Mt. Lebanon students who won first place awards at the PJAS state competition.

Congratulations to three Mt. Lebanon students who participated in the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science state competition on May 13 at Penn State University. All three students won first place awards at the competition.

Azfar Merchant and Charles Yuan from Mt. Lebanon High School and Nikolas Mustian from Jefferson Middle School earned first place awards for the presentation of their individual novel research projects. Congratulations to the students and Mr. Tilger.

David O’Matz with his award winning artwork "Reflections" with Josephine Posti from PA American Water.

A Mt. Lebanon student from Thomas Jefferson Middle School earned western Pennsylvania’s top prize in Pennsylvania American Water’s 11^th Annual “Protect Our Watersheds” Art Contest. JMS sixth-grader David O’Matz earned first place for western Pennsylvania for his artwork depicting a deer drinking from a stream entitled “Reflection.”

The company received approximately 525 entries from fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders across the commonwealth. Pennsylvania American Water announced the contest winners as part of National Drinking Water Week, May 5-11.  

Pennsylvania American Water’s contest requires the students to accompany their artwork with a short description of how watershed protection affects them personally.

Markham students Skype with Elia Saikaly during his climb of Mt. Everest.

Fifth grade students at Markham Elementary School are learning about turning fear into strength by following the journey of Elia Saikaly as he climbs to the top of the world.  Elia is chronicling his climb up Mt. Everest and sharing it with students through blogs, photos, videos and an interactive map on the website www.ePals.com.    

Markham students Skyped with Elia on Monday, May 16^th from his camp on the mountain. This was the third attempt at connecting with Elia during his trek up Mt. Everest.  The first attempt was cancelled due to an accident on the mountain; the second was cancelled due to loss of internet access.  These fifth graders are learning firsthand how dangerous and unpredictable an adventure like this can be.

High School Model United Nations team.

The Mt. Lebanon High School Model United Nations team took first place honors at the Westminster College Model United Nations Conference on April 30, 2013. Competing in the conference were 250 students from 14 high schools across Pennsylvania.  Mt. Lebanon students represented the US, South Korea, Germany and South Africa.

Winning the overall first place team award and representing the USA were Reia Cho, Ryan Fan, Anne Pride-Wilt, Jon Mandros, Cullen Wells, Alec Medici and Stephen Snow. Winning third place and representing South Korea were Noah Pillion-Gardner, Caelan Schick, Namindeep Singh, Mitchell Bognar, Azfar Merchant, Rida Merchant, Anna Wadhwani and Ben Zhang.

Other students who won individual awards included Joel Kirshner, Anna Hutchinson, Tess Clippinger and Arianne Go. The Westminster Model UN capped off another outstanding year for Mt. Lebanon MUN with award winning showings at the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University and Johns Hopkins University conferences.  Coaches for the team are Mt. Lebanon High School Social Studies teachers Peter DiNardo, Adam Lumish and George Savarese.

Mt. Lebanon students from grades 4-12 competed at the Academic Games Nationals Tournament in Charlotte, NC last month. Students participated in games involving mathematics, set theory, propaganda, language, current events, presidential trivia, and the Revolutionary War. Mt. Lebanon players received a total of 23 awards and distinctions at the nationals competition.

Major Awards included:
Joshua Ackerman - Grade 6 - Jefferson Middle - Perfect Score in Linguishtiks Elementary Division
Gayatri Anil - Grade 7 - Mellon Middle - 2nd Place Individual in Presidents Middle Division
Vivek Anil - Grade 9 - High School - 4th Place Individual in Presidents Junior Division
Tom Jasionowski - Grade 11 - High School - 1st Place Individual in World Events Senior Division
Jake Akhtar - Grade 12 - High School - 2nd Place Individual in World Events Senior Division

Academic Games players are coached by high school staff members Amanda Checque, Mike Yazvac, Brad Kavo, Ben Minett, Michael Locke, and former Mt. Lebanon graduate Nina Wroniak.

Newsweek Magazine placed Mt. Lebanon High School on the list of America's Best High Schools in 2013, ranking the school 346 out of the top 2,000 high schools in the nation.

Newsweek rated the best 2,000 public high schools in the country—those that have proven to be the most effective in turning out college-ready grads. The list is based on six components: graduation rate, college acceptance rate, AP/IB/AICE tests taken per student, average SAT/ACT scores, average AP/IB/AICE scores, and percent of students enrolled in at least one AP/IB/AICE course.

Congratulations to High School Principal Brian McFeeley, the faculty, and students of Mt. Lebanon High School.

High School Ski Club

The High School Ski Club enjoyed a ski trip to Killington Resort in Vermont from January 18th-22. The club plans and works out details for ski trips throughout the season. Their faculty sponsors are Mr. Rob Bergstresser and Mr. Ray Schrader.

Students in the Honors Scientific Investigations class presented their research findings during the Lebo Scientific Research Symposium and Poster Session. From left to right:Stephanie Kong, Rachel Potter, Nick Zak and Gabbi Hill.

On Jan. 15, students in the high school Honors Scientific Investigations course presented course work findings during the Lebo Scientific Research Symposium and Poster Session. During the past semester, students in grades 10-12 have been working on independent research programs they conceived, designed and implemented. The students presented their research on a variety of topics from the effects of course load on a high school student’s sleep patterns to the effects of caffeine exposure on the behavior of cockroaches.  The students are taught by Mr. Shaun Tomaszewski.

Honors Scientific Investigations is an elective science course open to students in grades 9-12 that encourages them to investigate a subject matter of interest to them, conduct the research and present their findings during the Symposium.

Dr. James Walsh, Mr. Jeffrey Zeiders and Mrs. Janice Cherry make good on their promise to JMS students.

Jefferson Middle School Student Council held a collection before the holidays with the goal to raise $3,000 for students at PS 041 in Staten Island who were left homeless by SuperStorm Sandy. JMS students exceeded their goal by raising $3114.34. The funds were used to purchase 24 gift cards at $125 each for 24 children attending PS 041. The gift cards arrived in time for the holidys at the school in Staten Island on December 21.  One additional gift card was sent to a student in need in Eastern Pennsylvania.  Students raised money primarily through homerooms donations, candy cane and hot cocoa sales.

Students were promised that if they met their building goal, JMS Principal Dr. James Walsh and Dean of Students Mr. Jeffrey Zeiders, would dress as penguins and walk through the cafeteria.  The students' generosity was also rewarded with a Pajama Day and the homerooms that met their goals received holiday treats. 

Penny Hockey board games and Log Kits made by students for Toys for Tots.

Students in the Technology Education program-Drafting & Design, Graphics Communications, Manufacturing & Production, and student community service volunteers produced over thirty Penny Hockey board games and a dozen Building Log Kits to donate to Toys for Tots.  High school teacher, Mr. Andrew Kuskil, helped the students with this annual holiday project.

Sean Mason with the holiday cards he and other students made for a terminally ill child in Kentucky.

Sean Mason, a high school sophomore, had a wonderful idea to help make a young boy's Christmas wish come true! Dalton Dingus, a terminally ill child in Kentucky, hopes to break the Guinness Book of World Records' record for most Christmas cards received this year. 

After learning of Dalton's wish, Sean developed a plan to help Dalton achieve his goal. In conjunction with Mrs. McCracken's English classes and many other willing teachers, staff members, and students, Sean is sending over 350 Christmas cards to Dalton just in time for the holiday. What a thoughtful and wonderful way to share the true spirit of the season.

School Board President Elaine Cappucci with School Board member Josephine Posti.

School Board President Elaine Cappucci took a moment in her report at the December 17 Regular School Board meeting to honor Board member Josephine Posti with the Extra Mile Award. Mrs. Posti served as President of the Mt. Lebanon School Board for the past two years.  Here is an excerpt from Mrs. Cappucci's report.

"I am especially pleased to have served as Vice-President while Mrs. Posti was president.  A board president is tasked with setting the monthly agenda, running the meetings, and serving as the spokesperson for the board, and the president knows that he or she will be spending time above and beyond their regular board duties.  Mrs. Posti went above and beyond in all that she did, and served us well during two difficult years of working through the high school project.  

Early in her term as President, Mrs. Posti started the Extra Mile Award program to recognize faculty and staff who deserved recognition for going beyond their regular job description and providing exemplary and extra efforts on behalf of our students.  I don’t think any of the award winners went the extra mile just to be recognized, we just have many people in this district who regularly extend themselves to make this a better place.  Serving for two years in the demanding role of Board President and taking extra time to recognize our employees, is going above and beyond the call of duty. 

For this reason,  the Board tonight is presenting the Extra Mile Award to Mrs. Posti.  We thank her for all that she has done.  In addition to the award,  the District would like to give her this gavel as a reminder of her service, and the Board also has a gift as a token our our appreciation.  Thank you and congratulations, Mrs. Posti."

In an effort to help parents and students handle concerns or questions as a result of the recent events in Connecticut, we have assembled a list of resources below with helpful information.

National Association of School Psychologists

National Association of School Psychologists: Coping with Crisis – Helping Children with Special Needs

The Child Mind Institute

American School Counselor Association

Mental Health America

National Child Traumatic Stress Network

In an effort to help parents and students handle concerns or questions as a result of the recent events in Connecticut, we have assembled a list of resources below that provide helpful information.

National Association of School Psychologists:
http://www.nasponline.org/

American Counseling Association: http://www.counseling.org/sub/dmh/resources.aspx

The Child Mind Institute:

www.childmind.org

American School Counselor Association: http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?contentid=672

Mental Health America: http://www.nmha.org/go/information/get-info/coping-with-disaster/helping-children-handle-disaster-related-anxiety

National Child Traumatic Stress Network: http://www.nctsn.org/trauma-types/terrorism

Lincoln students hand-made ornaments to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.

Lincoln Elementary students worked hard  on a special project in Mrs. Jill Majestic’s art classes. This month, students in grades 1-5 hand-made 600 tree ornaments to sell at Lincoln's Frosty Shop to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.  The ornaments were $2 each and came with special gift bags and cards. The ornament sale was a great success raising $1,215 for the Wounded Warrior Project.

The proceeds from the ornament sale will help purchase Wounded Warrior Project backpacks that wounded service members receive as they arrive at military trauma units across the United States. The backpacks are filled with essential care and comfort items such as clothing, toiletries, playing cards, and more - all designed to make a hospital stay more comfortable.

The purpose of the Wounded Warrior Project is to raise awareness and enlist the public's aid for the needs of injured service members, to help injured service members aid and assist each other, and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet the needs of injured service members.

New Board President Elaine Cappucci and Vice-President Larry Lebowitz.

The Mt. Lebanon Board of School Directors held a reorganization meeting on December 3, 2012. In a unanimous vote, Elaine Cappucci was elected Board President and Lawrence Lebowitz Board Vice-President for a term of one year. The School Board also took action to appoint Thomas P. Peterson as School Board Solicitor and set the Board calendar for 2013.

Mellon student artist, Elena Redmond presents her replica of the Fort Pitt Blockhouse to Mrs. Mernie Berger from the Carnegie Women’s Committee.

Mellon Middle School student Elena Redmond was selected to create an ornament that will be displayed on one of the Carnegie Museum of Art  Christmas trees from November 29, 2012–January 6, 2013 in the Hall of Architecture. Seven 20-foot Colorado spruce trees will line the Hall of Architecture, each decorated with handcrafted ornaments that celebrate art, culture, and science. This year’s theme celebrates the exhibition Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs, 1851–1939 currently going on at the Carnegie.

Elena was asked to create a replica of the Fort Pitt Blockhouse by the Fort Pitt Society, Daughters of the American Revolution for display on one of the seven 20-foot Colorado spruce trees that will line the Hall of Architecture. Each tree will be adorned with handcrafted ornaments that celebrate art, culture, and science. Fort Pitt Society board member and Mt. Lebanon resident, Mrs. Sarah Cannon, thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for a Mt. Lebanon student, so she contacted Mt. Lebanon Fine Arts Department Chair, Ms. Jennifer Rodriguez. Working with Mellon Middle School art teacher Mr. Phil Hessler, 8th grade student Elena Redmond was selected as the artist.

The ornament is an intricately constructed 18”x18” replica of the Fort Pitt Blockhouse, the oldest architectural landmark in Western Pennsylvania. It will be displayed on a tree highlighting important architectural achievements that were featured at the 1876 World’s Fair in Philadelphia.

Coaches and athletes from girls cross country, girls volleyball and girls singles tennis after their recognition at the School Board meeting Monday night.

The School Board recognized the achievements of our girls cross country team, girls volleyball team and girls singles tennis player on winning the WPIAL Championship in their respective sports this fall. Congratulations to our WPIAL Champions and all of our teams and coaches for the hard work, perseverance and sportsmanship they demonstrated in the meets, games and matches throughout the season. 

Girls Cross Country

The Mt. Lebanon High School girls cross country team and Coach Ron Schreiner won the Section 6 title with an undefeated record. The Blue Devils also won every major invitational, including the Tri-State Coaches Association. As they moved on to the WPIAL championship meet, the team dominated the field, winning the program’s seventh district title with 49 points and placing four runners in the top 10. The team completed their exceptional season with a 5^th place finish at PIAA championship. Their successful season adds to rich tradition of cross country at the high school.

Girls Tennis

Volleyball

The Mt. Lebanon girls volleyball is another team with a strong tradition of excellence at the high school. This season, Coach Jeff Schilling and his team finished first in their section. They moved through the WPIAL playoffs capping off their run by winning the program’s third WPIAL championship in six years. The team finished the season in the state quarter finalists and tied for fifth in the state.  

Mt. Lebanon High School will once again offer a preschool program for three and four year olds.  To be eligible children must be at least age 3 ½ by March 11, 2013, and 4 year olds must be no older than four years ten months by March 11, 2013. 

The program is operated by high school students enrolled in the Advanced Child Development Course under the supervision of the child development teacher.  The program will run from March 11 through May 16, 2013.  The children will attend Monday – Thursday from 9:10 to 10:40 a.m. Cost is $65.  Enrollment is limited to ten children.  Deadline for application is February 15, 2013.  Please know that construction at the High School will not impact the program.  For information call Susan Kordistos at 412-344-2023. 

Eight Jefferson Middle School Student Council Executive Board members had the opportunity to attend the 76^th Annual PASC State Leadership Conference, November 1^st – November 3^rd.  JMS students, Harrison Greenbaum, Maggie Baker, Kristen Karlovich, Sarah Harouse, Lauren Vogt, Nora Tomer, Mel Jiang, and Kelly Hois attended the conference which was hosted by the Laurel Area and Union Area School Districts. 

As delegates, they attended two student-led leadership workshops and listened to three nationally recognized motivational speakers.  They stayed with host families and had numerous opportunities to meet and exchange ideas with their peer representatives from around the state.  The theme of the conference was, “Ignite Yourself, Your School, and Your Community to Serve Others.”  Additional activities included fireworks, hosted in the firework capital of America, a banquet for all the delegates and their advisers, and a dance. 

The high school held a Veterans Day ceremony on Nov. 9 to honor those in the military, along with students and staff who have family members currently serving.

Each year the Mt. Lebanon School District observes Veterans Day  and joins the nation to recognize and honor all those Americans who have served our country in the Armed Services. Today, there are more than 25 million veterans living among us. This day reminds us that we need to pause and recognize the contributions made by our veterans and those currently serving, and thank them for their devotion to our country. We must not allow the passage of time or the comforts of peace to erase the memory of their service and sacrifices.

As we observe Veterans Day, please take some time to learn more about the accomplishments of our nation’s veterans, their dedication and courage, and their willingness to risk their lives to preserve the blessings of liberty. On this day and every day please do not forget the members of your family, neighbors or members of the community who have served our country. Please keep our present service personnel in your thoughts at this time as they serve throughout the world.

The high school held a Veterans Day ceremony on Nov. 9  to honor staff members who served in the military, along with students and staff who have family members currently serving. Watch a video of the ceremony.

Historic interpreter representing John Howland from Plimouth Plantation with Lincoln students dressed in 17th Century garb.

Lincoln fifth grade students were able to turn back the clock to Pilgrim times with a visit from a historical interpreter from Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth Massachusetts. Representing Mayflower passenger John Howland, the interpreter told the story of his time dressed in authentic colonial clothing and speaking in period dialects. Students were even given the chance to dress in authentically made clothing that children of the 1620’s would have worn.  The event was sponsored by a local member of the Mayflower Society. It was a cultural experience our students won’t forget.

Lebo Girls Cross Country - 2012 WPIAL Champions!

Congratulations to the girls cross country team and Coach Ron Schreiner on winning the 2012 WPIAL Championship!  The girls dominated the field, scoring 49 points. The boys team had a great meet as well, finishing third in the WPIAL championship.  The team went on to finish  5th in the PIAA meet the and boys cross country team finished 13th. Congratulations to both teams on a great season.

Jefferson Middle School student Elly Bleier and Mellon Middle School students Emma Dougherty and Madelyn Rice were recognized for their exceptional writing skills in the Promising Young Writers program sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). The students were among the 85 students across the nation who received Certificates of Recognition.

According to the NCTE website, the Promising Young Writers program was established in 1985 to stimulate and recognize student's writing talents and to emphasize the importance of writing skills among eighth-grade students. Students currently in the eighth-grade who are nominated by their schools may participate in the program.  This year, 276 students were nominated. Of that number, 85 received Certificates of Recognition and 191 received Certificates of Participation. Each student submitted two pieces of writing, which were read by two judges. Papers were judged on content, purpose, audience, tone, word choice, organization, development,and style.

Congratulations to our students and their teachers for this outstanding academic recognition.

2012-2018 Mt. Lebanon Strategic Plan

The development of the School District's Constituent-Driven Strategic Plan 2012-18 has concluded.  The draft plan was presented to the School Board at the Discussion Meeting on October 8 by Dr. Deb Allen, Dr. Ron Davis and Mr. Drew Haberberger and was approved by the School Board at the Nov. 19 Regular Meeting. 

Special thanks go to the co-chairs of the committee, Al Frioni and Faith Stipanovich, and the 29 community representatives that met over the past year to work on the plan.

Members of the Class of 1962 who participated in Lebo 50/50.

The Mt. Lebanon High School Class of 1962 returned to the high school on September 28 to join current students for an event called Lebo 50/50. The Class of 1962 is celebrating their 50th reunion and wanted to find a way to give back to their high school and the students who are here 50 years later. The Class of ‘62 thought that sharing their career expertise and the path that led them to their life work would be a valuable experience for our students. A group from the Class of 1962 worked over the past year with the high school administration to plan for the event.

The event began with a kick-off where the Class of 1962 participants introduced themselves to the students by sharing the world they lived in when they were students in the high school. Last spring, the Class of 1962 and the Class of 2013 took  surveys. A profile of each class was developed to show the similarities and differences between the two classes. Some of the results were shared during the kick-off.  The students  moved on to the Lifework Round tables facilitated by 18 members of the Class 1962. These sessions were designed around students’ career inclinations covering a wide variety of fields.  The alumni who led the sessions have impressive resumes and academic credentials and shared their backgrounds and the path that led them to their careers with the students. Students met and networked with a labor economist and professor at George Washington University, the Director of the Lick Observatory at the University of California, Santa Cruz, a Rhodes Scholar with a background in engineering and management, an entrepreneur and author, and many others.

The morning concluded with the Lebo 50/50 Forum where KDKA reporter Jon Delano moderated a panel discussion between the Class of 1962 and the Class of 2013.  The Class of 1962  concluded the day by joining students for lunch following the Forum in the high school cafeteria.

Slide Show

The Mt. Lebanon School Board undertook a feasibility study last spring to assess the viability of a capital campaign for the high school project and to establish an endowment to sustain and grow academic and fine arts programs in the District. 

The Board retained the services of Pursuant Ketchum to conduct the study which included interviews of residents and alumni to ask their input about the case for the campaign. On Sept. 17, the consultant from Pursuant Ketchum presented the report to the Board with the recommendation of a $6 million capital campaign.

Click here to read the executive summary.

Members of the Mt. Lebanon Police and Fire departments, Rep. Matt Smith and Dr. Steinhauer joined the Markham community during a flag raising ceremony on Sept. 11.

Every year on September 11, we pause to remember the attacks that occurred in 2001 in New York City, Washington D.C. and and Shanksville, PA. We honor the memories of the victims and thank the the first responders in our communities who work daily to keep us safe. On the morning of Sept. 11, 2012,  a flag raising ceremony was held at Markham Elementary School where members of the Mt. Lebanon Police and Fire Departments were recognized and thanked for their constant vigilance to keep our community safe from harm.

Slide Show

Read the full text of the Presidential Proclamation

Mt. Lebanon residents are invited to meet with school board members at a series of informal community coffees scheduled for September and October. On October 3 from 7-8:30 a.m. at Uptown Coffee on Washington Road, Jo Posti, Mary Birks and Larry Lebowitz will meet with residents and on October 4 from 7-8:30 p.m. at Orbis Caffee on Washington Road, Elaine Cappucci, Dale Ostergaard, Mary Birks and Bill Cooper will be in attendance. The first coffee was held at Coffee Tree Roasters in the evening on Sept. 18.

Stop by to one or all of the coffees for an informal conversation with your local school director about important community issues.

Today at Jefferson Elementary School, Dr. Janey Thornton, the USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services will recognize our Food Service Department and present all seven elementary with the HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC) bronze award. This award is to highlight the Mt. Lebanon School District efforts to provide healthy items on our school lunch menus and provide students with physical education and opportunities for physical activity.

The HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC) is a voluntary national certification initiative for schools participating in the National School Lunch Program.  It supports First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign by recognizing schools that are creating healthier school environments through their promotion of good nutrition and physical activity.  Sponsored by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), the initiative encourages all schools take a leadership role in helping students to make healthier eating and physical activity choices that will last a lifetime. 

Our Food Service Department led by Tazeen Chowdhury, worked hard to make changes to our school nutrition environment in order to improve the quality of the foods served and provide students with nutrition education, as well as District efforts to provide students with physical education and opportunities for physical activity.  As part of this award, each school will be given a $500. 

To qualify for an award, a school must submit a formal application and meet basic criteria set forth by the FNS.  The HUSSC criteria reflect the recommendations of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published recommendations (April 2007) for foods that should be served in schools, outside of the organized school lunch meals.  HealthierUS Schools must also have a local school wellness policy, as mandated by Congress.  Schools receiving a HUSSC award commit to meeting the criteria throughout their four year certification period. 

Congratulations to Tazeen, Judy Wolfe, Dave Misterka and all of our cafeteria workers for their efforts.

Students in front of the Mt. Lebanon School House around 1912.

In July 1912, the Mt. Lebanon School District came into legal existence established by a decree of the Court of Quarter Sessions as a fourth class district.  A fourth class district was one with a population of under 5,000 (Mt. Lebanon’s population at that time was 1705.) The state appointed five residents as school board members and they met to organize the new school district in the furnace room of the Amman Avenue School, referred to as the Mt. Lebanon School House in the Board minutes. The white clapboard building was located on the corner of Washington Road and Amman Avenue (now Cedar Boulevard.)  Washington Road was a dirt road with wooden sidewalks.

One of the first items purchased by the Board was a flag pole for the front of the school. The Board hired teachers, a supervising principal and began to outline the school structure and curriculum that would lay the foundation for the community’s education system. The first day of school for the new district was September 2, 1912.

The Mt. Lebanon High School athletic season has begun. If you plan to attend an event at the high school to cheer on our Blue Devils, here is some information to help you navigate the changes around the campus due to construction.

Since we have limited parking, entrances to the stadium, and road closures, we encourage fans to walk to the stadium if possible and plan to arrive early for athletic events.  Also, the construction zone around the stadium creates a challenging environment to monitor and manage young children attending the game.  To ensure student safety, we ask that children be accompanied by an adult to the stadium. 

Please keep the following information in mind when traveling to the high school for the game:

Campus/Stadium Map

To Enter the Stadium:

• The ONLY way to enter the high school campus to access the stadium and South Parking Lot is from Cedar Boulevard to Morgan Drive.
• There are only two entrances open to the stadium-Gate D at the corner of Stadium and Morgan and Gate A near the concession stand on the home side.

Parking:

• Parking is available:
  • Mt. Lebanon Lutheran Church Parking Lot at Washington and Cochran Road.
  • Parking is available in the High School South Lot from Cedar Boulevard to Morgan Drive.
  • Parking is available in the North Lot, but there is no direct access to the stadium from this lot.
• Parking is not available:
  • Along Stadium Drive--this area is reserved for buses.
  • Horsman Drive. 
  • The Commissioners’ Lot.
  • Please do not park in the Recreation Center Parking Lot.

Traffic:

• Horsman Drive is closed from Cochran Road into the high school campus.
• Stadium Drive is open for vehicle traffic.
• Morgan Drive is open from Cedar Boulevard to the South Parking Lot.

Student/Pedestrian Safety:

• Please do not leave young children unattended at the game.
• Drive carefully and always yield to pedestrian traffic.

This year, a new  schedule is being implemented in our elementary schools. Here are some important points to remember:

• The student day will start at 8:30 a.m. The tardy/homeroom bell will be at 8:35 a.m. for kindergarten (a.m.) through fifth grade.
• A.M. kindergarten will end at 11:15 a.m./ P.M. Kindergarten will begin 12:50 p.m.
• The school/lunch recess hour will occur daily from 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
• The school day will end at 3:30 p.m. This includes kindergarten (p.m.) through fifth grade.
• Our school days will follow a day 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 rotation instead of Monday – Friday rotations. The day rotations will mirror the middle school schedule. The purpose for this change is to give all students an equal opportunity to attend all their Encore classes (music, art, gym, etc.) consistently throughout the year.
• The student classroom assignments are available on the Dashboard. Returning students and parents who have misplaced their login information may utilize the Username/Password Recovery link on the Dashboard login page. The link to the Dashboard is available on the District website-www.mtlsd.org
• Families new to the district will receive their Dashboard username and password information through the mail.
• For additional Dashboard support click this link: http://www.mtlsd.org/technology/helpdocs.asp or call your building secretary.

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History selected Connie Booth, Mt. Lebanon High School English teacher, to study for a week in July along with twenty-three teachers from across the country at Columbia University in New York City.  The seminar titled "Literature, History, and Culture of the Civil War" was led by Professor Andrew Delbanco, Director of American Studies at Columbia, and focused on the fiction and nonfiction of the 1850s, leading up to the Civil War.  Works by Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Herman Melville, and many others were read and discussed as representative of the political and moral issues of that time period. 

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American Studies offers programs and resources to teachers and promotes the study of American history by using the primary documents of an era in order to help students understand the complexity of national events and issues. 

Construction along Horsman Drive at the back of the high school.

Construction at the high school continues to make progress during the summer months. With the exception of a few rainy days, the weather has cooperated to help keep the project on track. Work on the new science wing, athletic field house, loading dock and South parking lot is in full force.

Last week, the contractors continued to work in the following areas:
-Forming walls at the loading dock
-Asbestos abatement in 5-B and F buildings
-Installing steel deck on upper “J” framing
-Installing storm sewers in South parking lot
-Demolishing walls on 6-B classrooms
-Pouring concrete walls in “G” north and “G” south

Work will continue in the the following areas next week:
-Pouring of concrete walls at the loading dock
-Construction of curbs and storm sewers in south parking lot
-Back filling inside “H” building
-Pouring concrete walls in “G” south
-Completion of the asbestos abatement on 5-B
-Begin to install mechanical and electrical items in 6-B
-Removing and re-setting the roof coping on “B” building

The Mt. Lebanon School Board appointed Erin Wright as the new Unit Principal at Mt. Lebanon High School.  Ms. Wright served as the assistant to the principal at Keystone Oaks Middle School and an English teacher at Keystone Oaks High School. Prior to her administrative position, she taught English at Keystone Oaks High School for eight years.  A start date for Ms. Wright has not yet been determined.

Ms.  Wright holds a bachelor of science in education and a bachelor of arts in English from The Pennsylvania State University. She earned her master’s degree in education from Gannon University. 

Rep. Smith and House Speaker Sam Smith welcome Jo Posti, Isabela Posti and Abigail Cannon to the state Capitol in celebration of the District’s centennial anniversary.

State Rep. Matt Smith hosted Mt. Lebanon School District officials at the state Capitol on Monday. Rep. Smith sponsored a House resolution, which was adopted unanimously, recognizing Mt. Lebanon School District’s 100th Anniversary.

Rep. Smith escorted the officials to the House chamber during the day’s legislative session.School Board President Josephine Posti and High School Principal Brian McFeeley were seated on the House floor and recognized by Speaker Sam Smith.  

Rep. Smith remarked from the House floor, “on behalf of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, I want to congratulate the Mt. Lebanon School District on their 100th anniversary and wish them the best of luck in their next 100 years.”

 Watch Rep. Smith make his remarks.

Students celebrate at the end of commencement by throwing their mortar boards in the air.

Family and friends gathered on June 4 to watch the Class of 2012 receive their diplomas and join the ranks of Mt. Lebanon Alumni. It was a beautiful and memorable evening. Click the link below to watch it On Demand.  Congratulations and best of luck to our graduates.

Slide Show 

Video

This year six students qualified to the National Forensic League National Tournament.  The tournament is held in different locations and this year the qualifiers will be heading to Indianapolis, Indiana from June 10-15 for a week of the highest level competition.

The students include this year's Pennsylvania State Champion in Dramatic Interpretation, junior Tara Dervin, and the District Champion in Original Oratory, junior Mark Klemencic. Rounding out the talented team will be Tory Pasternak (senior) also in Dramatic Interpretation, senior Keith Rentler in Humorous Interpretation. and the Duo Team of Nate Bateman (senior) and Sarah Hill (junior).  In order to qualify to Nationals, you must place first or second in the district.

The Lebo Speech team also won the NFL's Speech Sweepstakes for the Pittsburgh District for 2011-2012.  The district consists of 30 teams from Western PA and ranges from McDowell High School in Erie, PA through the South Hills.  Good luck to the team and their coaches in Indianapolis.

Each year since 1945, the Pittsburgh Section of the American Chemical Society has sponsored a contest for secondary schools to recognize outstanding achievement by the students and their teachers as well as encouraging interest in chemistry among school students.  This year,  Mt. Lebanon students place in the top three in Category S-First Year Chemistry, Large Schools:

First Place- Chenhui Yuan

Third Place-Elysse Dalzell 

Third Place- Joseph Wilkinson                                             

The contest recognizes three categories: first-year students in large schools, first- year students in small schools, and second-year students. The contest is also used to qualify students interested in participating in the International Chemistry Olympics and to identify students for scholarships. This year 172 students from 24 schools competed for prizes and scholarships. First place in each category is awarded $250, second place $150, third place, $100. Congratulations to the students and their faculty  sponsors, Susan Meer and Matthew Roddy.

Howe 5^th Grade student, Meera Whitson was named a finalist in SCHLUEBarchitecture  Public Park Student Design Competition hosted by Pittsburgh architect, Matthew Schlueb, Principal of SCHLUEBarchitecture.  Eight students –all high school age with the exception of Meera–were selected from eighteen Pittsburgh area public and private schools participating in the design competition that featured the re-design of the North Side Public Square Park. The competition awards designs for the revitalization of this historic location. It offered students a rare glimpse into a real-world design project and the workings of the architectural process.

Each of the Finalists were invited on a private tour of the Children's Museum and the competition site for the Public Park led by Chris Siefert, followed by a visit to the artist studios of Tadao Arimoto and Thaddeus Mosley who work in wood to create public sculptures. The students were awarded certificates for their selection as Finalists and winners were named for each of the design categories.  

The selection jury was comprised of Shari Bennett (Interior Designer of Bennett Design Group), Erin O'Neill (curator and art handler of Fine Art Special Services), William Kofmehl (performance artist and sculptor), and Matthew Schlueb (architect and host of the SCHLUEBarchitecture Student Design Competition).

Mt. Lebanon High School design students welcomed HGTV Design Star finalist and Pittsburgh designer Luca Paganico to the high school to work with them on a make-over of a temporary classroom space that will be used as the new home for the interior and fashion design classes during the high school renovation. Students are involved in every aspect of the design process from planning the new space to selecting colors, repurposing furniture and painting.  “This is a perfect opportunity to provide a real life, project based learning experience for our students,” said Sharon Silver, Family Consumer Science teacher. Student from the Fashion Arts, Interior Design, Engineering and Manufacturing & Production classes are collaborating on the design of the new classroom space.

Luca Paganico is a Pittsburgh based designer who is a finalist on the new season of HGTV Design Star premiering on May 29, 2012 at 9 p.m. Mr. Paganico’s portfolio includes projects in hotel, hospitality and restaurant design, city living condos and private homes both in Pittsburgh and around the country. He has a degree in industrial design from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and will share his expertise with Mt. Lebanon students. “I believe you never stop learning, so this will be a new experience for all of us,” said Paganico. “I want to work with the students to show them how the collaborative design process works using their input to create their new classroom.”

Slide Show

Local businesses have stepped in to help by donating paint, flooring, tile, wood, fabric and other materials to complete the project.  Stay tuned for the “Big Reveal.” 

Pictured from left to right: Ron Beebe, Cindy Biery, Ellen Bozarth, Bernie Egg, Jo Posti, Mary Hopkins, Rich Manning, Donna Rotoloni,Tom Steffora, Ken Wentzel, Jim Salerno, Greg Muszalski and Tim Steinhauer.

At the May 21 School Board meeting, 18 District employees were honored who will retire at the end of this school year.  These faculty and staff represent more than 512 years of combined service to the Mt. Lebanon School District and we are very grateful for their service to our students and to our school community. Their dedication to their profession and devotion to our students has significantly contributed to the success of the Mt. Lebanon School District. We wish them well in their retirement.

Teachers
 
Renee Althaus – Renee was hired as a substitute elementary teacher in the 1988-89 school year.  She worked in 6th grade at Howe until the 1997-98 school year when she transferred to 3rd grade for two years.  In 2000-01, Renee was appointed the IST teacher at Howe. (24 years with Mt. Lebanon)
 
Ronald Beebe – Ron worked at Hoover School since the 1977-78 school year in the intermediate levels and 5th grade.  (35 years with Mt. Lebanon)
 
Cindy Biery – Cindy has taught for her entire career since the 1987-88 school year at Lincoln Elementary School at the 3rd and 4th grade levels.  (24.5 years with Mt. Lebanon)
 
Susan Bott –Sue was hired in January 1988 as a substitute special education teacher in the senior high school.  She also worked at Jefferson Elementary and Markham Elementary as an elementary teacher in both the third and fourth grades.  Sue was an IST teacher at Markham during the 1999-00 school year.  (25 years with Mt. Lebanon) 
 
Ellen Bozarth – Ellen has worked at Washington Elementary School during her entire career.  She has held positions in both first grade and kindergarten.  (39 years with Mt. Lebanon)
 
Charlene Devlin – Charlene has been employed as a guidance counselor since 1970-71.  Charlene worked at the middle school/junior high level for 30 of her 42 years. (42 years with Mt. Lebanon)
 
Bernie Egg – Bernie has been employed as the Washington Elementary School librarian since the 1974-75 school year.  (38 years with Mt. Lebanon)
 
Mary Hopkins – Mary was hired as a permanent substitute teacher at Foster Elementary for the 1990-91 school year.  She then worked at Markham as a substitute for the 1991-92 school year.  Beginning with the 1992-93 school year up until her retirement, Mary worked at Foster as a 5th grade teacher.  (21.5 years at Mt. Lebanon)
 
Richard Manning – Rich was hired in 1979-80.  Except for the 1993-94 school year, Rich worked at the high school level teaching industrial arts/technology education.  (32.5 years at Mt. Lebanon)
 
Elaine Palmer – Elaine worked for Mt. Lebanon for 7 years as an elementary Spanish teacher.  (7 years at Mt. Lebanon)
 
Patricia Redick Romano – Pat spent her entire career with Mt. Lebanon as a school psychologist. (30.5 years at Mt. Lebanon)
 
Donna Rotoloni – Donna has worked as a home economics/family consumer science teacher for her entire career with Mt. Lebanon.  She spent 8 years at the high school level and the other 29 years at the junior high/middle school level.  (37 years with Mt. Lebanon)
 
Thomas Steffora – Tom has been a special education teacher at Mt. Lebanon since 1977.  He spent 30 of his total 35 years at the high school level and the other 5 years at the junior high level.  (35 years with Mt. Lebanon)
 
Kenneth Wentzel – Ken has worked as a driver education teacher, a health teacher and a physical education teacher at the high school during his entire career with Mt. Lebanon.  (39 years with Mt. Lebanon) 
 
Michael Young – Mike came to Mt. Lebanon in 1992 from Savannah, GA after teaching there for 2 years.  Mike taught at the 5th grade level for his entire Mt. Lebanon career.  (20 years with Mt. Lebanon)
 
Administrators
 
James Salerno – Jim brought 14 years of teaching experience and 14 years of administrative experience to us when he was hired in 2007-08.  (5 years with Mt. Lebanon)   
 
Support Staff
 
Debbie Clark – Debbie leaves after 25.5 years of service.  The various jobs she performed over the years included adaptive instructional class aide, learning disabilities class aide, secretary to unit principal and guidance office secretary. 
 
Gregory Muszalski – Greg began as a custodian in 1980.  He was transferred to assistant building engineer in 1986 and to the sweep team in 2000.  Greg leaves us with 32 years of service.

The Mt.  Lebanon School Board unanimously approved the appointment of Jason P. Ramsey as the principal of Foster Elementary School and Marybeth D. Irvin, Ph.D., as the principal of Lincoln Elementary School at the May 14, 2012, school board meeting.  A start date is not yet set for both principals, but they will be in place for the start of the 2012-13 school year.

Jason Ramsey is currently the assistant principal at Jefferson Middle School. Prior to his current position, Mr. Ramsey taught 6^th grade social studies for seven years.  He has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from The Pennsylvania State University and a master’s of education from California University of Pennsylvania. 

Marybeth D. Irvin, Ph.D., is currently the Director of Curriculum K-8 in the State College Area School District. Dr. Irvin was an elementary school principal, a middle school assistant principal and also taught elementary school for nine years.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, a master’s in educational administration and a doctorate in educational leadership, all from The Pennsylvania State University.  Current Lincoln elementary principal, James Salerno, plans to retire at the end of this school year.     

Mt. Lebanon High School student, Kevin Skolnick, was among ten high school seniors from Pennsylvania selected to receive Stream of Learning Scholarships from Pennsylvania American Water. A panel of judges selected the winners from more than 100 scholarship applications, which were evaluated on such criteria as academic achievement, letters of recommendation, community service and future career plans in the water and wastewater industry.

This is the third year that Pennsylvania American Water offered the program to support outstanding students within its service areas who are charting a course of study that is critical to the water and wastewater industry, with each winning student receiving a $2,000 scholarship.

Nancy Lu received the Business and Professional Women's award for being the top female student in Pennsylvania MathCounts.

Congratulations to Jefferson Middle School student, Nancy Lu, who was the highest scoring female in the Pennsylvania MathCounts competition and earned a place on the Pennsylvania National Team.  Last week, Nancy traveled to Orlando, Florida, with three other members of the PA team  to compete in the national event on Friday, May 11.

Nancy received the Business and Professional Women's award for being the top female student in Pennsylvania MathCounts. She was also awarded a $500 savings bond, and is eligible for a college scholarship from several universities in the state.   Mrs. Celia Toohey, 7th grade math teacher at JMS, coaches the team.

MATHCOUNTS is a national enrichment, club and competition program that promotes middle school mathematics achievement through grassroots involvement in every U.S. state and territory.  The program provides today’s students with the foundation for success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers.

U.S. News and World Report, a leading source of education rankings in the nation, released their "Best High School" rankings of the top high school's in the nation. Mt. Lebanon High School received a Silver rating, ranking 8th in the state and #557 nationally. Our high school is the highest ranked Western PA school on the list. The 2012 rankings include data on nearly 22,000 public high schools from 49 states and the District of Columbia.

To determine the Best High Schools national ranking schools were first analyzed at the state level in terms of how well students in each school performed on state assessments. High schools that made it through this analysis were then eligible to be ranked nationally, in terms of college readiness. U.S. News determines the degree to which schools prepare students for college-level work by analyzing student success in Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) programs, both of which include college-level courses. U.S. News awarded more than 4,850 gold, silver, and bronze medals to the top-performing schools.

“Dogs are Man's Best Friends Around the World"- a work by First Grade student, Lily Connell.

Lincoln Elementary first grader, Lily Connell, was selected as a finalist in the Crayola Creativity Connects Us International Art Expo.  The initiative teaches children that art is a universal language, and through art, they can connect and understand others by exploring cultures, perspectives and places.

The theme of Lily’s piece is “Dogs are Man's Best Friends Around the World.”  She also submitted a creativity statement about her artwork.  Lily’s work will be framed and exhibited at the U.S. Department of Education national headquarters in Washington, D.C., and its regional offices across the country.  It will become part of a significant, permanent collection of children's original art and their creativity statements. In August, Lily's work will also be featured on the Crayola Creativity Connects Us website. Congratulations to Lilly on this wonderful achievement at such a young age.

Another unique way to ask a friend to the high school prom.

Long gone are the days when a simple phone call would suffice to ask a date to the high school prom. Students are much more creative these days, coming up with one-of-a-kind ways to pop the big question.  As we get closer to May 22, here are some of the inventive ways our students have asked their dates to the prom:

-Created latte foam art (wrote “prom” with the latte foam)
-Decorated their car
-Decorated a cookie cake
-Made a scavenger hut
-Laminated the question and floated it in the high school pool so the date would see it during swim practice
-Wrote a song and sang it to the girl in history class
-Left a message in a bottle
-Held up a sign at a track meet as the intended was coming around the track during a race
-Placed an ad in the Devil's Advocate
And last but not least-one determined young man placed a ladder on the side of the house, climbing up to the prospective date’s window (not recommended)

In the end, no matter how you were asked, we hope everyone has a safe and happy prom.

The NAMM Foundation announced the results of its 13th annual Best Communities for Music Education (BCME) survey, which acknowledges schools and districts across the U.S. for their commitment and support for music education as part of the core curriculum. This year, Mt. Lebanon School District has been designated a “Best Community.” This is the fifth time the District has received this honor.
 
 The announcement comes in anticipation of NAMM’s National Wanna Play Music Week, (May 7-13) a weeklong promotion designed to encourage people of all ages and skill levels to experience the proven benefits and fun of playing music.

Established in 1999, The BCME survey is a nationwide search for communities who provide access to music education as an essential part of a complete education and exemplify commitment and support for music education. The BCME survey is designed and implemented in collaboration with The Institute for Educational Research and Public Service of Lawrence, Kansas, an affiliate of the University of Kansas.

