Uniontown enhances communications
Parents of students at Uniontown Area High School will be better able to communicate with teachers through a new Internet-based service being introduced this month. Peter Bozick, high school principal, said the faculty and staff will communicate with parents and students using EdLine, a service in place nationwide. He said the service will provide parents and students with real time information about grades, attendance and other activities and school news.
“Teachers will do their grades and lesson plans electronically, and they’ll be able to download their plans, grades and attendance records to EdLine for parents to have access,” he said.
Parents and students will be given an access code to the online system and will then be required to develop their own unique password.
Students and parents will each have different levels of access to the site, Bozick said, and parents will be able to e-mail teachers with questions about grades and student performance. A group of high school parents tested the program last month, and teachers were trained on EdLine two months ago, he said.
Training sessions for any high school parents interested in learning about EdLine or getting an access code will be held Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the high school auditorium, Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Menallen School cafeteria, and Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in the A.J. McMullen School cafeteria.
Bozick said he and Todd Hamel, district technology coordinator, researched the program and spoke with officials in five eastern Pennsylvania school districts where EdLine is already in use.
The program is being piloted at the high school in the second semester of the school year and may be expanded to the rest of the district’s schools next year, he said.
He asked for patience as teachers, parents and administrators all adjust to the new system, but said the long-term results should be positive.
“We think it’s going to be very well received,” he said. “Hopefully, with increased cooperation between the parents and the teachers, grades will get better and PSSA (Pennsylvania System of School Assessment) scores will improve.”