The end of the 2018-2019 school
year is less than a month away, and it has been a great year, filled with many
accolades and accomplishments for our students and staff, as highlighted in
each issue of this publication.
While we are looking forward to
Graduation for the Bethel Park High School Class of 2019 on June 8, we have
also been busy this year preparing for the 2019-2020 school year.
One of the things we did at the
end of last school year was to have the 2018-2109 school year schedules ready
for all Bethel Park High School students before the school year ended.
It was a tremendous amount of work
for our staff to complete this task at what is undoubtedly the busiest time of
the school year, but the benefits were many, as our eighth grade students were
able to walk their schedules during a Move Up Day activity that was held at the
end of last school year. Eighth graders were able to visit the High School
during the school day and walk their schedule, to familiarize themselves with
the building. It was a great way to help our incoming freshmen transition to
their high school years.
For our upper classmen, having
their schedules before the end of the school year also helps them--as well as
our Counseling Department--with any scheduling issues that might arise. The
early release of the schedules allows enough time for any schedule issues to be
corrected well in advance of the beginning of the school year.
We are pleased to be able to do
this again this school year, and I want to thank our High School Administration
and Counseling Department for their efforts to make this possible for our
students. We are looking to provide incoming Independence Middle School seventh
and eighth graders with their schedules before the end of the school year as
well. I would also like to thank the IMS Administrators and Counselors for
their efforts to accelerate scheduling for our seventh and eighth graders.
The District has had a
long-standing partnership with Community College of Allegheny County and the
University of Pittsburgh, and we are continuing to look for ways to expand our
College In High School course offerings. As you know, the cost of college is
escalating at a rapid pace, and this partnership allows our students to be able
to work at a college level in high school and earn college credit at a
significantly reduced cost to them or their parents. We continue to look for
ways to bring higher level classes into our curriculum.
Additionally, we are pleased to be
one of 221 Pennsylvania school districts to be selected for a $35,000 PAsmart
Targeted K12 Computer Science and STEM Education Grant. Our grant will be used
to provide staff training at Neil Armstrong Middle School and our elementary
schools to make sure our students are exposed to computer science, as our
librarians will be able to integrate computer science activities into the
stories the students are reading as part of their library curriculum. We
believe this early exposure will encourage students to enroll in more computer
science classes when they get to the high school level. You can read more about
this exciting opportunity in a separate story in this issue.
I want to congratulate the
students and staff who were involved with the musical productions this spring
at Bethel Park High School and Independence Middle School. Both shows were
wonderful productions and the talent level of our students at both levels is
absolutely amazing. If you were able to attend either or both of the
productions, you know what I mean. If you were unable to see either show, you
owe it to yourself to try and catch one of the 2020 performances. You will be
glad that you did.
I also want to congratulate the
students who will be graduating on June 8. We are proud of your accomplishments
and we wish you well as you begin this next chapter in your lives.
As always, it is an honor to serve
this community and your children.
This message appeared in the May 2019 issue of the Bethel Park Chronicles.