Each school receiving the “Best Communities” designation scored in the 80th percentile or higher in the survey’s grading process. Participants in the survey answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program and other relevant factors in their communities’ music education programs. The responses were verified with district officials and advisory organizations reviewed the data.

Congratulations to the Mt. Lebanon Marching Blue Devil Band on their march in the 57th annual Kentucky Derby Pegasus Parade. The band was awarded first runner up out of the twenty that marched in the parade. Click the link to watch the band.

Members of the high school Odyssey of the Mind team moving on to the Mind World Finals in Ames, Iowa.

Congratulations to the Odyssey of the Mind high school team that placed 2nd at the State Competition and will be representing Mt. Lebanon at the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals in Ames, Iowa.  In the ten years that Mt. Lebanon has been participating in Odyssey of the Mind this is only the third time that a team has progressed to World Finals. For many on this team, it is their second trip to Worlds, an impressive feat for this team of sophomores. Representing Mt. Lebanon at Worlds in May will be:
Alexa Rhodes, Olivia Pandolfi, Katie Brown, Ellie DePastino, Eva Morrison, Katie Lindefjeld, and Lydia Herman. 
 
Washington Elementary school’s Odyssey team performed well too, coming in 5th in the state. The team was honored with one of four OMER awards, which are specially nominated honors for unique qualities in the team’s performance. The WES team won one of four OMERS given among the 170 teams present at the state tournament. Congratulations to Aidan Bhojwani, Suzie Bhojwani, Annie Cain, Georgina DiNardo, Eva Gbur, Grace Meyer, Sadie Pillion-Gardner.

The Mt. Lebanon School Board is pleased to announce that the Mt. Lebanon Community Endowment (MLCE) and the Mt. Lebanon Foundation for Education (MLFE) has each generously awarded a $10,000 grant to the Mt. Lebanon School District to fund nearly half of the feasibility study the District is conducting for a possible capital campaign.  The Board retained the services of the consulting firm Pursuant Ketchum to conduct the study at a cost of $41,000.  The District is undertaking the study to assess the viability of a capital campaign to reduce the amount of the second bond required for the $109.7 million high school project currently under construction and to establish an endowment to sustain and grow academic and fine arts programs in the District. 

“We are humbled by the tremendous amount of support these gifts represent from the Mt. Lebanon Community Endowment and the Mt. Lebanon Foundation for Education,” said Josephine Posti, President, Mt. Lebanon School Board.  “The success of a capital campaign depends not only on a comprehensive feasibility study but on the enthusiasm and expertise of these two key community partners.”  

The feasibility study will be conducted over the next several months and will include interviews with members of the Mt. Lebanon community and high school alumni to determine the factors for success.  A final report to the Board is expected by the end of August.

“The Board of Directors of Mt. Lebanon Foundation for Education is pleased to support the school district’s capital campaign feasibility study,” said John Federico, President of the Mt. Lebanon Foundation for Education. “We view the study as a necessary investment in preparing for a successful capital campaign to finance a portion for the renovation of Mt. Lebanon High School. We look forward to working with the administration and school board to inspire and encourage our neighbors in Mt. Lebanon and the alumni of the district to help us rejuvenate this valuable community asset.”

  “The Mt. Lebanon School District expressed the desire to conduct a successful capital campaign in order to reduce the tax burden associated with the high school renovation and benefit all residents of Mt. Lebanon,” said Joseph King, President of MLCE’s Board of Directors.  “At Mt. Lebanon Community Endowment, we strive to support the priorities of the community and its residents and support projects that will give current, past, and future residents a meaningful and long-lasting sense of pride in the distinctive qualities of this wonderful community.”   The MLCE grant is from the Mt. Lebanon Community Impact Fund. 

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 About Mt. Lebanon Community Endowment

www.mtlebanonendowment.org

Through contributions from individuals, families and organizations, Mt. Lebanon Community Endowment works to build a permanent fund to support programs and services for the Mt. Lebanon community and its residents, and preserve its unique character.   As an independent 501(c)(3) public charity, MLCE focuses upon three areas:

Families and Children—providing them with the help they need to be strong and functional, and supporting Youth to develop intellectually, physically, emotionally, and socially.

Senior Citizens—providing them with opportunities to employ their energy and creativity, and addressing their social and physical needs so that none lack access to services and activities of their choosing.

Community Life—sustaining and enhancing the amenities that make Mt. Lebanon a good place to live; supporting cultural, artistic, aesthetic and recreational programs and institution; and funding efforts that promote community and civility.

About the Mt. Lebanon Foundation for Education

www.mtlsd.org/mlfe

The mission of the Mt. Lebanon Foundation for Education (MLFE) is to provide a permanent source of financial support to enable the Mt. Lebanon School District to expand and enhance learning opportunities for its students.  MLFE is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization that raises money on behalf of the Mt. Lebanon School District for innovative educational programs for all students.

The MLFE was founded in 1999 to fulfill a goal of the school district’s strategic plan. Since that time, MLFE has raised thousands of dollars for extraordinary educational programs for all students in every grade and every school of the district. These projects span the entire curriculum and all 10 Mt. Lebanon Schools.  Every student has participated in at least one project started with MLFE’s support.

Students at Washington Elementary School celebrated Arbor Day by planting a Linden tree on the front lawn of the school during a ceremony held for the Washington community. To commemorate the day, Washington students displayed artwork, read poems and sang songs about the environment. The ceremony also commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Mt. Lebanon School District. The tree was donated by the municipality.

About Arbor Day

Arbor Day originated in Nebraska in 1872, when the State Board of Agriculture adopted J. Sterling Morton's resolution that April 10 of that year be set aside for tree planting. The board awarded premiums for the greatest number of trees, cuttings, and seeds planted. More than a million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day. Arbor Day is now celebrated on the last Friday in April.

Tazeen Chowdhury, Dave Misterka and Judy Wolfe.

The Mt. Lebanon School District Food Service Department was recognized with the Bronze Award from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service for our elementary lunch program in the HealthierUS School Challenge.

This initiative is a voluntary national certification initiative for schools participating in the National School Lunch Program.  The initiative encourages all schools to take a leadership role in helping students to make healthier eating and physical activity choices that will last a lifetime.

Each elementary school will be awarded a plaque, a banner, and their name listed on the Team Nutrition Web site.  To qualify for an award, a school must submit a formal application and meet criteria set by the Food and Nutrition Service. The criteria reflect the recommendations of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Institute of Medicine. Congratulations to our Food Services Director, Tazeen Chowdhury and her staff on this national recognition for our elementary lunch program.

Mt. Lebanon crossing guards were honored at the April School Board meeting.

The April Extra Mile Award was presented to our Mt. Lebanon Crossing Guards to honor them for the very important role they play in our students’ school day.  Whether you’re walking or driving through Mt. Lebanon in the morning, you won’t get very far after 8:00 a.m. without seeing one of these men or women dressed in fluorescent green. 

Our community’s crossing guards help cross thousands of children, parents and community members—–some at busy intersections along Washington, Bower Hill and Beverly Road—safeguarding their travels each day.  They work before school, during elementary lunch and after school. You’ll see them crossing eager students on the first day of school, working in snow and rain even on our coldest days, faithfully ensuring our students’ safety all the way into June.  Our students know them by name and depend on them for a safe start to their school day. Our crossing guards have been known to provide treats at Halloween, offer kind words when someone’s running late, counsel kids during sibling arguments and reprimand drivers not obeying their outstretched STOP signs. 

Each of our guards is an important part of what gives our District the unique distinction of continuing to be a walking school district. Congratulations to our crossing guards on being selected for this month’s Extra Mile Award.

Pittsburgh Business Times Guide to Western Pennsylvania Schools

The Mt. Lebanon School District was ranked #2 in the region in the Pittsburgh Business Times Guide to Western Pennsylvania Schools and #5 in the state ranking. The District moved up a spot in the regional and state ranking of public school districts. Mt. Lebanon High School ranked #2 among high schools in the region. The formula for this ranking takes into account three years of PSSA test scores in math, reading, writing and science.

Top 25 Local Districts

Top 15 State Districts

Megan Brubaker with Brian, a Marine and representative of the Wounded Warrior Project, and Dr. James Walsh.

Each year, Jefferson Middle School raises money for a charitable organization through an annual essay contest and the Student-Faculty Basketball Game. Now in its 11th year, past games have earned proceeds for local families affected by natural disasters, animals in dire need of love and forever homes, and organizations like Invisible Children.  This year, thanks to 7th grade student Megan Brubaker's winning essay, the Wounded Warrior Project received all the proceeds from the basketball game.  

To prepare for this event, students were asked to provide the JMS community with their nomination of a charitable organization to receive funds.  Students used persuasive writing skills to convince the JMS community of why their organization deserves the money raised. Crafting the paper involved research, note taking, conferencing, revising and editing; all done in the English classrooms. Many teachers and staff throughout the building, along with volunteers from the community, helped out with the conferencing process. The English teachers selected the top 10 essays from the grade and placed them on display in the school for JMS students, faculty and staff to read and vote on their favorite essay.  

Megan was recognized for her accomplishment at the Student-Faculty Basketball Game. According to Megan’s mother, a member of their family was helped by the Wounded Warrior Project when he was injured by an IED while serving in Afghanistan.

Congratulations to the JMS MathCounts team and coach, Mrs. Toohey.

The Jefferson Middle School MathCounts team competed last weekend in Harrisburg at the Pennsylvania State MathCounts competition, placing second among 25 teams from across the state.  Congratulations to team members Nancy Lu, Amanda Zhu, Jerry Meng and James Wang and to their coach, Mrs. Celia Toohey, 7th grade math teacher at JMS.   This is the second year in a row for JMS to place at the state level, which is a first for the Mt. Lebanon School District. 
 
Nancy Lu was the highest scoring female and earned a place on the Pennsylvania National Team.  In addition to a $500 savings bond, Nancy is eligible for a college scholarship from several universities in the state.  She won a trip to Walt Disney World and will compete in Orlando for our state, May 10-13th, at the National MathCounts competition. 

MATHCOUNTS is a national enrichment club and competition program that promotes middle school mathematics achievement through grassroots involvement in every U.S. state and territory.The MATHCOUNTS competitions have written and oral rounds, as well as individual and team components.

Congratulations to members of the high school Science Bowl team.

Congratulations to seniors Jerry Zhang, Lily Dattilo, Kevin Skolnick, Nick Brown, and David Hudak for their success at the Department of Energy NETL Science Bowl competitions.  They were the undefeated Youghiogheny Division champs and the second place team in the final rounds held in early March. Their coach is biology teacher Pam Harris.

High school science teacher, Josh Bilak, also took a team of seniors to the division competition - comprised of seniors Greg Kownacki, Andy Chen, James Kim, Jordan Schaer, and Alex Blum. 

Launched in 1991, the National Science Bowl (NSB) is a highly competitive science education and academic event among teams of high school and middle school students who compete in a fast-paced verbal forum to solve technical problems and answer questions in all branches of science and math. Each team is composed of four students, one alternate student, and a coach. Regional and national events encourage student involvement in math and science activities of importance to the Department of Energy and the Nation.

New high school football coach, Mike Melnyk with Dr. Steinhauer.

The Mt. Lebanon School Board unanimously approved the appointment of Michael J. Melnyk as the new head coach of the Mt. Lebanon High School Football Team and full-time Social Studies teacher at the high school.  Mr. Melnyk is currently a social studies teacher and head football coach at Manheim Township School District in Lancaster, PA, having served there since 1999.

During his tenure as football coach, Mr. Melnyk was named Coach of the Year in 2007 and led the football program to two section I titles, six district appearances and tied the school record for wins in a season (11).  Prior to Manheim, Mr. Melnyk served as the offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator at Albright College in Reading, PA.  “We are very excited to welcome Mike to Mt. Lebanon to lead our football program. He is not only a great coach, but a terrific person who will be a wonderful addition to our staff,” said High School Athletic Director John Grogan.

Mr. Melnyk holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree from Kutztown University.  He was a member of the University of Michigan football team from 1980-84 and participated in two Rose Bowls and one Sugar Bowl.

Board President Josephine Posti and Mr. Robert Vogel.

The Extra Mile Award for March is Mr. Robert Vogel. He was nominated by a student who is impressed with his passion and patience and inspired by his love for music. 

Bob Vogel is devoted to both his students and to the music he inspires them to create.  Recently, that inspiration took the form of excellence in performance in New York when the Chamber String Orchestra at the National School Orchestra Finals in Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. The orchestra won Best String Section, Kevin Skolnick won Best High String Soloist, and Grace Stokan was awarded Best Low String Soloist.

Performances like this don’t happen by accident and his students recognize Mr. Vogel pours every ounce of his effort and enthusiasm into the individual development of each student and the overall development of the orchestra.  His students are entertained by his humorous analogies and stories (dubbed Vogelisms), his management during crunch time and his schedule, which includes after-school small group rehearsals, a staggering number of small gigs and regional performances.  Recently, Mr. Vogel was trying to make a point about teamwork to his students and mentioned that without him, the orchestra would go on.  They disagree.  Without Mr. Vogel, the orchestra would be but a shadow of what it is today.

Mr. Vogel, thank you for providing an exceptional music experience for our students, for developing our fine arts reputation on a national level but most importantly, in the words of your nominator, for “living your life the way everyone should.”

Jefferson Middle School social studies teacher, Michelle King, was chosen as one of five recipients of the Philips Exeter Academy’s Honoring Earlier Educators Award.  Current students at the school nominate individuals from prior schools they have attended who had a profound influence on them. Ms. King was nominated by former Mt. Lebanon student, Paige Harouse, because of her devotion as a teacher and mentor.  Ms. King will be honored at Exeter in April.

A Mt. Lebanon Odyssey of the Mind team on the way to the state tournament.

Mt. Lebanon was well represented at the the Odyssey of the Mind regional tournament earlier this month where thirty-two of our teams competed. Five teams are moving on to the state level in this highly competitive academic competition. Congratulations and good luck to the two teams from the high school, Markham, Washington and Foster who will be participating in the state tournament in April. Congratulations to the teams and their coaches.
Click here to watch a slideshow.

Here is the  list of teams moving on to the state competition:  

Team 1
Mt. Lebanon High School
Coach:  Michelle Dreyfuss
Ellie DePastino
Alexis Rhodes
Lydia Herman
Olivia Pandolfi
Eva Morrison
Katie Lindefjeld

Team 2
Mt. Lebanon High School
Coach:  Helen Andrascik/Regi Jennings
Ben Smith
Nikola Ranick
Cecilia Larson
Sofia Garman
Lily Keener
Diana Li
Kendall Jennings

Team 3
Foster Elementary
Coach:  Dana Jones
Hannah Jones
Clara Turner
Faith Kisker
Juliana Dillon
Margaret brown
Sophie Lauver
Mykah Isner

Team 4
Markham Elementary
Coach:  Ed and Judi Kubit
Edward Kubit
Lilly Kubit
Emily Amato
Anna Christ
Bridget Zimmerman
Alexandra Renton
Amrit Kaluri

Team 5
Washington Elementary
Coach:  Jennie Bhojwani
Suzanne Bhojwani
Aidan Bhojwani
Sadie Pillion-Gardner
Grace Meyer
Annie Cain
Eva Gbur
Georgia DiNardo

The Mt. Lebanon Percussion Ensemble has been selected by audition to perform for the 2012 Sandy Feldstein National Percussion Festival. Percussion ensembles from across the nation auditioned for this prestigious national festival with 9 groups, including Mt. Lebanon’s ensemble, receiving invitations to perform.

In addition, the Mt. Lebanon Wind Ensemble will be performing along with 17 other high school and middle school wind ensembles/symphonic bands as part of the National Concert Band Festival.

Markham students get ready to read with their new whisper phone head sets.

The Mt. Lebanon Foundation for Education funded the purchase of an entire classroom set of whisper phones for Kindergarten and first grade classrooms in all seven elementary schools through a grant submitted by Washington Principal Mary Kay Davis. 

Utilizing whisper phones is a researched based strategy to improve reading results, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and raises phonemic awareness. When children are learning to read and write, learners can, without disturbing others, say every word aloud to hear each sound in the word very clearly.  The hands-free style easily allows students to hold the books and participate in writing activities.

Read more about the grants awarded by the MLFE this year.

Students from Mt. Lebanon High School and Mellon Middle School participated in the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) Region 7 competition.  Among the nineteen students who took part in the competitions, the following students received first place scores and are invited to compete at the state competition which will be held at Penn State University in May.  Rida Merchant, Alex Terasavage, Stephen Tragesser, Varsha Venugopal, Christian Vietmeier, Azfar Merchant, David Qin, and Clay Wyda.

The Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science is a statewide organization of junior and senior high school students designed to stimulate and promote interest in science among its members through the development of research projects and investigations.

Mt. Lebanon High School Winter Guard captured second place in the Winter Guard International (WGI) regional finals held in Rochester, New York last weekend. The team scored a 78.10, competing in their first show out of state.

WGI Sport of the Arts is an international organization producing indoor color guard and percussion ensemble competitions.

The team continued their successful season after finishing in first place out of eight teams competing in the Three Rivers Winter Ensemble Association Scholastic A Division competition on February 4, at Norwin High School. Congratulations to the team and their coach, Mr. Jason Greenawalt.

Mt. Lebanon High School Social Studies teacher, George Savarese, was selected as the winner of the 2012 Get Involved! Dr. Tom Baker Community Leader Award. The selection committee chose Mr. Savarese for this honor based on his dedication to the community and passion for making a positive difference in the region. The award will be presented on Wednesday, April 4, 2012, at the 3rd Annual Pittsburgh Service Summit at Carlow University.

The Dr. Tom Baker Community Leader Award is presented in honor of the memory of Dr. Thomas A. Baker, who taught in the Pittsburgh Public Schools throughout his entire professional career before passing away in 1991. Baker was a teacher, author, coach, board member, and even utilized his creative talents as emcee of talent shows and as mascot of the Pittsburgh Public Schools. The Dr. Tom Baker Community Leader Award is given to a passionate, energetic, and positive community champion who makes an impact and helps others. 

The Mt. Lebanon Elementary Schools are in the process of contacting families who have children eligible to enter kindergarten in the fall of 2012.  If you have a child who is eligible to enter kindergarten this fall and have not been contacted, please call the school secretary. 

Children are eligible if they turn five before September 8, 2012.  If you have a child entering 1^st through 5^th grade and are not currently enrolled but plan to enroll, please contact the school.  

Foster School – 412-344-2162

Hoover School – 412-276-7411

Howe School – 412-344-2157

Jefferson School – 412-344-2167

Lincoln School – 412-344-2147

Markham School – 412-344-2152

Washington School – 412-344-2142

The Mt. Lebanon Fire Department will kick off the community centennial with an open house and “push in” ceremony for the department’s new ladder truck from 4 to 6 pm, Saturday, February 4th.  At a push-in, firefighters and residents push the new truck into the garage. This is an old fire house tradition that dates back to when firefighting vehicles were horse drawn.  When the horses were released from the apparatus, the firefighters would then push the vehicle into the fire house.  The vent also will feature an exhibit of historic items and photographs from the fire department.  Refreshments will be provided. It should be a great event for children.

Megan Boyda and her Irish Dance Team performed at the event.

The 5th Annual Jefferson Middle School International Night held on January 19, was a great success. Despite the snow, over 550 JMS students and their families came together for a night to celebrate the diversity and cultural talents of the school community. The event raised over $3,000 for the Haiti Orphanage. The International Night was organized by JMS teachers Molly Wetmore, Kristin Hertzog, and Ashlee Beckett.  Read more about it in this week's Almanac.

Mt. Lebanon High School Student Council is sponsoring a food drive on Saturday, February 4 to support the 305th Military Police Corps, US Army Reserves currently serving in Afghanistan.  Donated items may be dropped off on between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. in the Mt. Lebanon Recreation Center, Room B, 900 Cedar Boulevard. For more information contact Carlie McGinty at 412-344-2105.  Check donations will also be accepted made out to the Mt. Lebanon School District.

Please consider donating some of these items:

Cereal/Snack Bars

Fruit Snacks

Drink Mix

Oatmeal

Instant Coffee

Pop Tarts

Aspirin

Dry Cereal

Packets of Protein Powder

Peanut Butter

Non-Perishable Snack Foods

Shaving Cream & Razors

Toothpaste & Toothbrushes

Hand Sanitizers

Lip balm

Foot Powder

Tissues

If you have a child with a disability who will be entering kindergarten in Mt. Lebanon in 2012-2013, please plan to attend the Transitioning to Kindergarten Information Session on Wednesday, February 15, 2012, from 6:00-7:30 p.m. in the Jefferson Middle School Library.

The night will include:

-Information on Transition from Early Intervention to School Age Programming

-Information on Mt. Lebanon School District Supports and Special Education Programming

-An opportunity for parents to briefly meet with a school psychologist

Participants included students,school board members, staff, administrators, municipal and PTA representatives.

Students were the stars at the high school groundbreaking ceremony on January 26. Performances by the Blue Devil Marching Band, Triple Trio, and Chamber Choir set the stage for the historic event. Students threw the first shovels of dirt and wore beautifully painted hard hats by student artists.

Watch the video

Watch a slide show. 

Mellon students used their portraits to make a statement: "We look to the future, to preserve what is right, and continue to make the world a better place."

