Education briefs
AG to present student fair Albert Gallatin Area School District will host the first A.G. Transition Awareness Service-Provider Fair Monday in the high school auditorium.
The program for students will be held 9 to 10 a.m. and the program for parents will be held 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. The program will focus on parents of students with special needs and all parents are encouraged to attend.
Speakers are from the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, Career Link, Goodwill Industries, Fayette MH/MR and Social Security. Informational tables will be available featuring a variety of organizations.
Vo-tech schedules Car Cruise
Fayette County Area Vocational-Technical School at 175 Georges Fairchance Road, Uniontown, will be hold the third annual Car Cruise in conjunction with the semi-annual open house on Wednesday, May 8, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.
In case of inclement weather, the event will be rescheduled for Wednesday, May 15.
The first 50 cars will receive a dash plaque. Trophies will be awarded for outstanding car categories. In addition, two new categories have been added to the car cruise – People’s Choice, to be voted on by the visitors to the school, and Contestant’s Choice, to be voted on by the Car Cruise contestants.
The open house will feature information about the school and its various programs. Tours of some of the shops will be made available to the guests. Door prizes will be given.
There will be booths of interest to the visitors and food booths located on the grounds. Activities include a teacher dunk-tank, weather permitting.
Head Start applications sought
Head Start of Fayette County is taking applications for the 2002-2003 school year.
Head Start is a pre-school program for children three to five years old, providing a complete educational program and other comprehensive services. Families are supported in securing medical, dental, and social services with a concentrated effort to provide services to children with disabilities. Head Start also collaborates with local day care centers at no additional cost to current child care.
For an application, call the Head Start office at 1-800-876-2138 or 724-430-4818. Staff will be recruiting door to door during May and June.
Adoptions-options conference set
An adoptions-options conference will be held at Westmoreland County Community College, Youngwood campus, on Saturday, May 11, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for those considering adopting domestic or international children.
The cost of the conference is $7 tuition for Westmoreland County residents (out-of-county residents are charged double tuition) and an $8 material fee, which includes lunch. Registration is required and can be made by calling WCCC at 1-800-262-2103.
Exchange-student homes sought
ASSE International Student Exchange Programs, a non-profit organization, is seeking host families for high school aged students from the former Soviet Union for the upcoming school year.
These students are scholarship winners of the Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX), a program sponsored by Congress and administered by the U.S. Department of State. The program’s major goal is one of democracy-building because it exposes likely future leaders of the former Soviet Union to a democratic society and free market economy by having the students live with American families while attending local high school.
For more information about hosting, contact local area representative Tom Walls at 724-439-6436 or 1-800-677-2773 or visit the Web site at www.asse.com.
LH offers summer food program
Laurel Highlands School District is eligible for the summer food program funds and will be able to offer all children free lunches during the summer vacation from school. All children are eligible to eat free lunches regardless of income.
The summer food service program will be conducted Monday, June 10 through Friday Aug. 23 at the following locations: Laurel Highlands High School Cafeteria, Biererwood Acres Community Building, Surry Hill Community Building, Clark Elementary, Marshall Elementary and South Union Recreation Center.
The following playground locations may be sites for the summer food service program June 10-July 19: Eberly Park, Areford Park and Hatfield Playground. Also, lunches will be offered at the following special programs: Clark Elementary and Marshall Elementary.
Adults may purchase lunches for $2.50 No lunches will be taken from the locations.
The Laurel Highlands School District policy is that all children have equal access to benefits of the summer food program service regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or handicap.
Any person who believes that he or she has been discriminated against in any USDA-related activity should contact the secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250.
For more information, Gene Doria, food director, at 724-437-2821.
School profiles online
Pennsylvania’s 2000-01 public school profiles are now available online.
The school profiles are available through the PA Powerport at www.state.pa.us, PA Keyword: “School Profiles.”
For the first time, this year’s school profiles include Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) scores broken down into the following categories: race, gender, economically disadvantaged students, students with special needs, migrant students and students with limited English proficiency.
In addition to the disaggregated test data, this year the profiles include for the first time building-level SAT and ACT scores. The profiles also include updated statistics on teachers, including degrees and years of experience; length of individual school days and calendar years; school enrollment and attendance figures; intended pursuits of high-school graduates; school-district financial information; drop-out rates; class size; staffing; programs offered by the school; the school district’s average SAT and ACT scores; and the types of commercial, standardized tests administered at schools. Information is based on data from the 2000-2001 school year.