Thursday, February 7, 2013
The meeting is for any elementary parents who are interested in learning about the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program at Streams.
Upper St. Clair School District will hold an informational meeting for elementary parents who wish to learn more about the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program. The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on April 4 in the Streams Elementary School gym. The 2013-14 school year will be the first time IB kindergarten is offered in the Upper St. Clair School District. The move comes as Streams is converting to an all-IB school. There is a waitlist that is maintained annually for the PYP program. Due to space limitations, preference is given to students whose home school is Streams. The deadline for PYP application forms (K-4) is April 25. Parents of students in the Streams attendance area who do not wish to enroll in PYP may enroll …
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Enrollment at Streams Elementary has stayed the same since converting first and second grades into all IB.
The Upper St. Clair School Board is examining the enrollment at the district's three elementary schools. Superintendent Patrick O'Toole said Eisenhower Elementary "can still take some more students, but not many more. "They're full," he said. The board is working to make sure there are no overcrowding issues when new homes and neighborhoods are constructed in Upper St. Clair, including the recently approved Bedner Estates subdivision that will have more than 130 single family houses. Currently, there are 538 students at Eisenhower, 445 at Baker and 495 at Streams. In the last six years, the number of students at Eisenhower increased by 42. At Baker the increase was 12 students and there was a 47-student increase at Streams. The first and …
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
More than 100 residents attended the four-hour school board meeting Monday night.
The Upper St. Clair School Board voted Monday night to convert Streams Elementary to an all-International Baccalaureate school in a phase-in approach. The vote was 7-1. Board member Harry Kunselman voted against the recommendation because of budget uncertainties. "It's premature at best to adopt the resolution given our current (financial) situation," he said. "It ties our hands too much." More than 100 residents attended the four-hour meeting that took place in the high school's LGI room. Many of the residents who spoke at the meeting said they were against keeping the IB program in the school district. Some said they thought the program should only be available in private schools and didn't think taxpayers should have to pay for it. …
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
The traditional program would be phased out over the next three years.
Administrators formally recommended Monday night the school board vote to convert into an all-International Baccalaureate school. If the board adopts the recommendation, students who want to be in the traditional program would be moved to over the next three years. In the 2012-13 school year, first and second graders in the traditional program would move to Baker. In 2013-14, traditional third graders would move and the kindergarten program would be converted to PYP. And finally in 2014-15, fourth graders would move. Superintendent Patrick O'Toole provided two main reasons for the decision. Number one, students are being offered more and more options when it comes to education. Upper St. Clair School District is in competition with private…
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The traditional program may be 'phased out.'
The decision on whether to make Streams Elementary School an all-IB school will be made in February at the earliest. Superintendent Patrick O'Toole had previously thought a decision would be made in January. He told school board members Monday night that all curriculum recommendations will be delayed until February because of the amount of work that has had to go in creating an early preliminary budget and the process to apply for a state tax exception. Dr. O'Toole said he would be contacting the International Baccalaureate Organization to see if they would allow Upper St. Clair School District to phase out the traditional program at Streams. That means students currently enrolled in the traditional program would be able to remain at …
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
The latest news from the Upper St. Clair School Board.
Superintendent Patrick O'Toole presented Primary Years Program student data Monday night as the Upper St. Clair School Board hopes to decide whether to make Streams Elementary an all IB school by the end of January. PYP is the International Baccalaureate program designed for elementary students. It is currently available at Streams Elementary. Dr. O'Toole said keeping both the traditional and PYP programs at Streams has become operationally difficult. The board must decide whether to abandon the PYP program or make PYP the only program available at Streams. O'Toole said 58 percent of students at Streams were enrolled in PYP in the 2007-08 school year. Currently, he said 81 percent of students are enrolled in PYP. Looking strictly at first …
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
The Upper St. Clair School District must decide whether to make Streams Elementary an all-IB school.
The audience was divided in opinion Monday night at the Upper St. Clair School District's second meeting held to discuss the possibility of converting Streams Elementary School into an all-International Baccalaureate school. Nearly 50 people attended the "open microphone" meeting held at Boyce Middle School, according to the sign-in sheets. Voices grew loud and audience members argued at times, as Superintendent Patrick O'Toole warned, "This will be civil and respectful or it will be over." Some residents attended the meeting to speak out against the IB program, other residents came to support the IB program and the rest of the crowd seemed as if they were simply trying to figure out if they should enroll their children in the IB program …
Michele Baum
12:08 pm on Wednesday, October 10, 2012
No parent or child is forced against his or her will to participate in IB. And while it may be true that the program is a division point, it is just one of many factors that students use to determine who's "cool" and who isn't. In my day, those factors were primarily family wealth/community prominence, perceived physical attractiveness, sports and clubs -- not necessarily in that order. Some … more ›