Mellon students joined “Inside Out” - a global art project that lets people upload portraits of themselves to express a positive message about what they stand for with the hope to inspire others to do the same so the idea grows. In return, participants are mailed back a large print of their portrait.  Mellon students took portraits in black and white and uploaded them to the insideoutproject.net website.  The students decided as a group what they stood for, what they cared about and what they wanted the viewers to know.  According to their art teacher, Garrett Hain, the students decided on this statement: "We look to the future, to preserve what is right, and continue to make the world a better place." All nine students received their printed portraits from Inside Out, and some are currently being displayed at Mellon Middle School.

Peter Berg accepts this month's Extra Mile Award from School Board President Josephine Posti.

This month’s Extra Mile Award winner, Mr. Peter Berg, has been a strong advocate for our students since the moment he began working in the District as a guidance counselor.  

Mr. Berg was nominated by a parent, who wrote about how he helped their family when a child was being bullied.  Peter Berg took the parents’ concern about bullying seriously, stepped in to stop the bullying, and let it be known that bullying would not be tolerated.   The parent wrote   “I really believe that Pete genuinely cares about every student in this district.”

Another parent shared how Mr. Berg stepped in during a child’s medical crisis to support the child and the transition back to school.  He took the time to learn about and understand the child’s complicated issues and dedicated many hours to helping the family get the necessary supports and work with the child’s teachers achieve a successful outcome.  The parent wrote that Mr. Berg “told me many times that he’s just doing his job.  He does it very, very well.”

Peter Berg’s concern for students, staff, and the operation of the high school is evident on a daily basis.  He is in his office before others arrive, and is one of the last to leave the building each day.  He has been instrumental in helping to ensure a smooth transition this school year as the administrative reorganization was implemented.   Since the beginning of the school year, the high school has had a vacant unit principal position; Mr. Berg has done whatever is necessary to help fill the needs of that open position by going above and beyond to assist students who were not in his assigned unit to make sure their requests and needs are met. 

Mr. Berg’s extra efforts each day, through his professionalism, care, organization and knowledge, help to preserve the smooth day to day operations of the Mt. Lebanon High School program.

It is an honor to present the Extra Mile Award to Mr. Peter Berg.

Mt. Lebanon PTA Council will hold a community forum on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 7:00 p.m. in the High School Fine Arts Theatre to further explore the issue of teen stress. Students today face a balancing act of academics, extracurricular activities, social pressures, and college pursuit. Learn more about these issues and the tools to use to help young people cope. The evening will be moderated by KDKA news anchor, Ken Rice.

Bring your questions for our panel of experts:

Shelly Saba-High School Counselor
Jeff Longo-Outreach Teen and Family Services
Dan Petrich-High School English Teacher
Tom Jackson-High School Math Teacher
Patti Lee-Career Counselor
Jennifer Winge-Dean of Admissions, College of Wooster
Dr. Stuart Libman-Psychologist
Dr. Amy Gosling-Pediatrician
Carlie McGinty-High School Activities Director
Caroline Saunders-Student panelist, current senior and student body officer

Students from all ten schools hand painted hard hats for the groundbreaking. Pictured are those painted by high school students.

The Mt. Lebanon School District invites staff, students, parents and the community to attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the Mt. Lebanon High School renovation project on Thursday, January 26, 2012, at 4:00 p.m. on the lawn next to the Fine Arts Theatre on Horsman Drive. Refreshments will be served immediately following the ceremony in the upper lobby of the theater.

Mt. Lebanon High School senior, Luke Steinhauer, is a YoungArts Finalist in Musical Theater. YoungArts is the core program of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA). Chosen from more than 5,000 applicants in nine disciplines in the visual, literary and performing arts, Luke  joins 151 other finalists. They will all participate in the YoungArts Week in Miami January 9-14, 2012 for master classes by world-renowned artists; performances and exhibitions; and the possibility to become a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts and visit the White House.

The students attending YoungArts Week were selected in a blind adjudication process from a pool representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as all U.S. territories. The adjudication process will continue during YoungArts Week to determine further award levels. Monetary awards ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 will be presented to students exhibiting excellence in their discipline.

YoungArts is the only organization in the nation to recognize students in nine discipline categories of cinematic arts, dance, jazz, music, photography, theater, visual arts, voice and writing. The organization’s mission is to identify emerging artists, provide educational enrichment and assistance in their pursuit of the arts, and to raise the appreciation for and support of the arts in American society. At the request of The Commission on Presidential Scholars, which is appointed by the President of the United States, NFAA serves as the exclusive nominating agency for the U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts.

YoungArts Week performances will be livestreamed on www.youngarts.org.

Jefferson Middle School student, Jakob Posti, is pictured with his artwork on display at Pamela's.

If you happen to stop by Pamela's P & G Diner in Mt. Lebanon, take special notice of the artwork. A community outreach exhibit is taking place at the restaurant and Mt. Lebanon School District is well represented by 12 talented and creative students. Each secondary Visual Arts teacher submitted two outstanding student works of art to represent our District. Special thanks to Mellon art teacher, Garrett Hain, who spearheaded the effort.

Congratulations to the following students:

High School

Natalie Isenberg

Kaelin Kost

Mellon Middle School

Sarah Rolfson

Maddy Rice

Max Davidson

Alexandra McDonough

Abigail Eckhardt

Phoebe Vipperman 

Jefferson Middle School

Ava Santoro

Casey Lynch

Jakob Posti

Autumn Graham

Enviromental artists at JMS with their sculpture.

Greg Frommeyer’s Art Enrichment class at Jefferson Middle School took advantage of the warmer-than-usual December weather to meld their artistic craftsmanship with the environment.   The class is studying the work of artist Andy Goldsworthy, who teaches, "Working with nature means working on nature's terms." The students used only their hands and natural materials (leaves, grass, berries and more) to create an organic sculpture. According to Mr. Froymeyer, “The students felt the piece should reconnect with the tree that shed the leaves and not take on an inorganic presence, like a square.  Although it was sculpted, it had to fit with nature. The students will now watch how the piece will be affected by its environment. Perhaps students will add on to it.  If snow falls, the spiral may stand out under a blanket of crisp white snow.  Elementary kids at recess may use it as part of a game.  It might be deconstructed, destroyed or blown away.”   

JMS teacher Tyler Bluemling was surprised by his students, all sporting moustaches, to support Movember.

During November each year, Movember is a time when men grow moustaches to raise funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men. A group of Mt. Lebanon teachers signed on to support the cause and have raised over $500 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Watch a slide show of our participating teachers.

Click here to reserve tickets.   

David Hudak showing cub scouts the contents of a sensory box he made for the autistic program at Washington School.

High School student, David Hudak, built 10 sensory boxes for use by students with autism for his Eagle Scout project. He donated nine to seven Mt. Lebanon schools and one to St. Paul's preschool. The items included in each of the boxes will help students with sensory needs to process sensory information in their school surroundings and successfully meet everyday environmental challenges with comfort. The boxes were delivered to Washington school last week.  Read more about the project in the Almanac.

Washington School Principal Mary Kay Davis commented, “David has given Mt. Lebanon elementary students and staff a wonderful resource. He researched and carefully selected items that meet a wide range of needs including auditory, tactile, and visual.  I am so impressed with the initiative and craftsmanship this young man has shown.” 

Nancy Campbell, District Supervisor of World Languages and Libraries, participated in a program in Germany November 6-12 sponsored by the Goethe-Institut.  Mt. Lebanon High School is a PASCH partner school which is a partnership for the future program of the Goethe-Institut, the branch of the German federal government which promotes the study of German language. The Goethe-Institut conveys an all-around image of Germany by providing information on its culture, society and politics, and encourages international cooperation.  During the program in Berlin, administrators from PASCH partner schools from North America met with representatives of the German government, education-related agencies, and Siemens Corporation.  They also visited several schools and universities to learn about the German educational system as well as Germany’s role within the area of cross-cultural dialogue and exchange.  According to Ms. Campbell, “Although the German educational system is somewhat different from our system, we have similar goals and face similar challenges.  The opportunity to meet and exchange information with other administrators from the United States and Canada as well as the opportunities provided by the Goethe-Institut in Germany made the experience extremely interesting.”  In the past three years, Mt. Lebanon High School has received funding from the PASCH partnership for classroom technology and books, teacher professional development, and summer study opportunities in Germany for students.

Lincoln student, Nora Conaway interviewed classmates for a segment on the Turkey Fund that aired on KDKA.

Lincoln Elementary student, Nora Conaway, is carrying on the legacy of her late grandmother and KDKA consumer reporter, Yvonne Zanos, by helping to promote the KDKA Turkey Fund. This year, Lincoln students and staff raised over $7,000 for the fund.  Lincoln School was featured on KDKA news as Nora interviewed her classmates on why they think it’s important to support the Turkey Fund.  The school collected the money  to help support the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank.  Mary Robb Jackson was on hand to help coach Nora with her interviews with classmates. Watch the video.

The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is pleased to announce that Connie Booth will be speaking at the 2011 NCTE Annual Convention.
Booth, of Mt. Lebanon High School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will be presenting during the panel session, "ART AND FILM: READING VISUAL LITERACY MODELS." An excerpt from the description of this session in the Convention Program reads:

"Critical analysis of art, pictures, and non-fiction film in secondary classrooms. Teachers present their pedagogy, mentor texts, and students' narrative projects." The session will be held from 9:30 AM to 10:45 AM on Friday, November 18, 2011.

Each year, the NCTE Annual Convention draws thousands of K-12 teachers, college faculty, administrators, and other educational professionals from around the world. They gather to hear award-winning speakers, attend idea-packed sessions, share best practices, participate in workshops, and test the latest teaching materials. The 2011 NCTE Annual Convention will be held November 17-22, in Chicago, Illinois.

Mt. Lebanon High School senior, Caroline Saunders, was selected for the 2011 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Achievement Awards in Writing. The NCTE honors 520 high school seniors as outstanding writers. The recipients were chosen from 1, 649 students nominated in their junior year by their teachers from the 50 states.

The Achievement Awards in Writing program was established in 1957 to encourage high school students in their writing and to recognize publicly some of the best students writers in the nation. A team of English teachers judge the writing, looking especially for writing that demonstrates effective and imaginative use of language to inform and move an audience.

Cast members of 'Brave New World'

Mt. Lebanon High School Evening and Technical Theatre Companies will present Aldous Huxley’s 'Brave New World' on November 10, 11, 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the High School Fine Arts Theatre. The play is directed by Cynthia K. Schreiner and adapted for the stage by David Rogers.

The novel, published in 1932, was considered a fantasy of the future that shed a critical eye on contemporary issues. Now considered a classic, 'Brave New World' deals with thought provoking themes and continues to be included in the top book lists for high school students.

Tickets for the play are $5 and can be reserved online  or purchased at the door. Call the Mt. Lebanon High School Fine Arts Department at 412-344-2030 for more information.
Cast list.

Howe teachers Mr. Jason Kukic and Mrs. Caylin Charrie danced the tango to music played by the Howe strings ensemble in honor of the guests from Uruguay.

Howe Elementary School students and staff welcomed two fifth grade students and their teacher from Mercedes, Soriano, Uruguay on Monday. The group is in Mt. Lebanon as part of a cultural exchange program funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U. S. Department of State through the efforts of Mt. Lebanon FLES teacher, Elaine Palmer. The school held an assembly in the Howe Auditorium to  welcome 5th grade students, Vaelntina Fontora and Valentina Mezquida,  and their teacher, Claudia López Zapata. The event was streamed live to their classmates at N°65 Eduardo Victor Haedo School in Mercedes, Uruguay. Last year, Elaine Palmer  traveled to Uruguay to visit the school.  Watch a video of the assembly. The assembly was streamed on the web and watched by students at Eduardo Victor Haedo School.

Students at Howe and Foster schools already know their Mt. Lebanon counterparts due to an ongoing pen pal program called “Amigos Para Siempre” (Friends Forever). The program connects Mt. Lebanon students with Uruguayan students and teachers from Eduardo Victor Haedo School.   Families from Foster and Howe elementary schools will host the Uruguayan students so they can experience the life of an elementary student living in the United States.  The students will shadow their pen pals at school, and experience community and cultural events with their host families.   

School and municipal representatives joined Howe students to give the international visitors a Mt. Lebanon welcome. State Representative Matt Smith presented an official welcome proclamation from the PA House of Representatives. 

Superintendent Tim Steinhauer testified before the  Pennsylvania State House Democratic Policy Committee hearings last Friday on the effects state education funding cuts will have on school districts.  The panel was co-chaired by State Reps. Matt Smith, Dan Deasy and Chelsa Wagner, and included state Reps. Robert Matzie, Joe Markosek, Chris Sainato, Dan Frankel, Paul Costa and Kevin Murphy. Click the link above to read the article.

The PTA presidents for the 2011-12 school year were honored by the School Board at the Oct. 17 meeting.

Each year, the leaders of the Mt. Lebanon PTA are recognized by the District to celebrate the long and strong tradition of parent involvement in our schools. This year is especially significant since it is the 75th Anniversary of PTA in the Mt. Lebanon School District. On January 16, 1936, the first official organization meeting was held at Washington Elementary School, establishing the Mt. Lebanon Township Council of Parent Teacher Associations.

Over the years, PTA has been a tireless advocate for our children and our schools.  The legacy of this organization is a powerful reminder of the positive impact parent involvement can have in schools.  Here are just a few of the important contributions Mt. Lebanon PTA has made over the years:

•1936-As a result of PTA support, diphtheria testing is carried out in all Mt. Lebanon schools.
•1942- The PTA was a leader in the war effort on the home front through the sale of war bonds and stamps. Mt. Lebanon students purchases $75, 000 of war stamps which provided over 40 jeeps for the army.
•1943- PTA establishes a U.S.O. Canteen service and manages the community registrations for war ration books.
•1951-PTA creates a Civil Defense Committee and trains 800 adults in the community in first aid.
•1952-PTA mounts a campaign to support a $2.5 million school bond issue for major additions to the high school that include classrooms, science labs, modern library, cafeteria, gymnasium, swimming pool and auditorium.  The bond issue passed by a 3 to 2 margin.
•1954-PTA Council produces and distributes a brochure listing the candidates for the Mt. Lebanon School Board and their views.
•1955-PTA Council petitions the Township Commissioners and County Commissioner urging them to pave Bower Hill Road so sidewalks can be installed for safe walking.

Since the 1950’s, the PTA has advocated for safe playgrounds, the fight against smoking, drugs and alcohol, parent education programs, public education, and the list continues to grow each day.  Mt. Lebanon staff and students thank PTA volunteers, both current and former, who work tirelessly each year to make our schools a special place for children. 

Click here to view the PTA 75th Anniversary Celebration

2011-2012 PTA Presidents
Sheryl Cohen-PTA Council
Rachel Meta-Foster Elementary
Karen Morris-Hoover Elementary
Julie Daubner-Howe Elementary
Marjorie Crist- Jefferson Elementary               
Debra Cunningham-Lincoln Elementary
Linda Csont-Markham Elementary
Anne Pillion-Washington Elementary
Laura Cowell-Jefferson Middle
Linda Shapiro-Mellon Middle                        
Ruby Kang-High School PTSA

Congratulations to the five Mt. Lebanon students who recently qualified by live audition to participate in The Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) District 1 Honors Band. They will represent Mt. Lebanon High School in concert on Sunday, November 27, at Carnegie Hall in Oakland.

Lukas Basse, Bassoon Grade 9

Timothy Fitzgerald, Euphonium Grade 12

Patrick Forgione, Trumpet Grade 12

Hannah Rice, Clarinet Grade 12

Alex Kurland, Clarinet Grade 10

R.J. Long, the PASC District 3 Director, presented a leadership 101 workshop to students from around the county at Jefferson Middle School.

On Wednesday, October 5, the Jefferson Middle School Student Council hosted a mini-conference for the Pennsylvania Association of Student Council (PASC) member schools.  The title for this half-day event was "How to Do a Workshop:  Get the Key Ingredients."  Students spent the day taking in a wealth of information about leadership opportunities available to them. They learned how to develop their own successful leadership workshops to build leadership capacity in their schools. 

Eighty-seven students from middle schools in Allegheny County, along with twenty-one students from the JMS Student Council, were able to attend sessions conducted by experienced high school presenters and the PASC District Director.  The goal for the day was to enable and motivate Student Council members to present at future leadership conferences and inform them of opportunities that exist for them.  Overall, the day was a tremendous success and JMS looks forward to seeing this core group of presenters in the future.

Mt. Lebanon High School 2012 National Merit Semifinalists

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation recently released the names of the Semifinalists in the 57th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Mt. Lebanon School District is proud to announce that seven seniors were named National Merit Semifinalists. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, which represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. Over 74,500 Pennsylvania students in 918 schools participated in the PSAT/NMSQT exam. Students in Pennsylvania scoring 215 or above on the PSAT/NMSQT were recognized as semi-finalists. Congratulations to the following students on this outstanding academic achievement: Ellis Herman, Megan Matthews, Kevin Skolnick, Gabriel Rosenberg, Jerry Zhang, Lillian Dattilo, and Owen Brown.

Owen Brown scored a perfect score of 240 on the PSAT/NMSQT exam.  He is one of only nine Pennsylvania students to have a perfect score.   

Pete DiNardo with School Board members Larry Lebowitz, Jo Posti, Mary Birks, and Dale Ostergaard.

School Board President Jo Posti

Pete Dinardo-September 2011 Extra Mile Award Recipient

Tonight, I wanted to take a minute to recognize someone who many of us think about when we think about our mission, “to provide the best education possible for each and every student.”  Another way of saying this is to do everything that we can to ensure that each of our children maximizes his or her potential.  Perhaps no one in our district does this better than the recipient of this month’s Extra Mile Award, Pete DiNardo.

Throughout most of his tenure, he has taught AP US History.  As our students will attest, this is one of the most difficult courses many of them take during their high school careers.  It prepares them well for what lies ahead of them in college.  He’s been the driving force behind this course and is a legend among his students.  He’s admired, respected and beloved by the students brave enough to take on the challenge of APUSH.  Mr. DiNardo believes it’s his responsibility to push his students to the limit to make sure they maximize their potential and pushes them beyond where they think they can be.  He does this through tireless devotion top his students and his craft.  More specifically, Mr. DiNardo spends endless hours preparing new and exciting materials for his class, working with students both during and after regular school hours (including teaching evening sessions when either the curriculum or students require it) as well as grading both exams and his very well-known term paper.

Many of us know students who have been taught by Mr. DiNardo and find that he’s frequently described as one of their favorites.  One Board member described Pete’s class as “the hardest and most demanding course of (his son’s) high school career.  Yet it was the most rewarding. Most importantly, it honed his skills in reading, writing, and research which served him well in college.”  Another shared the things that made him a favorite between both of her children: “For one, the class and the intelligent, lively discussions only sharpened her love of history; Pete made it come alive, and it allowed her to find her voice. For my son, who was not a huge fan of history, the class made him go farther than he thought he could, with research, group discussions and high expectations. It was THE class, he would later tell me, that prepared him for the rigor of college life. Another student shared that Mr. DiNardo’s course was harder than any course she took at her very competitive college.  Students leave this class knowing that they have pushed themselves to the limit. 

Somehow, he also finds time to sponsor the Emergency Club and volunteer with Forensics and his son’s and daughter’s soccer teams.  Emergency’s mission is to educate students on the contemporary issues of world health and discuss the problems, causes, and possible responses to these issues.  Those responses have made an impact not only on our students but for communities around the world.  One of Emergency’s signature events was their Walk For Water in 2009, a community event that brought attention to the need for clean water in Africa and the impact limited water supplies has on women and children in Sudan.  This event included bringing in Benjamin Ajak, author of "They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky" and one of the refugees called "Lost Boys of Sudan" and hosting a community event at the stadium that raised over $6,000.  Last year, Water for Sudan drilled a well, named by our students, “Lebo H2OPE”in the village of Malek Amal in the Jur River County, Western Bar El Ghazal State.  At the time, Mr. DiNardo said, " To see the fruits of this labor and know that this village has access to fresh water brings me a great deal of satisfaction and also provides a concrete success to share with and motivate a new generation of Mt. Lebanon students."  Mr. DiNardo, you motivate our students in and outside of the classroom and make a meaningful impact on your local community as well as communities in other parts of the world.  Thank you.

In 2004, Congress officially recognized September 17th as National Constitution Day to recognize the day members of the Constitutional Convention signed the final copy of the Constitution in 1787.  Since its inception in 2007, Mt. Lebanon High School has participated in “Project 26”, a PENNCORD initiative for public schools in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Project 26, named for the 26th amendment to the Constitution, engages students to understand what it means to be an active citizen. Each year on Constitution Day, a group of Mt. Lebanon seniors create a lesson about the 26th amendment to the US Constitution which gave 18 year-olds the right to vote.  The students, guided by High School Social Studies teacher, Gary Ford, present this lesson to all students enrolled in Western Cultures classes.  This year, Laura Cherner and Jayson Driscoll, two senior A.P. Government students, coordinated the peer education program.  Quinn Kobelak and Keith Rentler introduced the lesson with a rap.

Iceburgh makes a visit to Eva Dorr's class at Washington School.

Eva Dorr, a 4th grade student at Washington Elementary School, has been selected as the Jr. Reporter for the Pittsburgh Penguins for the 2011-12 season.  Eva had to submit a written essay and a YouTube video to the Penguins in the first round of the application process. Based on her video submission, the Penguins selected Eva to be among the group of finalists to audition in front of a panel at the Consol Energy Center. Panelists were Ralph Martin – CEO & President, Trib Total Media; Rob Rossi – Penguins Beat Writer, Trib Total Media, Pierre Larouche – Pittsburgh Penguins Alumnus; Katie O’Malley – Pens TV and Gamenight Host; Steve Mears – Pittsburgh Penguins Radio Network Host and Steve Finerty – Pittsburgh Penguins Producer/Editor. She also had to conduct an interview with former Penguin Pierre Larouche. 

