodland Hills School Board lauded high school senior Maddy Adams for being a champion of the district—using the written word. Substitute Superintendent Alan Johnson did not directly address the brawls that broke out in Swissvale last week as Woodland Hills High School students exited their bus near the corner of South Braddock and Woodstock avenues. He had issued a statement last week regarding the matter. But he did point out the "inspired response" to the incident that Adams wrote on WPXI-TV's Facebook page on Jan. 10. Her post, as of early Thursday morning, …
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Though Woodland Hills has had good secondary school security since a shooting more than two decades ago, the district is looking at its elementary buildings in a different light.
"On this day though, the sounds of people walking and talking in the hall were interrupted by five loud popping sounds directly outside my classroom. To me, it sounded like balloons popping. It was not balloons. Either Mr. Nelson saw what was happening or was familiar with the sound of gunfire and immediately closed the door and put a rolling cart with a TV in front of the door. Although I remember the pops, I don't recall hearing any screams. While we had no idea what was happening or happened outside the classroom, Mr. Nelson made sure that we didn’t go near the door. Although my memory about this event 20 years ago is a little fuzzy, I believe that he called the front office to let them know that he heard what could have been gunfire. …
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
The district found itself dealing with issues stemming from two days of afterschool fights in Swissvale
On a day when Woodland Hills School District should have had all attention on the administration of the Keystone Exams, officials found themselves sidetracked by fights that occurred after some high school students departed their buses in Swissvale on Monday and Tuesday. Substitute Superintendent Alan Johnson posted a statement on the district's website Wednesday referencing the large altercation after school on Tuesday, Jan. 8, at a school bus stop at South Braddock and Woodstock avenues in Swissvale. "The board of school directors and administration of the district are appalled at this incident and we wish to assure all members of the Woodland Hills community and all friends of the Woodland Hills School District that the persons …
The new tests in algebra I, biology and literature replace the controversial PSSA exams.
Many Woodland Hills students will be doing some brainwork this morning as they begin to take the Keystone Exams for the first time. All 10th- and 11th-grade students will be taking three exams this week and next. All seniors and freshmen (except those ninth-grade students who have completed the algebra I class and are taking the algebra exam this week), will run on a three-hour delay schedule on the days the tests are administered. According to state Department of Education, Keystone Exams will be used for two purposes: But this year, district Deputy Superintendent Alan Johnson isn't really thinking about AYP status. He said the district's focus is on getting administration of the test together—including changing the schedule for students …
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The board will begin a search to replace Dr. Walter Calinger—and they might look no further than Dept. Supt. Alan Johnson.
Woodland Hills School Board voted Wednesday to notify Superintendent Walter Calinger that his contract will not be renewed and the board intends to find someone else to serve in that position. The Post-Gazette reports that Alan Johnson, deputy superintendent who has been heading the district while Calinger has been on leave, indicated an interest in the top job. Calinger has been on medical leave since April. His contract expires July 1, 2013. Calinger had applied for the Steel Valley superintendent job this year but was not hired. For details from the Post-Gazette's meeting story, click here. _______________________ Forest Hills-Regent Square Patch is on Facebook and on Twitter. Don't forget to sign up for our daily email newsletter …
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Local hip-hop artist Palermo Stone reconnects with Woodland Hills High School art students.
Palermo Stone has grown from being a Woodland Hills High School kid messing around making music for fun, to a well-recognized recording artist with a handful of successful CDs stuffed in his back pocket. Now the 23-year-old, up-and-comer in the Pittsburgh hip-hop scene has gone home to enlist the help of WHHS students to create original album artwork for a new CD, "RARE," set to release Dec. 21. “I know many of the students are hip-hop fans, and I want to help them see that they can use hip-hop for positive and even educational purposes to better their lives and the lives of those around them, like I have,” Stone said. Stone, who used to be part of Mac Miller’s crew, is part of a collective art movement and small label he created called …
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Next week the board will discuss financial matters, personnel changes and the use of the school's facilities.
Woodland Hills School Board discussed issues of finance, personnel and school’s facilities at Wednesday's agenda setting meeting. At the Oct. 11 regular meeting, the board will discuss the approval of the activity funds from August. The activities funds were of particular interest to board member Colleen Filiak, who noticed an account with a negative balance. “We continue to have a negative balance in one of the high school class accounts. Is that being addressed?” Filiak asked her fellow board members. According to Filiak, a class account held a negative balance of $517, something that she said is theoretically not supposed to happen after a class has graduated and they can no longer use the money they raised. Joyce Sullivan, the board …
40.440337
-79.855726
Woodland Hills School District
2430 Greensburg Pike, Pittsburgh, PA
/articles/woodland-hills-school-board-sets-agenda-for-next-week-s-meeting
1603770
/locations/7958530
Loretta Wilkinson
5:44 am on Monday, February 4, 2013
A big part of the problem is the inactivity.............of Alan Johnson. THAT'S the real problem! more ›