As the Jr. Penguin Reporter, Eva will work with the Penguins production team to report on various Penguins events and conduct player and coach interviews throughout the season.   Her segments will air both in-game at select Penguins home games, as well as online at pittsburghpenguins.com.   Eva's prize also included a party with a visit from Iceburgh, the Pens mascot, to her class at Washington School and lunch for everyone provided by TGI Friday.  

The community turned out to support the high school Pink-Out.

Mt. Lebanon High School  held a Pink-Out to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer research at the first home football game on September 9, 2011. Our students showed their support by wearing pink, and the football team wore pink ribbon decals on their helmets. Watch a slideshow of the event. The first Pink-Out was organized in 2009 by Mt. Lebanon High School student Ellese Meyer to honor her mother who had lost her battle with breast cancer.  As a result of Ellese’s efforts, along with the help and support of Mt. Lebanon Athletic Director John Grogan, Pink-Outs are now held at over ninety high school sporting events in the WPIAL, raising over $35,000 for the Young Women’s Breast Cancer Foundation-a local organization supported by Ellese’s late mother.

Since Ellese graduated from Mt. Lebanon in 2010, her story has gained national attention. She will be featured in a new show coming to ABC stations on Saturday mornings called “Everyday Health,” brought to you by the online health site, Everyday Health, and will air as part of Litton’s Weekend Adventure every Saturday morning.

Each episode of “Everyday Health” shines a light upon someone who has selflessly and passionately dedicated their time and effort to promoting positive, healthy initiatives.  On September 9, the cast and crew of “Everyday Health” visited the high school to film a segment about Ellese Meyer and how she inspired her classmates, and high school students throughout Western Pennsylvania, to take an active role in the fight against breast cancer.  "Everyday Health" show hosts, Ethan Zohn and Jenna Morasca— both winners of the show “Survivor”—filmed  Ellese and students at the high school during the day and at the football game in the evening.

The air date for this episode has not yet been scheduled.
 
For more information about “Everyday Health” visit www.EverydayHealth.com/TV or
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Student Council members with Kenyen Brown, Lori McCleary-Szala, and Joe Manganiello.

Mt. Lebanon School High School welcomed back the 2011 Great Alumni Award recipients, their family and friends on Sept. 9, 2011. The award winners were honored at a luncheon at the high school and at the football that evening.  Traveling back to their alma mater to accept their awards in person were Kenyen Brown, Class of 1987, Joe Manganiello, Class of 1995 and  Lori McCleary-Szala, Class of 1988.  Slideshow

First day of school, first day of first grade, being with your buddy...priceless.

August 29 was the first day of school for Mt. Lebanon students. Students and parents walked down tree-lined streets in seven different neighborhoods to gather on the front lawn of their elementary school to wait for the school doors to open. Watch a slide show of the first day of school at Washington elementary.

The Mt. Lebanon High School Percussion Ensemble has been selected to perform for the 2012 Sandy Feldstein National Percussion Festival to be held in Indianapolis, IN, March 15 - 18, 2012.  This festival is part of the 2012 Music for all Nations Festival presented by Yamaha. The Music for All National Festival celebrates outstanding music-making by the nation’s finest concert bands, orchestras and percussion ensembles. Ensembles were invited following a recorded audition process, evaluated by a panel of music educators. This marks the High School Percussion Ensemble’s third appearance at the festival with previous appearances in 2007 and 2009.

The Junior Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh has been awarded The American Prize in Choral Performance High School Division, 2011.  Baritones Taylor P. Sweeney (2011 graduate) and Neal Ulrich, and altos Susan Hepburn, Sarah Mickey, and Taia Pandolfi, all students at Mt. Lebanon High School, are members of the award-winning Junior Mendelssohn Choir.

The American Prize is a series of new, non-profit national competitions providing professional adjudication and regional, national and international recognition for the best recorded performances of music by ensembles and individuals each year in the United States at the professional, college/university, church, community and secondary school levels. The prestigious competition is administered by Hat City Music Theater, Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Danbury, Connecticut. The American Prize was founded in 2009 and is awarded annually. Internationally renowned composer David Katz and a panel of distinguished professionals from around the country provide evaluation, recognition and reward to America's finest performing artists, ensembles and composers.

The American Prize is awarded based on recorded performances. The Junior Mendelssohn’s winning recordings included selections from its 2010 annual concert, A Procession Winding Around Me, and its 2009 concert, Fauré’s Requiem & Cantique de Jean Racine. The full competition submission can be heard online at www.themendelssohn.org.

The Mt. Lebanon School District Staff Planning Operation Review Team will hold a community forum on Wednesday, September 14, 2011, at 7:00PM in the high school library. 

The long range goal of the staff planning team is to provide feedback and recommendations to the Board regarding opportunities for improvements and efficiencies as they relate to the deployment of our human resources. The team is assessing staff levels across all functional areas of the school district as well as enrollment trends and projections.

The purpose of this forum is to gather ideas and suggestions from our residents to assist the team in developing recommendations for the Board of School Directors.

Please plan on joining us on September 14, at 7:00PM in the high school library. We look forward to hearing your ideas and suggestions.

Marc E. Thornton is the newly appointed principal for Jefferson Elementary School.

Marc E. Thornton was unanimously approved by the Mt. Lebanon School Board as the new principal of Jefferson Elementary School at the July 18, 2011 School Board meeting.  The position at Jefferson was open due to the retirement of current principal, Mike Schnirel. 

Mr. Thornton has spent the last 12 years at the North Hills School District. He is currently the principal of West View Elementary School and has served as a K-12 curriculum leader in the special education department. Mr. Thornton also taught special education at North Hills.

Mr. Thornton has a master’s in education, mentally and/or physically handicapped from California University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in communication sciences and disorders from the University of Pittsburgh.

Christopher S. Wolfson, the new principal at Mellon Middle School.

The Mt. Lebanon School Board unanimously approved Christopher S. Wolfson the new principal of Mellon Middle School at the July 11, 2011, School Board Discussion Meeting.  Mr. Wolfson has served as a unit principal at Mt. Lebanon High School since February, 2011. He will begin his new position on July 12, 2011. Fomer Mellon principal, Brian McFeeley was appointed principal of Mt. Lebanon High School.

Prior to Mt. Lebanon, Mr. Wolfson was the principal of Burgettstown Middle/High School since 2007.  Prior to his position in Burgettstown, Mr. Wolfson was the assistant principal at Seton-La Salle High School, and a social studies teacher and curriculum coordinator at North Catholic High School. 

Mr. Wolfson holds a bachelor‘s degree in education from Slippery Rock University and a master’s degree in education administration & leadership from Duquesne University. 

The school board also unanimously approved Kelly A. Szesterniak as the new assistant principal at Mellon Middle School effective, August 1, 2011.  Ms. Szesterniak is currently the assistant principal of Lakeside Middle School in the Irvine Unified School District, Irvine, California. She has also served as a curriculum coordinator and eighth grade science teacher at Lakeside.  Mellon assistant principal, Dr. Bridget Watson, has chosen to return to the classroom as an elementary teacher in the District.

Ms. Szesterniak holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and a master’s degree in educational administration and school leadership from California State University, Fullerton.

Gary Ford with School Board President Jo Posti.

The School Board’s Extra Mile Award honoree for June is high school social studies teacher, Gary Ford.  “What makes June’s Extra Miler special is that his nomination was written by one of his students, one of many who he’s obviously impacted,” said School Board President Jo Posti.  

Gary Ford has a passion for the study and teaching of political science, and has a special ability to engage his students.  He has a reputation as a teacher who upholds high standards regardless of the circumstances and his students recognized and respected his ability to retain a positive attitude and friendly teaching style this year while coping with a difficult family issue earlier this year.

Mr. Ford has been the sponsor of the high school Mock Trial team for the past several years dedicating significant time, knowledge, and effort into aiding the members of the team prepare arguments, speeches, examinations, and cross examinations as well as improving their overall public speaking ability and understanding of the legal system. .
 
He shares his love of politics with his students by organizing district-wide student mock elections every year, including the arduous process of counting the ballots.  He also aids with the student officer elections at the high school.  Additionally, Mr. Ford is well known for his repeated encouragement in getting 18-year old students to register to vote and even offers to aid the students in the registration process.  Mr. Ford also manages a display case on the fourth floor of the high school where he displays Post-Gazette headlines, articles of political importance, and accolades of the students within the building. 
 
He truly has dedicated himself to serving the school and its students and has passed his own passion for politics along to them.  Mr. Ford is an exceptional teacher within the classroom, and an exceptional human being outside of the classroom. 

At the Architect Update on June 20, 2011, Dr. Tim Steinhauer made a presentation to the School Board outlining the changes currently being recommended to reduce the cost of the high school plan with the goal to re-bid the project this fall.  The presentation focused on the work that has occurred since the opening of the bids on April 19, 2011. The changes that were recommended, specifically the reduction of approximately 31,000 square feet in the new G-Building and the Athletic Building, were made with the goal to have little or no impact on the high school program. The plan continues to be aligned to the 15 Design Criteria that were established following the DeJong Space Utilization Study in 2006 and through community input gathered over the course of the design process. An area of major change is the redesign of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems (MEP). The original systems were designed with the goal of attaining LEED Silver certification.  The MEP redesign, while still providing energy efficient boilers, chillers, HVAC systems, etc., represents considerable cost savings but also makes achieving LEED certification unlikely. Items placed on the Deduct and Add Alternate lists such as the third auxiliary gym, tennis courts and rifle range remain in the project.

Next steps in the process:
At the June 20th meeting, the School Board directed the architects to begin drawing plans based on the list of accepted items for the redesign. CFB will begin the work once Dr. Davis and Dr. Steinhauer approve the floor plans.  Once this work is completed, PJ Dick will have the necessary information to develop more detailed cost estimates.  The administration will continue to refine the list of potential savings while still exploring additional savings. District staff will review the potential changes with the municipality and other authorities having jurisdiction.

The School Board gave CFB direction to proceed with the following items:

1- Changes to G- Building, B-Building and the Athletic Building. The School Board also asked the architects and construction managers to explore the potential costs to keep the steel and current foundation planned for G-Building to allow for the option to add a floor in the future.
2- The preliminary add/deducts lists.
3- Changes to the elevator and loading dock.
4- Redesign MEP systems.
5- Expansion of the District’s current Lenel Security System instead of purchasing a completely new system.

The Board will discuss using single versus multiple prime contractors at the July Board meetings.

Here is a snapshot of the major recommendations for the re-design of the project:

G-Building Changes
-Remove the third floor of the G-Building and relocate the mathematics department classrooms planned for that space to the sixth floor of B-Building
-Relocate science spaces down one level to the second floor of G-Building
-Relocated the theatrical make-up room to a space adjacent to the auditorium
-Eliminate one two-story unassigned break-out area (817 square feet)
-Each academic program space is accounted for in the redesign, with similarly sized classrooms

B- Building Changes
-Existing corridor walls will remain in the same location
-Central Office will move from the sixth floor to a smaller space on the fourth floor (less space needed due to administrative reorganization)
- District special education offices and school psychologists offices will be relocated to another building (these staff members’ offices are not building bound since they serve all of the schools)
-Math Department classrooms and some Social Studies classrooms will relocate to the sixth floor
-Addition of a new large group instruction room on the sixth floor of B-building (1130 square feet)
-Each academic program space is accounted for in the redesign, with similarly sized classrooms

Athletic Building Changes
-Elimination of the lowest floor-two levels below the main gym and auxiliary gym
-Relocate the lower level spaces such as locker rooms to the shell space one level above
-Loss of some storage space and a minimal decrease in size of some rooms
-Each athletic space is accounted for in the redesign

Exterior Changes
-Less multi-colored blue glass replaced with tinted low E glass
- Loading dock will be raised to street level requiring less excavation and retaining walls
-3rd floor of G-Building eliminated
-Less glass on walkway to athletic building and front of pool building

MEP Changes

-Use DX condenser air conditioning in athletic building and
reducing the size of the chiller
– Install 2 chillers instead of 3
– Replace 130 fan power boxes with Variable Air Volume units
– Eliminate 2 airflow stations per air handling unit or roof top unit
– Eliminate day lighting controls in classrooms (dimming ballasts)
– Distribute power to buildings at 23 KVA in lieu of 4160 V
substations
– Improve bidding for Building Automation Systems
-Separate bidding for telephone system

High school special education teachers Ryan and Jodi Dunlap traveled to Australia to participate in the People to People student ambassador program.

Over the summer, many of our teachers and administrators will take part in a wide range of professional development programs.  This work will help Mt. Lebanon faculty and administrators increase their knowledge base and acquire new skills to bring back to the classroom to benefit our students. This time also provides an opportunity for teachers and administrators to share experiences and ideas with colleagues in their field.

Throughout the summer, we will feature some of these programs on our website. A note to our students:  a teacher is always a student, and learning does not end on the last day of school. Here are some of the professional development activities our staff is involved in this summer:

Ms. Connie Booth, Mt. Lebanon High School English teacher, has been selected as an NEH Summer Scholar from a national applicant pool to attend one of twenty summer study opportunities supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.  The Endowment is a federal agency that each summer supports Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops so that teachers can study with experts in humanities disciplines.  The approximate 1600 teachers who participate in these studies will teach over 200,000 American students next school year.
 
Connie will participate in a workshop titled "The Richest Hills:  Mining in the Far West, 1865-1920.  This one-week program--which is being organized by the Montana Historical Society--will take participants to three of the West's most significant mining heritage sites:  Virginia City, Butte, and Helena, Montana.  In each community scholars will study in-depth both the way in which the built environment reflects the West's mining past and the rich archival resources available for researchers.
 
This is the third year Connie has participated in an NEH Workshop or Institute.  Previously she studied the settings of John Steinbeck's works in Monterey, California and Zora Neale Hurston's works in Winter Park, Florida.

Mr. Mike Hladio, Jefferson Middle School teacher, will be heading to Washington D.C.  for the Save Our Schools March at the end of July.

Ms. Elaine Palmer,FLES Spanish teacher at Foster and Howe schools will  be co-presenting with a Spanish teacher from Gateway, "Go Global with The Educator Exchange Program!," at the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese conference in Washington D.C. this summer.

Mr. Jason Kukic, third grade teacher at Howe Elementary, is attending the 2011 Pennsylvania Governor's Institute on Financial Education at Elizabethtown College.

Ms. Linda Silver, Jefferson Middle School music teacher, is attending the Ohio State University String Teacher workshop in July. 

Mr. Patrick McClintock-Comeaux, Foster Elementary School principal
Patrick will be attending the College of William and Mary to work on his doctorate in Educational Policy, Planning and Leadership.

Ms. Ashlee Mae Beckett, JMS 6h Grade Social Studies teacher 
Ashlee is spending the summer in San Antonio, Texas teaching at the San Antonio Academy. She will be teaching the curriculum she developed for the program.

Ms. Mariann Fox, Fine Arts Supervisor
Mariann will present at the Summer Conference for Women in Educational Leadership on Thursday, June 23, 2011, at the AJ Palumbo Hall  at Carlow University.

Dr. Deborah Allen, Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Curriculum 
Dr. Allen was selected again as a National Baldrige Examiner. She will be scoring a Baldrige application this summer.

Pictured are Tom Wiese from the American Red Cross, Washington students, Mrs. Naoki Heginbotham and her son, and Mrs. Mary Kay Davis.

Students at Washington Elementary School recently completed a community service project called “Reading for Japan”.  In conjunction with National Library Week, Washington School sponsored a reading, service-learning project to benefit disaster relief in Japan. The purpose of this project was to encourage students to read, build an awareness of other cultures, and teach about service to our local and global communities.

Students raised money by asking sponsors to contribute based on the number of page they read. Washington students read over 40,000 pages and raised $3,468 which was donated to the American Red Cross for disaster relief in Japan. Washington parents, Katsue Heginbotham, Michelle Dreyfuss and Jennie Bhojwani coordinated the read project and made 1,000 origami cranes.  In Japan, the tradition of folding 1,000 cranes is done when someone has a wish for peace, health or luck. Each child who participated in the “Reading for Japan” project was able to put their name on an origami crane for display in the school. The remaining cranes were sent to OshKosh for their Cranes for Kids project. For every crane OshKosh received, the company sent an article of clothing to Japan to help victims of the earthquake and tsunami.

Jefferson Middle School student, Grace Simmons, was named a finalist in the 2011 NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) Promising Young Writers Program.  Grace joins Mellon Middle School students, Kendall Jennings and Claire Kuhn, in this annual program to recognize writing excellence among eighth graders across the nation.  Each student submitted both a themed piece and a sample of her best writing which were, in turn, evaluated by two judges.  The three middle school writers were among six finalists chosen in Pennsylvania.  Congratulations to Grace, Kendall and Claire and to all the English, literature, and language arts teachers who helped shape their writing skill through the years.

The 2011 Georgia Pogue Personal Achievement Awardees with Council President, Sheryl Cohen.

PTA Council has been awarding a scholarship to a deserving senior since our charter began 75 years ago.  In the 1990’s beloved guidance counselor, Georgia Pogue passed away and her family bequeathed $25,000 to the PTA Council Scholarship Fund.  In her memory, PTA renamed the scholarship:  The Georgia Pogue Personal Achievement Award.  This year, PTA Council is proud to announce the recipients of the 2011 Georgia Pogue Personal Achievement Award: Pulat Sayfatou, Jacob Weaver, Phillip Keib, Robert Lange, Carli Anselmi, Rosalie Olmsted and Jessica Kirschner.

 Each awardee receives $500.00 toward post college expenses.  There are 7 awardees, symbolic of our 7 elementary schools.  These students have significantly improved their academic performance, are all around good citizens and solid students and are always there helping.  They are truly representative of the entire student body of Mt. Lebanon.

Retirees honored at the May 23rd School Board meeting. From left to right-Mike Schnirel, Ellen Zeitz, Lainee Specter, Kathleen Haines, Mary Benintend, Carolyn Koch, Elizabeth Guerra, Joanne Geisinger, Janet Niedzwicki, John Niedzwicki, Dr. Tim Steinhauer.

During the May Regular School Board meeting, fifteen Mt. Lebanon retirees whose careers with Mt. Lebanon School District will come to a close at the end of this school year were honored by the School Board. Of the retirees, the teachers represent a combined 350 years of service to this community. Their work has impacted the lives of thousands of children during their tenure.  The School Board thanked all the retirees for their dedication to our students and their service to our district. 

2011 Mt. Lebanon School District Retirees:

Noreen Bayer is retiring after 20 years of service to the District. She was hired in 1991 as a substitute school nurse at the high school and worked at various schools across the District until 2000 when she was named the supervisor of nursing services. Mrs. Bayer has taken good care of our students and guided the District through many public health issues over the years including MRSA, and planning for the Avian and H1N1 flu outbreaks.

Mary Benintend is retiring after 36 years of teaching in the District. She was hired in 1969 as a teacher at Markham Elementary School.  Mrs. Benintend  worked for one year at Washington, but stayed at Markham for the remainder of her career, teaching 1st grade. 

Carol Dykstra is retiring after 23 years of teaching in the District. She was hired in 1988 as a special education teacher at Jefferson Elementary School and then transferred to Howe Elementary in 1990 teaching 5th grade. In1998, Ms.Dykstra moved to Jefferson Middle School where she is retiring as a 6th grade language arts teacher. 

Elizabeth Guerra is retiring after 24 years in the District.  She has worked in various roles in the District including instructional clerk at Howe Elementary, secretary in the unit principal’s office at the high school, building secretary at Washington Elementary and administrative assistant in human resources.

Joanne Geisinger is retiring after 28 years as a special education teacher. She was hired in 1983 at Mellon and has worked as a special education teacher at the junior high/middle level for her entire career and is retiring from Mellon Middle School.

Richard Hagerty is retiring after 28 years in the District. He was hired as a district-wide school psychologist in the 1982 school year and also served on the District’s Safety and Security Committee.

Kathleen Haines is retiring after 39 years of teaching in the District. She was hired in 1972 as a high school foreign language teacher.  Mrs. Haines taught both German and Russian at the secondary level during her entire career and is retiring from Mt. Lebanon High School.  Mrs. Haines was also very instrumental in the success of the German student exchange program.

Gary Jedinak is retiring after 34 years of teaching in the District. He was hired in 1977 as a substitute 6th grade teacher and has taught at Washington and Markham elementary schools until the middle schools opened in 1998 where he has remained as a 6th grade Math teacher. Mr. Jedinak is retiring as a teacher at Mellon Middle school. 

Carolyn Koch is retiring after 38 years of teaching in the District. She was hired in 1973 as a substitute elementary music teacher and has spent her entire career teaching elementary music at almost all of our elementary buildings. 

Cynthia Lackner is retiring after 22 years in the District.  All of Cindy’s experiences were in libraries – Lincoln Elementary and the high school.

Janet Niedzwicki is retiring after 15 years in the District. She was hired as a special education inclusion specialist in 1996.  Mrs. Niedzwicki has spent her entire career at Mt. Lebanon in the inclusion specialist role and has made a tremendous impact in our special education program. 

John Niedzwicki is retiring after 18 years in the District. He was hired as a guidance counselor Mt. Lebanon High School in 1993 and has worked at the high school his entire career. 

Lainee Specter is retiring after 33 years in the District. She was hired as an elementary art teacher in 1978 has worked at nearly all buildings in the district during her career. 

Ellen Zeitz is retiring after 20 years in the District. She began her career with Mt. Lebanon as an aide at the elementary level and moved on as an elementary special education teacher in 1999 and has worked as a special education teacher at Jefferson and Washington Elementary Schools. 

Mike Schnirel is retiring after 18 years in the District. He was hired as the principal of Jefferson Elementary School in 1993 and has remained at Jefferson for his entire Mt. Lebanon career.  

Congratulations and best of luck to all of our retirees.

Dr. James Walsh was named new Jefferson Middle School principal.

During the personnel report at the May 23^rd School Board meeting,  Superintendent Tim Steinhauer announced with regret  that Jefferson Middle school principal, Mrs. Joan Zacharias, had asked the Board for a change of assignment to return to the classroom to teach 6^th grade literature at Jefferson Middle School second semester next  year after she returns from a first semester sabbatical.   Mrs. Zacharias indicated that this decision was based on personal circumstances. “I want to thank Mrs. Zacharias for her dedicated work with middle school children. It is reassuring to know she will be returning to Jefferson Middle School as a teacher following her sabbatical,” said Dr. Tim Steinhauer.

Following the announcement regarding Mrs. Zacharias, the Board took action to appoint Dr. James Walsh as the new principal of Jefferson Middle School effective August, 2011. Dr. Walsh has served as English Supervisor in the District since 2008. “Dr. Walsh brings many years of experience both as a middle school teacher and middle school principal to this position,” said Dr. Steinhauer. “As a graduate of Mt. Lebanon High School, Dr. Walsh knows Mt. Lebanon well and understands the high expectations that this community has for education. “

Before joining the Mt. Lebanon School District, Dr. Walsh was the Director of Curriculum in the Aliquippa School District, the principal and assistant principal of Hopewell Junior High School, and an English and Theatre Arts teacher in Peters Township School District. Dr. Walsh earned a doctorate in education from Nova Southeastern University, a master’s degree in education from the University of Maryland and a bachelor’s degree in education from Duquesne University. 

At the May 23, 2011, Regular Board meeting, the Mt. Lebanon School Board approved the 2011-12 budget set at $78,347,833, down $1,014,607 or 1.3% from the 2010-11 budget of $79,362,440. There is no millage increase in this budget and includes an almost 1% decrease in Per Pupil Cost. The real estate millage is set at 26.63 mills, or $2.663 on each $100 of assessed valuation. School Board members Dan Remely, Elaine Cappucci, and Larry Lebowitz were absent.

The budget includes 12 teacher retirements. All the positions will be filled with the exception of one school psychologist position that will not be replaced. The budget also includes the adoption of a new reading series for grades K-5.

The key factors that led to the decrease in next year’s budget were a refinancing of the 2004 bonds which saved a half million dollars in debt service costs, a favorable labor contract with the teaching staff which led to lower health care costs for staff and renegotiated vendor contracts resulting in significant savings in copier services.

The Mt. Lebanon Academic Games Team back from nationals.

The Mt. Lebanon Academic Games Team concluded another successful year with a return appearance at the Academic Games National Competition in Kissimmee, Florida this past April.  Mt. Lebanon, one of the only school districts in the country which competes in all six Social Studies, Language Arts, and Mathematics based games, continued its successes nationally with award winning performances.  This year, six coaches and 25 students traveled by bus to Kissimmee, Florida to compete in the national tournament.  

The Academic Games National Tournament consists of over 1000 students in grades 4-12, from school districts in states including Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Michigan, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina.   The National Tournament is held after having six local tournaments (one for each game) from September through March, during which a player must qualify for Nationals in order to attend.

Congratulations to ALL the students and coaches who worked so hard during the school year to prepare for this event!

Elementary Division
Coaches Todd Forsyth and Nina Wroniak

Individual  Awards:

Abbas Merchant - undefeated - Equations
Otis Smith - undefeated - Linguishtiks 
Gayatri Anil - 2nd place - Mr. Presidents 
 Abbas Merchant - 4th place - World Events

3rd place team - World Events:

Gayatri Anil - Howe
Anne Jin - Washington
Abbas Merchant - Washington
Sam Rideout - Washington
Otis Smith - Washington

Middle Division
Coaches Julianne Slogick and Michael Locke
Individual Awards:
Vivek Anil – Mellon- 10th place – Mr. Presidents

High School Division
Coaches Brad Kavo and Ben Minett

Individual Awards:

Azfar Merchant  -undefeated – Equations
     - 7th Overall in the nation (all games)
     -3rd place - World Events

Leon Lin – 8thplace – World Events
Anna Poulton – 9th place – World Events

2nd place team – World Events:

Leon Lin
Sean McNamara
Anna Poulton,
Amanda Scharf
Emma Thompson

Our Promising Young Writers from Mellon Middle School.

The results of the 2011 NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) Promising Young Writers Program are in!  Mellon is pleased to announce that Kendall Jennings and Claire Kuhn have gained national recognition in this annual program to recognize writing excellence among eighth graders.  Each student submitted both a themed piece and a sample of her best writing which were, in turn, evaluated by two judges.  The Mellon writers were two of six finalists chosen in Pennsylvania.  Congratulations to Kendall and Claire and to all the English, literature, and language arts teachers who helped shape their writing skill through the years.

Student award winners at the annual awards banquet for the ACS.

Congratulations go to three Mt. Lebanon Honors Chemistry Students for taking the top three places in the  2011 Annual Secondary School Chemistry Contest sponsored by the Pittsburgh section of the American Chemical Society (ACS).  The contest is offered to any high school student in Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio, and Northern West Virginia. 

The examination tested a student's knowledge of descriptive chemistry and chemical principles. Questions were based mainly on representative textbooks, but also tested the student's ingenuity and breadth of knowledge gained from outside reading. 

Congratulation to the following students and their teachers, Mark Kernion and Susan Gillette Meer, for this outstanding accomplishment.

Ming Tian-First Award: $250

Daphne Schlesinger-Second Award: $150 

Marianne Donley-Third Award: $100.

The students were recognized at the annual awards banquet for the ACS this week along with the Organic Chemistry Olympics winners.

Well earned smiles on the bus ride home as students enjoy a successful run at the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science state competition.

Last February, nine students from Mt. Lebanon High School and Mellon Middle School received first place awards at the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) regional competition.  Those students went on to compete at the 77th Annual PJAS State Meeting held at Penn State on May 15-17.  Our students excelled in the competition; six students received first place scores in their categories and three received second place awards.

Congratulations to the following students, and their faculty sponsors-Kyle Tilger, 
Josh Bilak and Cindy Bronen-for their outstanding results in this rigorous science competition.

Mellon Middle School

Rida Merchant:  First place award in Behavioral Science (and a perfect score award)

Ben Smith: Second place award in Ecology

Stephen Tragesser: First place award in Zoology

Sierra van Dijk: First place award in Computer Science

Mt. Lebanon High School

Arjun Kar: First Place Award in Computer Science

Priya Ranganathan: First Place Award in Behavioral Science

David Qin: First Place Award in Physics

Lily Chen: Second Place Award in Biology

Azfar Merchant: Second Place Award in Microbiology

The Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science sponsored by the Pennsylvania Academy of Science, as an Affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Science is organized with the following objectives:

• To promote greater participation in science and mathematics activities among the youth of Pennsylvania.
• To improve the quality of achievement in mathematics and science by encouraging students to participate in research and develop original ideas.
• To develop an understanding of the scientific community through close association with leaders in the sciences.
• To seek the improvement of science clubs activities through the cooperative regional and area meetings.
• To inculcate among its members true scientific attitudes and humanistic ideals that shall lead to the greater development of service to man.

Mt. Lebanon High School senior, Madison Cable, has been selected to the 35th annual Parade Magazine Girls All-American Basketball team. Madison and is one of only 40 players in the country on the prestigious Parade team. She is only the ninth player from the WPIAL selected.  

Madison has signed to play at the University of Notre Dame next year. In addition to the Parade Magazine honor, she was named the Post-Gazette player of the year, the Gatorade Pennsylvania player of the year and the Associated Press Class AAAA player of the year for Pennsylvania.

At the May 16, 2011 School Board Discussion meeting, architects from Celli-Flynn Brennan and the construction manager from P.J. Dick will present an update to the School Board on their progress to identify issues that impacted the outcome of the High School renovation project bids. Their update will focus on the following areas:

Owner’s conditions

Bid structures

Phasing

Construction elements

Proprietary specifications

The next step in this process will be to review modification recommendations, verify and evaluate potential cost savings and determine next steps in re-bidding the project.  The meeting will be held at 7:30p.m. in the High School Library.

The NAMM Foundation announced the results of its 12th annual Best Communities for Music Education (BCME) survey, which acknowledges schools and districts across the U.S. for their commitment to and support for music education in schools. This year, the Mt. Lebanon School District has again been designated a “Best Community.”  This is the fourth time the Mt. Lebanon School District has received this honor.  “This prestigious designation is a tribute to the outstanding faculty and students in our Music Department, as well as the commitment of our District and community to support fine arts education in Mt. Lebanon schools” said Superintendent Timothy Steinhauer. In all, 179 communities out of 279 that submitted surveys were recognized, including 172 school districts and seven schools. 2011 marks the first year that individual schools received this impressive designation.

The BCME survey is a nationwide search for communities whose programs exemplify a strong commitment to music education. Established in 1999, BCME recognizes and celebrates schools, their administrators, teachers, board members, parents and students for their support of music education and their efforts to assure access to all students as part of the core curriculum.

Each school receiving the “Best Communities” designation scored in the 80th percentile or higher in the survey’s grading process. Participants in the survey answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, and other relevant factors in their communities’ music education programs. The responses were verified with district officials and advisory organizations reviewed the data. The 2011 survey was conducted between January 14, 2011 and March 14, 2011 in collaboration with The Institute for Educational Research and Public Service of Lawrence, Kansas, an affiliate of the University of Kansas.

About The NAMM Foundation
The NAMM Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to advancing active participation in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving and public service programs from the international music products industry.

Mt. Lebanon High School entered three teams to compete in the American Chemical Society Chemistry Olympics at the University of Pittsburgh this month.  This competition involves teams of three students working on a several hour experiment in the laboratory to solve a given problem in chemistry.  The problem is not known to the students until they arrive at the competition. Our Organic Chemistry team of Megan Robinson, Mariah Murphy, and Michael Moody won first place at this year’s competition. They received a cash prize and an invitation to the local American Chemical Society's annual banquet. Congratulations to the students, and their faculty adviser, Ms. Susan Gillette Meer.

The Pittsburgh Chemistry Olympics originated over thirty years ago with 10 schools and 40 students participating. Now, over 33 High Schools with over 80 teams and 240 students participate. The Pittsburgh Section of the American Chemical Society jointly sponsors The Chemistry Olympics with the University of Pittsburgh Chemistry Department and the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh. Schools may enter three teams, each consisting of   three members.  There are three categories.  Category I: first year chemistry; Category II: second year chemistry; and Category III: advanced organic chemistry.

Five Mt. Lebanon high school wrestlers were named to the Pennsylvania Wrestling Coaches Association All-Academic teams for 2010-2011.  Eligibility for these awards is limited to sophomores, juniors and seniors who have wrestled a minimum of fifteen varsity matches with a winning percentage of .600 or higher.  Among those candidates the fourteen wrestlers with the highest unweighted grade point averages in the state of Pennsylvania are named to the first team in each of the three grades.

Among the seniors, Adam Kemerer, was named to the first team for his second consecutive year.  Kemerer, a four-year varsity letter winner for the Blue Devils, was Mt. Lebanon’s first-ever four time section medalist and WPIAL qualifier.  He plans to attend Brown University in the fall. Another senior, Scott Allen, earned honorable mention for a second straight year.  Allen was the Section 4 champion at 160 pounds his senior season, and was honored with the Mt. Lebanon Blue and Gold Award for most valuable wrestler.  He plans to attend Ohio University in the fall.

High School Television Production students, Tyler Anderson and Olivia Tant won awards in the recent "Take a Shot at Changing the World" video contest. Tyler Anderson's film "My Hero" received the Grand Prize!  His film will be aired on WQED and presented on the website of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  His video was also the fourth place winner for the popular vote.  Tyler won a $5000 prize which will be shared with the High School Media Arts program.  Olivia Tant received a Judges' Honorable Mention--of the 80 films submitted, Olivia's production "How One Little Man Saved the World" was one of 10 that received that honor. Over 265 students throughout the region produced nearly 80 films, which attracted over 12,000 votes. The announcement about the winners and links to the videos are available at the “Take A Shot at Changing the World” website.

Jefferson students plant a tree in the front yard of the school to commemorate Arbor Day.

Jefferson Elementary School celebrated Arbor Day by planting a tree on the front lawn of the school during a tree planting ceremony. To commemorate the day, Jefferson students displayed artwork, read poems and sang songs about the environment.

The Mt. Lebanon municipality was named a Tree City USA a few years ago. Jefferson Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops raised the Tree City USA flag at the school, where it will remain for the year. To meet the requirements for Tree City status a community must have a forestry commission, budget a requisite amount of public funding for forestry and hold an annual Arbor Day Celebration.

About Arbor Day

Arbor Day originated in Nebraska in 1872, when the State Board of Agriculture adopted J. Sterling Morton's resolution that April 10th of that year be set aside for tree planting. The board awarded premiums for the greatest number of trees, cuttings, and seeds planted. More than a million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day. Arbor Day is now celebrated on the last Friday in April.

Hoover Elementary School INTERNATIONAL NIGHT, sponsored by Hoover PTA, will be held on Monday, May 2nd from 6:00 - 8:30 p.m. in the school lunch room and library. The event will feature crafts, food, stories, music and displays from Brazil, India and Japan.  An Indian dance performance by Nandanik Dance Academy will be held from 8 - 8:30 p.m. in the gym, while a student Art Show will take place in the art room.  Join the school to celebrate their diverse school community by sampling food, making crafts and listening to stories from Brazil, India and Japan.  Pick up your "passport" in the cafeteria, tour the International Night tables, and don't miss the showcase of students art work at the Art Show.

Mellon students perform the "Flash Workout" with Health and Physical Education teacher, Miss Jessica Peconi.

Mellon Middle School was selected as the only local middle school to be featured in the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation (NABEF) "Let's Move! Flash Workout” event produced in partnership with the National Middle School Association (NMSA), the National School Boards Association (NSBA) and the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). The  event calls for middle school students across the country to participate in a pre-choreographed "Let's Move!" dance exercise routine at the same time -- Tuesday, May 3, at 1:42 p.m. Eastern Time.  The "Let's Move! Flash Workout” event is meant to underscore the importance of physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle for children.

Over sixty Mellon students participated in the “Flash Workout” at the same time as other middle school students across the country. Music star Beyoncé provided the song and choreography in an instructional video to help teachers and students practice and prepare for the event. Mellon Health and PE teacher, Jessica Peconi, organized the dance workout so her students could take part in this national event. WTAE covered the event with WTAE Channel 4 Action News anchor, Andrew Stockey.

Dr. Davis taking his oath from Judge Todd.

Dr. Ron Davis was sworn in by Judge Randal Todd on April 28th as the new Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education. Dr. Davis will continue to serve as High School principal until June 30, 2011 when Brian McFeeley will step in as the new High School principal.  The newly created position of Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education came as a result of the reorganization announced by Dr. Tim Steinhauer.  In his new role, Dr. Davis will oversee all aspects of curriculum and instruction for grades 6-12. Dr. Deborah Allen will move into her new role as the Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Education on July 1, 2011.

At the reconvened School Board meeting on April 25th, the School Board voted unanimously (8-0, Sue Rose was absent) to reject all bids received in connection with the High School Renovation Project on April 19, 2011, including construction bids and asbestos abatement bids.  The School Board heard a presentation from construction manager, John Taormina, from PJ Dick and architect, Tom Celli, of Celli Flynn Brennan Architects, concerning the bids, and their continued efforts to identify why the bids went well over estimates.  No definitive answers were offered since they continue to investigate the causes.  Board members expressed a desire to look at ways to drive down the cost of the project while maintaining the integrity of the design for the High School programs with the goal to accomplish this in a timely manner in order to put the project out to bid again.  

Mrs. Posti identified major issues that need to be resolved by the architects, construction managers and solicitor that included: MEP systems, shoring packages, code related factors, phasing, contractual language and design changes that the District would find acceptable.  Mrs. Posti asked for an update from the construction managers and architects at the reconvened Regular April Board on May 2, 2011, immediately following the Budget Forum that begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Mt. Lebanon High School Library. The goal is to have a timeline established at that time to get the project back out to bid.

Markham students made origami cranes for the Cranes for Kids project to benefit children in Japan.

Students in Ms. Kelly Fennell’s class at Markham had been asking about ways to help children in Japan in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. Ms. Fennell became aware of the OshKosh Cranes for Kids project which seemed like the perfect opportunity.  In Japanese culture, cranes are a powerful symbol of health and well-wishes. Through April 25th, the company will collect paper cranes that are made to send to OshKosh stores in Japan to show the support and caring of their friends in the United States.  For every crane, OshKosh will send an article of clothing to Japan. The students in Ms. Fennell’s class set an original goal of 100 cranes, working on the project at recess and at home. The students met their initial goal by making 134 cranes on the first day of the project. They hoped to make 500 cranes before the OshKosh program ends on April 25^th. “The students are thrilled at what they are doing to help the children in Japan,” said Ms. Fennell.

On April 19, 2011, the bids for the Mt. Lebanon High School project were opened. The lowest bid came in significantly higher than the cost estimates provided to the District by the construction managers. Brief bid summary.

“The School Board and administration are deeply disappointed with these results. The bids are unacceptably high. The project construction manager and architect are in the process of analyzing the reasons behind the significant discrepancy between the estimates and the bid results,” said Superintendent Timothy Steinhauer.

The School Board will meet at a reconvened meeting on Monday, April 25, 2011, at 7:30 p.m. in the Mt. Lebanon High School Library to receive a report from the construction manager and architect on the bid results and to discuss the next steps.

The winning Mellon banner will hang in the CONSOL Energy Center during the first round of the playoffs.

The Penguins hosted the “Students for Stanley” banner contest for students throughout Allegheny County and the City of Pittsburgh as the team begins the quest for another Stanley Cup. The banner submitted by Mellon Middle School Art Enrichment students was selected as the overall middle school winner and the winner in the Grade 8 category.

The “Students for Stanley” contest invited elementary, middle and high school students to create 4’x6’ banners to represent their school. A panel of judges selected the winning entries. The Mellon banner will be displayed at the CONSOL Energy Center during the first round of the playoffs. The winning banners are also featured on the Penguins website online gallery. Mellon School will also receive a commemorative “Students for Stanley” trophy to display at the school. Congratulations, Mellon art students and Let’s Go Pens!

Mt. Lebanon High School AP Art students, Brian Morgenlander and Christina Courtney, showcased their remarkable ceramic sculptures at a student art show opening at The Clay Place Gallery this month.  The gallery is located at 1 Walnut Street in Carnegie. The student show will run through May.

Cast members of the High School spring musical production of the Wizard of Oz.

Tickets are on sale for the High School musical production of “The Wizard of Oz” that runs May 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14th in the High School Auditorium. Show times are 7:30 p.m. each night with a matinee performance at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 14th. Tickets are $10.00 for students and $13.00 for adults.  

During the school day, tickets can be picked up in the Fine Arts Resource Center between the hours 8:00 AM and 3:45 PM.  Visitors would need to check in at Entrance C-28 with the security desk.  
 
The box office will open at 6:15 p.m. on the night of performances.  The house will open at 7:00 p.m.  Any ticket being held at Will Call that is not picked up by 7:15 p.m. will be forfeited and resold.  All seats are reserved for this production.  We will try to accommodate every request for seating preference; however, this may not always be possible.  When requesting seats please fill out your preference, but understand that if there are no more seats available in your requested area, we will give you the best available seats remaining.  Please click here to see a seating chart of the Auditorium seating.
 
Gold Card members are entitled to ONE free ticket per gold card.  If additional tickets are requested, those tickets must be purchased.  Children five years and over OR any child taking a seat will need to purchase a ticket.  A child younger than five that will sit on a lap the entire performance can be admitted free of charge.
 
Tickets reservations are available by clicking on this Musical Ticket Request form or by calling (412) 344-2030 .

Students in the Advanced Fashion Arts class with the dresses they made for little girls in Haiti.

High School students in Ms. Sharon Gamble’s Advanced Fashion Arts class are making functional dresses for the earthquake victims in Haiti.  The students are making the dresses from new or gently used pillowcases.  During spring break, Ms. Laurie Hurt, a teacher in the World Languages department, will travel to Haiti on a church mission trip to deliver the dresses to the pastor of the partner church in Bassin Caiman, a village in the southern part of the country.  The pastor will distribute the dresses to the local children.

The PTA Council Parent Education Committee will present the documentary film RACE TO NOWHERE on Tuesday, March 29th in the Mellon Auditorium at 7:00 PM. Admission is free.

Race to Nowhere is a call to mobilize families, educators, and policy makers to challenge current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens.  Following the movie there will be optional facilitated, small group, discussions.

The PTA Council Parent Education Committee will present the documentary film RACE TO NOWHERE on Tuesday, March 29th in the Mellon Auditorium at 7:00 PM. Admission is free.
Race to Nowhere is a call to mobilize families, educators, and policy makers to challenge current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens.  Following the movie there will be optional facilitated, small group, discussions.

The School Board voted at the March 21st meeting to approve Dr. Terrence J. Kushner as the Owner’s Liaison for the High School project. Dr. Kushner is the former assistant superintendent of the Upper St. Clair School District and was the principal of USC High School during their high school renovation/construction project. 

The role of the Owner’s Liaison is to assist the High School administration and the project manager to maintain a safe, healthy educational environment for our students and staff during the construction project.  During construction, classes will remain in the High School; modular classrooms will not be used, so the Owner’s Liaison will play an important role to help manage the High School plant during construction. Since the project will consist of multiple phases over the next four years, Dr. Kushner’s experience and assistance will be put to good use to help ensure the high quality of education at the High School is maintained.

 The Owner’s Liaison will be involved in the following activities:

Safety

·Monitor building and grounds for potential safety issues

·Review traffic patterns for drop off and pick up

·Assist with the development of safety plans (fire, lock down, evacuation)

·Assist as liaison to Police, Emergency, and Fire Departments

Education

·Ensure continuity of instruction and other educational programs including athletics and the arts

·Assist with the continuity of use of building by outside groups and organizations

·Assist in monitoring the location and accessibility of Special Education spaces during construction

·Assist Athletic Director with logistics for competition, practice, and transportation

·Assist Band Director with logistics for marching band practice

Fixtures, Furniture and Equipment (FF&E)

·Assist with the identification, allocation and relocation of FF&E (new and reused)

·Assist with the inventorying of FF&E
 

Schedule

·Monitor the construction schedule and assist principal with resolving scheduling issues

Communication

·Assist with communication to students, staff, and parents

·Liaison to neighbors bordering High School

·Provide Written/Verbal Updates to Principal/Superintendent/School Board

·Identify and resolve staff concerns

·Attend relevant School Board meetings and present information and respond to questions when appropriate

Assist High School head custodian with communication and scheduling of community users of High School facilities

Functionality

·Attend all construction meetings to ensure the owner’s agenda is being satisfied.

·Assist with the relocation of students and classrooms throughout the project

·Assist with scheduling deliveries

·Monitor Inventory/Disposal/Storage/Surplus of FF&E 

Quality Control

·Assist in the inspection of school grounds for functionality and safety

Monitoring Costs

·Advise Superintendent regarding change order requests

·Assist in scheduling Board action when dictated by policy

Time on Site

·Work Schedule will be 2-3 days a week and will vary as activities warrant

·Complete all other tasks as assigned by the Superintendent

Katie Barnard Switzer with her recently published book "Imagine American Art."

Mt. Lebanon art teacher, Katie Barnard Switzer, recently authored the book “Imagine American Art” published by The Westmoreland Museum of American Art. The interactive book uses portraits, still life and landscape paintings from the museum's collection to teach children about art. Mrs. Switzer describes the book as “an introduction for children to the art of their own country. The book features art from the Pittsburgh region before and during the industrial revolution, so it is also a window into our own local art and history. By reading this book together, a dialogue starts between parents and children about art and also prompts them to begin making art of their own.”

Orchestra director, Robert Vogel, with members of the High School strings ensemble.

The Mt Lebanon School District Celebration of Education took place at the Galleria Mall on Sunday. Mt. Lebanon teachers and students brought the classroom to the community to showcase Mt. Lebanon schools and to celebrate public education. Audiences gathered to hear musical performances by the High School orchestra strings and elementary ensembles. 

The Celebration was an opportunity for students and their teachers to share part of their educational experience with the community. Special thanks go to Val Brown, Hoover Elementary teacher, for her work organizing the event as well as all of the teachers who were in attendance with their students to display class work.

Thanks also go to the following students and staff who provided entertainment at the event: 

Elizabeth Harris - High School vocalist

Diane Sadar   - Fourth and Fifth Grade Fiddlers 

Pierce Cook- Mellon Middle School Guitars

Carol Froehlich - Third Grade  -  Chorus and recorders
Jessica Peconi -  Middle School  - "Drums Alive"  aerobic demonstration
 

The High School Model UN team at the CMU Conference.

The Mt. Lebanon High School Model UN Team recently competed at the Carnegie Mellon University Model UN Conference against teams from Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Buffalo. The Mt. Lebanon team won "Best Delegation" award representing the United Kingdom. Additional awards include:

1^st place honors:

Taia Pandolfi & Meg Matthews

Walter Smolarek & Colin Abel

2^nd place honors:

Sarah Chatta & Julie Premo

Laura Cherner & Monica Oxenreiter

Katie Brown & Reia Cho

The team sponsors are Mr. Peter DiNardo, Mr. Adam Lumish and Mr. George Savarese.

High school students in the World Literature classes will hold a poetry reading on February 15th, at 7p.m. at Barnes and Noble Booksellers, South Hills Village. This talented group of young poets will recite pieces they wrote to represent conflict on a personal, local, national, or international level. The list of student presenters includes:

Alexandra Bachorski, Andre Jackson, Dimitri Orfanopoulos, Samantha Oskie, Brian Adams, Tom Augenstein, Morgan Smith, Sam Thompson, Emma Williams, Madison Gist, Carolina Gutierrez, Jake Innerst, Julie Kocjancic,  Annie Ley, Matt McGraw, Drew Rideout, and Catherine Sulecki.

Mrs. Sue Wilcher, 6^th grade social studies teacher at Mellon Middle School, was named a Semi-Finalist in the search for the Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year for the year 2012. Mrs. Wilcher was nominated by Brian McFeeley, principal of Mellon Middle School. The competition for this award is very rigorous. Congratulations to Mrs. Wilcher on achieving this honor.  

The National Teacher of the Year program began in 1952 and continues as the oldest, most prestigious national honors program that focuses public attention on excellence in teaching. The National State Teachers of the Year- Pennsylvania Chapter (NSTOY-PA) is a non-profit service organization representing teachers. NSTOY-PA seeks to: encourage quality education for each individual through quality teaching; recognize the excellence and commitment of professional educators; promote the image of education through public awareness status; and stimulate the personal and professional growth of NSTOY-PA members. This award is sponsored by the National State Teachers of the Year Pennsylvania Chapter and The Pennsylvania Department of Education.

Congratulations to the Mt. Lebanon High School Model UN Team for their impressive performance at the Duquesne Conference. Competing among 18 schools, our students won four of the five first place honors and swept the three delegation awards.

Duquesne challenged Mt. Lebanon by assigning the team a set of delegations that have opposing policies on many issues: the United States, Burkina Faso and Syria. Mt. Lebanon students met this unique assignment with considered pre-conference preparation, a depth of content knowledge, and the decorum and speaking skills that the team has come to be known for nationally. 

The following individuals were recognized as Superior delegates in their committees:

Katie Brown and Reia Cho, representing Burkina Faso on the International Labor Organization.

Jon Callan and Lily Datillo, representing the United States on the UN Habitat Committee.

Meg Matthews and Taia Pandolfi, representing the United States on ECOSOC.

Matt Caplan and Steve Metz, representing the United States on the Security Council.

Students representing Burkina Faso- winners of the top delegation award:  

Jason Hois and Noah Pillion-Gardner

Lydia Herman and Olivia Pandolfi

Katie Brown and Reia Cho

Jayson Driscoll and Nik Plante

Congratulations to the entire team for an outstanding performance. Special thanks go to the team's coaches- Mr. DiNardo, Mr. Lumish and Mr. Savarese.

On January 17, 2011, at the Regular Board meeting, the Board took action to approve the refinancing of the 2004 General Obligation Bonds if the savings from the refinancing net of costs exceeded 2.5% of the outstanding principal amount of the Bonds.  On January 25, 2011, the District's financial advisor, Tim Frenz, of Janney Montgomery Scott, completed the sale of the refinancing bonds using a competitive format on the internet.  The refunding bond sale produced preliminary net present value savings to the District of $500,635, or 4.64% of refunded bonds, net of costs, which was almost twice the minimum savings required by the Board.  This is a favorable outcome for the community.

The refunding transaction was bid on the internet, receiving extremely strong interest from the market, with nine different firms submitting a total of 45 bids.  The bid was won by Piper Jaffray of Minneapolis, MN. 

 The $500,635 figure is a significant improvement over the previous savings estimate of $408,000 discussed at the board meeting on January 10.  There are several reasons for this:

 1. Rating:  The District’s extremely strong credit rating of Aa1 allowed the transaction to stand apart from competing transactions and enticed very aggressive bidding.

 2. Timing:  Conducting the sale on January 25, 2011 was a stroke of extremely good fortune, as the short end of the market showed very strong investor demand and strong stability.  

 3. Rates:  On the date of the bond sale, both the municipal market and U.S. Treasury market were in the midst of rallies, which buyers built into their bids.

 4. Competition:  The District’s bid was only the fifth competitive bid conducted in Pennsylvania in 2011, and was the highest rated.  It was the only competitive bid in Pennsylvania on the day of the sale.  So the District was able to take advantage of a market with increasing buyer demand chasing after limited supply.

 5. Structure:  Piper Jaffray maintains a specific “short term bidding desk” which only participates in transactions with shorter final maturities.  Piper tends to be selective in the transactions in which they participate, but when they do participate, they generally do so in an aggressive fashion.  Which they did in this case.

The yield on the refunding bond issue is 1.66%.   Accounting for the underwriter’s discount, the true interest cost (TIC) is 1.72% (this is the figure upon which the winning bidder is determined).  Accounting for all costs of issuance, the all-in total interest cost (All-in TIC) is 1.87%. 

Read more about the preliminary financial details of this sale.

A rendering of the new Center Court.

On January 24, 2011, public hearings were held at 8:00 p.m. in Room A in the Municipal Building by the Mt. Lebanon Commission on two conditional use requests by the Mt. Lebanon School District for the construction and renovation of the High School, and the Shared Parking Agreement. The Commission is expected to vote by March 8, 2011 on the conditional use requests and final land development approval for the High School renovation.

Technology and the 18th Century meet as fifth graders at Markham re-enact a trial during the French and Indian War.

This week, Mr. Matt Mikesell taught fifth grade classes at Markham Elementary School about the  French and Indian War in a way that moved students away from traditional methods of learning to "hands-on history." No longer merely passive observers, students became active learners who view, interpret, touch and bring history to life.

Students studied the Jumonville Affair in-depth, and created a mock trial from the events that unfolded in May 1754. While learning about these key events, students used multiple resources such as history books, internet, primary source documents, and "visual discovery." As in years past, the trial was streamed live and is available for on-demand viewing on the class website.

New school board member, Lawrence Lebowitz, was sworn in by Judge Randal Todd at the School Board Discussion meeting.

At the January 10, 2011 Board Discussion meeting, the School Board appointed Lawrence Lebowitz, in a vote of 5-3, to fill the vacant seat on the Board due to the resignation of James Fraasch. Mr. Lebowitz will serve for the remainder of the unexpired term, which expires the first Monday of December, 2011.

Plan to attend the Symphony of Tastes fundraiser to support the Mt. Lebanon High School Orchestra on Monday, January 10th at 6:00 p.m. in the High School Center Court. The evening promises to be filled with wonderful music and great food. Local restaurants and businesses are donating signature dishes for guests to sample as they stroll through Center Court to the sounds of string ensembles, quartets, and piano. There will also be a Chinese Auction. Please Tickets are $20.  Call 412-344-2030 for reservations and additional information.  This fundraiser will help support the orchestra's upcoming trip to Philadelphia where they will perform in Verizon Hall, the beautiful cello-shaped hall that is the home of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Symphony of Tastes

6:00 Chinese Auction
6:30 Dinner (Piano, quartets, etc. music performed by students)
8:15 Strolling Strings (volunteer members of the Symphony Orchestra)
8:30 Strolling Strings (volunteer members of the String Orchestra)
8:45 Winners of Auction announced

On January 3 and 4, 2011, during a Special School Board meeting, the following thirteen candidates were interviewed by the School Board for the vacancy left due to the resignation of Board member James Fraasch in December: Timothy Griffin, William Cooper, Marita Schardt, Paul Vescio, Joe Dimperio, Robert Gardner, Leah Reynolds, Chip Dalesandro, Keith O'Toole, John Cost, Larry Lebowitz, Pam Scott, and Nathan Khosla. Ms. Schardt has since requested the Board remove her name from consideration due to personal reasons. The Board discussion and vote to fill the position will take place at the January 10, 2011, Discussion Meeting.

At the December 20th School Board meeting, Dr. Deb Allen and the Curriculum Supervisors presented the 2010 Student Outcomes report on student performance on key assessments such as the PSSA's and SAT's.

2010 Student Outcomes Report

Mt. Lebanon High School will now offer online courses to students for the 2nd semester of the 2010-2011 school year due to a grant funded partnership with the National Network of Digital Schools.  High School parents were emailed information about the program and course offerings.

Read more...

Pictured are Officer Mike Riemer, Major Jan Duperree, Lincoln Principal, Jim Salerno, Lincoln School nurse, Deanna Hess, Dan McNab of Shop N’ Save, and Major Tim Duperree.

This holiday season, the Mt. Lebanon Police Association initiated Operation Helping Hand to provide support for local families in need. Working in partnership with the Mt. Lebanon School District, Shop N’ Save and the Salvation Army, the newly founded program is being piloted at Lincoln Elementary School. The Mt. Lebanon Police Association supplied ten gift certificates for turkeys for the families and a donation to the Salvation Army for their Winter Coat Fund.  In addition, Dan McNab, owner of the Castle Shannon Shop N’ Save, provided eight $50.00 gift cards and the Salvation Army provided winter coats, hats, gloves, and toys for the children. 

PUBLIC NOTICE

December 15, 2010

 The Mt. Lebanon School District is seeking residents interested in applying for a vacant position on the Board of School Directors.  Residents 18 years old and older who have been residents of Mt. Lebanon for a least one year are invited to submit a letter of interest and resume to the Office of the Superintendent, Mt. Lebanon School District, 7 Horsman Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15228  or email the Superintendent’s Administrative Assistant, Jeanine Szalinski, at jszalinski@mtlsd.net. Applicant information will be accepted through December 24, 2010. Interviews will be held at a Special Board meeting on January 3 and 4, 2011, at 6 p.m. both evenings, in the High School Library. (Updated 12.30.10)

At the December 14, 2010 Municipal Planning Board meeting, the board unanimously approved recommendation for (1) Final approval of the land development application for the renovation of the High School, (2) Recommendation for conditional use of a high school in a R-1 Single-family Residential district, and (3) Conditional Use approval for an Alternate Parking Plan which was accomplished by a Shared Parking  Agreement approved by both the School Board and Municipal Commission.

The plans will now be submitted to the Mt. Lebanon Board of Commissioners for final approval of Land Development and Conditional Uses.

High School German teacher, Peg Grasso Meyers.

The American Association of Teachers of German recently awarded High School World Language teacher, Peg Grasso Meyers, the 2010 Intercultural Student Experiences (ISE) Language Matters Award.  This award recognizes a high school teacher of German who has achieved outstanding success in getting students to speak German through exemplary motivation and creative methods. In addition, the winner is a teacher who has provided authentic immersion experiences outside the classroom for students to apply their speaking skills and is committed to the pursuit of global awareness and cultural understanding.

“I have been a member of the American Association of Teachers of German my entire career, and the opportunities that I've had as a result have been truly inspiring and enriching for me as a professional and as a person.  For this reason, I'm so proud to be recognized by the AATG through the Award: ISE Language Matters,” said Ms. Meyers.

Ms. Meyers has taught German at Mt. Lebanon High School for 12 years and is only the sixth recipient of this award.  “We are proud to have teachers like Peg Meyers honored for her outstanding work with our students. She is representative of our fine professional, committed and talented teaching corps,” said Superintendent Timothy Steinhauer.

Christopher S. Wolfson, the new High School Unit Principal.

The Mt. Lebanon School Board unanimously approved Christopher S. Wolfson as the new Mt. Lebanon High School Unit Principal at the December 13, 2010 School Board Discussion Meeting. Mr. Wolfson is currently the principal of Burgettstown Middle/High School where he has served since 2007.  Prior to his position in Burgettstown, Mr. Wolfson was the assistant principal at Seton-La Salle High School, and a social studies teacher and curriculum coordinator at North Catholic High School.

Mr. Wolfson holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from Slippery Rock University and a Master of Science in Education Administration & Leadership from Duquesne University.

Students made wooden toys to donate to the Toys for Tots Foundation.

High School students took the idea of donating toys to the Toys for Tots Foundation to a whole new level. Manufacturing and Production teacher, Mr. Andrew Kuskil, began an after-school program where students designed and handcrafted wooden toys in the High School woodshop to donate to Toys for Tots for local needy children.  Students designed over 100 toys, including boats, cars, trains, fire trucks, and wooden inlay checkerboards. The program was a great success, not only for children who will receive the toys, but for the students who used their skills and donated their time to create the toys as well.

Jefferson Elementary School held a kick-off assembly for Inclusive Schools Week.

Inclusive Schools Week celebrates the progress that schools have made in providing a supportive and quality education to an increasingly diverse student population. Here are some of the ways Mt. Lebanon schools are involving students and staff in Inclusion Week activities:

 Washington School: This past October, Operation Backpack, coordinated by the school's inclusion team, was a school-wide project that partnered Washington Elementary School with students and staff from Washington School in Louisiana. Backpacks were purchased by staff and filled with school supplies donated by students. Both schools will continue the partnership through email and video sharing.

Markham School: Student Passports – Students will receive stamps for inclusive acts. The school established a partnership with Western PA School for Blind Children. Students will construct sensory boxes to match books.

Howe School: Students will discuss, “Lesson from the Geese,” which shows how different roles in a group make all successful. This lesson will also be coordinated with Olweus activities.

Jefferson School: Building an Inclusive School “Brick by Brick” – Students will write inclusive sentence starters on each brick.

Hoover School: A “Focus on Fairness” is the theme for curriculum activities that will include student created activities, videos, and skits.

Foster School: “Including all is the Foster way” –Inclusion activities and student reflections will take place each day. This spring, students will hand paint on the playground wall.

Lincoln School: “What does inclusion look like, feel like, sound like?” at Lincoln School – Students and teachers will identify inclusive practices already in place and generate ways to build next steps. 

Both Middle Schools are using the OLWEUS "Tuesday Talk" time to show a video on including students and facilitating a discussion with their small groups.

The High School focus is on Building Homeroom Connections through daily suggestions of activities or ideas to engage homeroom discussion of inclusion.

Dear Mt. Lebanon Parents,

Now that winter is here, I thought it would be a good time to send a reminder about our emergency weather procedures. When weather conditions require the delay or closing of school, we will notify you with a call from our Emergency Phone Alert System. We also post delay or closing information on our website, local cable, and TV stations. Typically, when school is canceled, after-school and evening activities are also canceled. On rare occasions, I may need to delay or cancel school after 6:00 a.m. or change a delay to a cancellation when there is a question about road conditions or extreme cold.

Phone Alert System

In the event of a school delay or closing, you will receive a phone call from the District's Emergency Phone Alert System to the primary phone number you have listed with the school. Only one call per family is made. Calls are made no later than 10:00 p.m. and no earlier than 6:00 a.m. Your caller ID will display "Mt. Lebanon School District" and the District's main number of 412-344-2000. The success of this system depends on accurate contact information obtained from school records. If your information has changed, you may update your phone number in the Dashboard or ask the building secretary to update your files.

Wind Chill

There may be times when the wind chill must be taken into consideration when making a weather call. I follow the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) recommendations for extreme cold as a guide which includes the possibility of a delay or closing if the wind chill dips to -15 F.

Information Sources for a Delay or Closing:

•         MTLSD website: www.mtlsd.org
•         School District Cable Channels 19 (Comcast) and 33 (Verizon)
•         Mt. Lebanon Public Access Channels 7(Comcast) and 35 (Verizon)
•         KDKA TV and www.kdka.com; WPXI TV and www.wpxi.com; WTAE TV and www.thepittsburghchannel.com
•         KDKA Radio 1020 AM

Student safety is always my primary concern. I make the decision to delay or cancel school in consultation with numerous sources, including the Mt. Lebanon Police Department and local weather services. However, there is always going to be snow and cold weather in Western Pennsylvania in the winter, so school will be in session on days when the roads may be snow covered and the temperature is cold. On those days, we all need to drive with caution and make sure that our children are appropriately dressed for the cold weather. As always, please use your best judgment regarding the weather conditions in your own neighborhood.

Thank you for your help and patience during this winter season.

Sincerely,

Dr. Tim Steinhauer
Superintendent of Schools

Mt. Lebanon School District

Markham Kindergarten students held a P, B, & J drive to benefit the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

Markham Kindergarten students, staff, parents, and community members all pulled together this month for the first ever Kindergarten Peanut Butter and Jelly Drive for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Donations were collected throughout the month and on Election Day at the school.   As a result, a total of 174 jars of peanut butter, 127 jars of jelly, and over $439 in cash (mainly from voters) were collected. Markham Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Linda Vietmeier, coordinated the event. “Having the students take an active role in the actual collection was incredibly important. I know they now feel a part of something bigger than this little part of the world,” said Mrs. Vietmeier.

Students and staff at Howe Elementary School welcomed home former Howe student, Marine Corporal Ben Kiernan, at a school assembly.

The staff and students at Howe Elementary School held a Welcome Home Assembly for former Howe student, and 2004 Mt. Lebanon graduate, Marine Corporal Ben Kiernan, on November 22, 2010. Ben returned home to Mt. Lebanon this month after sustaining injuries while deployed in Afghanistan. He was awarded the Purple Heart.

At the Welcome Home Assembly, students sang the Marine Corps Hymn and other songs during the celebration. Mt. Lebanon Commissioner, Dave Brumfield, presented a proclamation to Ben on behalf of the Mt. Lebanon Commission as did a representative of State Representative, Matt Smith on behalf of the State House of Representatives. The students had a chance to ask Ben questions during a question and answer session and learned that his favorite book while in elementary school was “Where the Wild Things Are.” Ben also donated two books to the Howe Library-one about the Constitution and the other about the 50 States.  The assembly closed with a presentation of gifts to Ben from Howe School and the School District in recognition of his service and valor to our country.

 “Having Ben Kiernan come to Howe is a special event for our students.  Many of them wrote him letters while he was serving in Afghanistan.” said Howe School principal, Michelle Murray. “This is a chance for them to see the real person, who went to their own elementary school, and to honor him for his bravery as a Marine.”

Peter Berg, Supervisor of School Counseling, and Shelly Saba, High School Counselor, made a presentation on the 40 Developmental Assets at the October School Board meeting. The belief is that these assets are the building blocks of a healthy developmental climate to help children grow up to be caring and responsible adults.

At the November 15, 2010 School Board meeting the School Board unanimously passed the following resolution regarding the 40 Developmental Assets:

RESOLVED, That the Mt. Lebanon School Board endorses the framework of the 40 Developmental Assets to promote and supports the development of healthy youth and caring school climate in partnership with other youth serving organizations in our community.  

Click to read more about the 40 Developmental Assets.

Children in the southern Sudan village of Malek Amal sent a photo thanking our students for the new well.

In April 2009, a “Walk for Water” was held at the High School Stadium with the goal to raise $5,000 to build a well in Southern Sudan. The walk was organized by High School Emergency Club leaders Emily McGinty, Jacob Wildfire, Dani Schmulevich, and Hannah Trivilino, along with the club sponsor and High School Social Studies teacher, Mr. Peter DiNardo.  The Walk for Water was a success, with donations exceeding $6,000.  Mr. DiNardo was informed by Water for Sudan that a well, named by our students, “Lebo H₂OPE”, was drilled this summer in Southern Sudan in the village of Malek Amal in the Jur River County, Western Bar El Ghazal State.

The walk was inspired by Benjamin Ajak— one of the “Lost Boys” of Sudan and author of “ They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky”—during his first visit to Mt. Lebanon in 2007. While visiting with students, Mr. Ajak highlighted the serious lack of available, clean water in the villages near his home in southern Sudan.  His story inspired the students to organize a Walk for Water with all proceeds going to Water for Sudan, a USA-based, charitable organization whose mission is to drill fresh-water wells for the people in rural, southern Sudan.

"Students and community members worked tirelessly educating Mt. Lebanon and organizing the visit by Benjamin Ajak. The generosity of countless individuals inspired me throughout our year-long campaign. To see the fruits of this labor and know that this village has access to fresh water brings me a great deal of satisfaction and also provides a concrete success to share with and motivate a new generation of Mt. Lebanon students," said Mr. DiNardo.

The 2010 Harris Interactive Community surveys were recently mailed to Mt. Lebanon residents. The District first commissioned Harris Interactive to help with the data collection and analysis of a community survey in 2007.  Residents with or without children in Mt. Lebanon schools are encouraged to complete a survey and return it to Harris Interactive on or before Dec. 10th. If you have questions or did not receive a survey, call Cissy Bowman at 412-344-2026.  

Harris Interactive has over 30 years of experience in the design and management of customer-based satisfaction measurement systems. Using the firm’s School Poll program, the District will collect data using a set of standardized survey instruments used by many school districts across the country. Once the data analysis is complete, the results will be shared with the community. Click to review the results of the 2007 survey.

Constituent Satisfaction is one of the five goals of our Strategic Plan. To help us improve, we need to understand the areas that you feel should be addressed by the District.

Results from the survey will focus on three key pieces of information:

•     The levels of satisfaction for major areas such as facilities, communication, administration, and school board/superintendent.

•     The frequency of occurrence of specific events within the District.

•     The effect specific events have on stakeholder satisfaction, and a prioritized list of issues that should be addressed to improve satisfaction.

Thank you for participating in the 2010 Harris Community Survey.

Veterans Day at Lincoln Elementary School.

On Veterans Day, Mt. Lebanon Schools held special observances and celebrations to honor and thank the men and women who served, and those who currently serve, in our Armed Forces. Grandfathers, mothers, dads, uncles, friends, and neighbors gathered at the schools as students paid moving tributes to their service.

 Foster Elementary began the day with a breakfast for veterans’ and a flag raising ceremony on the front lawn of the school.  The Racer Team at Mellon Middle School held a “Thank Celebration.”  Students wrote heartfelt tributes to family members and friends who served in the military and read them during the assembly as their guests stood with them. At the High School, students created a bulletin board with photos of all High School and Central Office staff that served in the military and gave each veteran a boutonniere to wear during the day. At Jefferson Middle School, a local veteran spoke to classes about the importance of observing Veterans Day.  Hoover and Lincoln schools held assemblies to honor family, friends and neighbors who served in our armed forces. Veterans Day in the Mt. Lebanon School District was a day for students and staff to remember and give thanks to those who served our country.

Click here to watch the Concert to Honor our Veterans.

Ben Kiernan, a 2004 Lebo grad, returned home to Mt. Lebanon yesterday after sustaining injuries in Afghanistan. He has been serving our country as a Marine since he graduated from Virginia Tech. Ben was awarded the Purple Heart.

Ben was greeted by family, friends, neighbors and his dog upon his return. He was escorted from Virginia by a motorcycle motorcade of over 50 bikers from the American Legion and Honor Guard. Watch the video on KDKA.

Veterans and current servicemen and women were honored at a flag raising ceremony at Foster School.

Each year, on November 11, Veterans Day, our country recognizes and honors all those Americans who have served our country in the Armed Services. Today, there are more than 25 million veterans living among us. This day reminds us that we need to pause and recognize the contributions made by our veterans and to thank them for their devotion to our country. We must not allow the passage of time or the comforts of peace to erase the memory of their service and sacrifices. As we observe Veterans Day, please take some time to learn more about the accomplishments of our nation’s veterans, their dedication and courage, and their willingness to risk their lives to preserve the blessings of liberty.  On this day and every day please do not forget the members of your family, neighbors or members of the community who have served our country.   Please keep our present service personnel in your thoughts at this time as they serve throughout the world.

Uruguayan teacher, María Emilia Galagorri Nolé pictured with Howe Elementary students showing them a "yerba mate," the tradtional herb tea drink of Uruguay.

Mt. Lebanon elementary foreign language teacher, Elaine Palmer, was awarded a grant for the Uruguayan Educator Exchange Program through the Educational Seminars Program sponsored by the Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.  The grant made it possible for Ms. Palmer to host María Emilia Galagorri Nolé, an elementary English teacher at Eduardo Victor Haedo No. 6 in Mercedes, Uruguay, for a return visit to the Mt. Lebanon School District.

During her stay in October, Ms. Galagorri Nolé visited the elementary schools and spoke to classes about the Uruguayan culture, food and dialects. She first visited Mt. Lebanon schools last year. Since then, both teachers kept their classes connected through letters, podcasts, multimedia projects and videoconferencing. “This exchange program promotes appreciation of cultural diversity leading to positive attitudes and relations.  Cross cultural and international awareness have become more real and readily understood by our students, especially with the use of technology—videoconferencing sessions connected our students with their Uruguayan "Pen Pals," said Elaine Palmer. “On a personal note, I have gained not only a professional contact in Uruguay but a friend.” A major goal of this program is to support the internationalization of school curricula by providing opportunities for the broader school community to learn about global issues, to be exposed to Uruguayan and U.S. culture, and to participate in joint collaborative projects and school partnerships.

During the exchange visit, Ms. Palmer and Ms. Galagorri Nolé co-presented, "Go Global with the Educator Exchange Program!" at the Pennsylvania State Modern Language Association conference in Erie, PA.

The Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) has selected nineteen Mt. Lebanon High School students into the District 1 Honors Ensembles.  Students were selected through an audition process. Congratulations to our students on this outstanding achievement.

Honors Choir: Emily Andrews (Soprano 1), Meredith Andrews (Soprano 1), Susan Hepburn (Soprano 2), Sarah Hill (Soprano 2), Brigitta Hutchins (Alto 2), Hana Berkowitz (Alto 2), Chris Stack (Bass 2), and Alex Reed (Bass 2).

Honors Orchestra: Philip Clippinger (Violin), Alex Draus (Viola), Ryan Fan (Viola), Alexis Trbovich (Viola) and Andrew Vogel (Cello)

Honors Band: Kyle Harris (Flute), Greg Kowhacki (Clarinet), Logan Schardt (Clarinet), Alex Kurland (Clarinet), Eddie George (Tuba), and Kevin Schorr (Tuba). The Honors Band will present its concert on Sunday, November 28th at Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland.

The Mt. Lebanon High School Concert Percussion Ensemble has been invited to perform at the 2011 PMEA Annual Conference in April at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center.

There was time for one last photo before the girls boarded their bus to Hershey for the PIAA team tennis tournament.

For the first time in school history, Mt. Lebanon High School participated in the PIAA girls' team tennis tournament. The team made it to the state finals on October 30th, but lost 3-2 in a close match to Shady Side Academy. Congratulations to the team and Coach Ginny Hall on their  history making season.

 Jefferson Middle School's International Club will hold their 4th Annual International Night on October 27, 2010 from 5:30 p.m. -7:30 p.m. in the lower level of Jefferson Middle School.  It is an evening of international food and entertainment. Over 100 homemade main courses, appetizers, and desserts from all over the world are served.  The evening’s entertainment includes an international fashion show, games, dance, and musical performances. The cost is $5 per person or $15 for a family. All proceeds will benefit Foyer Des Enfants De Sion, an orphanage in Haiti.

Howe Elementary School staff show “Howe” they support breast cancer awareness by wearing pink tie-dye shirts made by a fellow staff member.

Mt. Lebanon High School hosted the second annual “Pink-Out Game” on October 29th at the football game against Upper St. Clair. Both schools collected donations for the Young Women’s Breast Cancer Foundation and Colleen's Angels.  A former Mt. Lebanon cheerleader who lost her mother to breast cancer spearheaded the project last year. This year, over 70 schools in the WPIAL participated to raise awareness of breast cancer.

Watch the 2010 Pink Out Video.

The High School Concert Choir and Wind Ensemble at "The Concert to Honor Our Veterans."

The Mt. Lebanon High School Concert Choir and Wind Ensemble presented A Concert to Honor Our Veterans on Thursday, November 4th in the High School Auditorium.  The concert was free and opened to the public. The program included American folk songs, patriotic medleys, and classic marches and closed with a combined song featuring both the Wind Ensemble and Choir.  A special invitation was extended to all veterans of the Armed Forces to attend. It was an honor for our ensembles to pay tribute to our local veterans.

Students helped pack up the truck with backpacks on Thursday for the trip to Louisiana.

Washington Elementary School students helped pack the truck that  transported over 300 backpacks filled with school supplies to Washington, Louisiana for Operation Backpack.The Mt. Lebanon school is partnering with a fellow Washington School in Washington, Louisiana. The Louisiana school is a kindergarten through grade 8 school with 300 students in a community that is still recovering from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Students are in need of basic school supplies such as pencils, crayons, notebook paper, folders, and glue sticks. 

The staff at Washington Elementary in Mt. Lebanon purchased 300 backpacks for all of the Louisiana students. Last week, the school held a collection of school supplies to fill the backpacks along with gently used books and non-perishable food items. Washington students also wrote letters to their new pen pals in Louisiana that were  packed along with the school supplies in the backpacks.

Organizing the effort were members of the school's Inclusion Team: Pam Bronco, Kylee Harding, Lori Morin, Dori Oldaker, Jason Philips, Ron Wilcher, Janet Niedzwicki, and Robert Mallery.

Social Studies Supervisor Jeffrey Zeiders and Mr. Harold Stein with the print signed by Donald Moss.

Mt Lebanon resident, Harold Stein, generously donated a signed Donald Moss print depicting the major events in the battle of Guadalcanal to Mt. Lebanon High School. Mr. Stein was among the first U.S. Army troops to relieve the Marines on Guadalcanal during the Solomon Island Campaign in the South Pacific during World War II.

The artist, Donald Moss, landed with the Marines in the first wave at Guadalcanal in August, 1942.  He went on to a very distinguished career as an artist--including a 30-year stint with Sports Illustrated--before his death in May, 2010. Mr. Stein became a personal friend of Mr. Moss after meeting him at Guadalcanal Veterans Reunion. 

Social Studies Supervisor Jeff Zeiders plans to have the print dedicated on or near Veterans Day.  Mr. Stein has requested that the print have a place where students can view it. 

Great Alumni: Dr. Robert Schilken, Class of 1982 and Alby Oxenreiter, Class of 1978 at the awards luncheon.

Today, Mt. Lebanon High School honored eight outstanding alumni during the Great Alumni Award celebration. Members of Student Council, High School and District administration, honorees, their family and friends, gathered in the High School Activities Office for a beautiful luncheon and award presentation.

Two memorable moments during the luncheon included Alby Oxenreiter, Class of 1978, donning his letter jacket during his remarks--Alby was member of the 1977 Mt. Lebanon High School WPIAL championship soccer team (Mt. Lebanon’s first WPIAL soccer championship)--and listening to broadcast clips of Bob Ufer--Class of 1938 and the voice of the University of Michigan football-- doing a play-by-play of a few Michigan football game highlights.

High School Activities Director, Mrs. Carlie McGinty, coordinates the Great Alumni program and awards luncheon.

Stephen G. Bullick, former Supervisor of Social Studies and Family Consumer Science for the Mt. Lebanon School District, was notified that he is the recipient of the 2010 National Social Studies Supervisors Association Mel Miller Supervisor of the Year Award.  He will be honored for his distinguished service and exceptional contribution to the profession in November at an awards ceremony in Denver, Colorado. 

Mr. Bullick served in the District from 1993 until his retirement in 2010. His depth of knowledge in the area of Social Studies has made him an expert at both the state and national levels. Dr. Tim Steinhauer commented, "Steve has developed our Social Studies curriculum so that our students have a truly global perspective and understanding of the world they live in."

Mary Kay Davis

The Mt. Lebanon School Board unanimously approved Mary Kay J. Davis as the new principal of Washington Elementary School at the September 20, 2010 Regular Board Meeting. Mrs. Davis is currently the Assistant Principal of Claysville Elementary School in the McGuffy School District where she has served since 2004. Prior to her current position, Mrs. Davis was a Guidance Counselor at Hunters Creek Middle School in North Carolina and at Linton Middle School in the Penn Hills School District.

Mrs. Davis has a Bachelor of Arts in Human Services from La Roche College and a Master of Education in School Counseling from the University of Pittsburgh. She is currently a doctoral student at the University of Pittsburgh in School Administration and Policy.

Michelle Murray

The Mt. Lebanon School Board unanimously approved Michelle L. Murray as the new principal of Howe Elementary School at the September 20, 2010 Regular Board Meeting.  Ms. Murray is currently a Unit Principal at Mt. Lebanon High School where she has served since 2004. Prior to her position in Mt. Lebanon, Ms. Murray was the Educational Supervisor at Wesley Highland Elementary School.

Ms. Murray has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Secondary Education from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Education: Mentally/Physically Handicapped Education from California University of Pennsylvania. She is currently a doctoral student at the University of Pittsburgh.

Mt. Lebanon High School National Merit Semifinalists

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation released the names of approximately 16,000 Semifinalists in the 56th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. This year, Mt. Lebanon High School has 12 National Merit Semifinalists. About 1.5 million juniors in 22,000 high schools entered the 2011 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2009 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, which represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. Congratulations to our students on this outstanding academic achievement.

Mt. Lebanon High School 2011 National Merit Semifinalists

Connor Brem

Elizabeth Golebie

Maria Guadagnino

Arjun Kar

Steven Metz

Michael Moody

Andrea Muransky

Rachael Nass

Samuel Reynolds

Benjamin Spilsbury

Christopher Weis

Amy Xie

Students enjoy every minute of lunchtime recess on the new playground at Foster School.

The Foster Elementary School community dedicated a new playground on Friday, September 10, 2010. The playground, designed to be inclusive and accessible for children with special needs, is the result of three years of planning and fundraising by parents and staff. The Foster Elementary Playground Fundraising Campaign, led by Foster parents Julie Maselko and Kim McFadden, raised nearly $80,000-- including a $12,500 grant from State Representative Matt Smith.

Principal Patrick McClintock-Comeaux commented, “Our goal was to create an accessible playground so as many children as possible could enjoy it. We realized that we would not have the funding to make a playground where every child could do everything, so we wanted to create a space where every child could do something.” 

Equipment was selected after consulting with parents of children with vision problems, gross motor delays and mental disabilities. One piece of equipment was selected that could be fully wheelchair accessible. A swing was chosen that could be used by disabled children.  When the large play structure was designed, a different color was used to show elevation changes so a child with visual perception difficulties would be able to access it better. At the time the project began, the Autistic Support Program was located at Foster, so the staff in that program was consulted to make sure the needs of Autistic children were addressed. 

“We always pictured the playground as a community space, so any child is welcome to come and play,” said McClintock-Comeaux.

Foster Elementary School is located at 700 Vermont Avenue.

Looking for the latest news? Sign-up at myMTLSD to receive District newsletters and updates to District blogs. You’ll be able to customize your school calendars, save searches, and contribute to District blogs. Parents and students only need to enter their email addresses in the Dashboard.

Receive free municipal alerts via e-mail, text message or cell phone call by signing up for LeboALERT at www.mtlebanon.org.  Choose the topics you care about, including: safety alerts, community events, traffic alerts, public meetings and cancellations/closures. Change your preferences at any time. Questions? 412.343.3407.

Mt. Lebanon Junior, Tory Pasternak, was named a winner of the 2010 City Theatre Young Playwrights Contest. Her play Between Worlds will be featured in the 11^th Annual Young Playwrights Festival taking place September 29-October 8 at City Theatre. Tory is a member of the Mt. Lebanon High School Evening Theatre Company.

The annual contest encourages western Pennsylvania students to write and submit original one-act plays. Selected plays from the contest are represented each year at the annual Young Playwrights Festival.

Mt. Lebanon School Board President Ed Kubit
Statement to the Mt. Lebanon Community
August 25, 2010

Good evening. On behalf of the Mt. Lebanon Board of School Directors I am pleased to announce that a tentative agreement has been reached on the terms of a new 5 year contract with the Mt. Lebanon Education Association (MLEA). We have been notified that the MLEA ratified this agreement by its members earlier this evening. The Board will be deliberating and taking action on this agreement tonight.

The District’s negotiating team and the MLEA team, led by Mr. Drew Haberberger, engaged in a professional, thoughtful, and respectful dialogue throughout the process. All parties remained focused on mutual interests, spoke candidly, and sought to understand each other’s position. As a result, a tentative agreement was reached prior to the start of school which we believe is in the best interests of our students, teachers, and community.

Our combined efforts at the bargaining table have produced an agreement that reflects the importance and value of our teachers while being mindful of the community’s interests during these challenging economic times.  Teachers in our classrooms demonstrate their commitment to our students every day and the agreement reflects this reality. At the same time, the agreement has in place significant cost savings for the District. The agreement increases health care contributions, establishes greater teacher accountability, provides a more flexible work schedule that allows for more teacher time with students, creates opportunities for online and distance learning, and opens the door for innovation with discussion of merit pay.
In a moment, our chief negotiator, Mr. Alfred Maiello, will present an overview of the contract, but first, I would like to present a summary of the negotiating process.

The Board and administration began by conducting a thorough and thoughtful review of our current contract where issues and opportunities were identified. Based on this work, our Board and negotiating team formulated a list of priorities which established instructional, operational, and economic goals. These goals guided our discussions with the MLEA.

The District’s negotiating team has met with the MLEA team since January of this year.  There have been numerous formal meetings with both teams at the table.  The School Board retained Mr. Maiello of Maiello Brungo & Maiello to act as its chief negotiator within the guidelines and direction established by the Board and administration.  Other team members included Ms. Janice Klein, Director of Business and Mr. Stephen Scheurer, Director of Human Resources.  Superintendent Dr. Timothy Steinhauer and Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Deborah Allen, also met with the team to offer feedback. The District’s team provided regular updates to the Board.  I believe this comprehensive process has resulted in an agreement that balances the interests of our students, teachers, and community.

On behalf of the School Board I would like to thank all parties involved in developing this agreement which serves our students, teachers, and community, guided by our mission to provide the best education possible for each and every student.

The Mt. Lebanon Board of School Directors approved a new 5 year agreement with the Mt. Lebanon Education Association (MLEA) in a vote of 8-0 during a School Board meeting on Wednesday, August 25, 2010. School Board member Josephine Posti was absent. The MLEA ratified the agreement earlier in the evening. The school district team led by chief negotiator Alfred Maiello of Maiello Brungo & Maiello and the MLEA have been in negotiations since January 2010.

“Our combined efforts at the bargaining table have produced an agreement that reflects the importance and value of our teachers while being mindful of the community’s interests during these challenging economic times,” said School Board President, Ed Kubit.

The new agreement, effective July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2015, provides salary increases in the amount of 4.15% averaged over the five-year length of the contract. This percentage includes both raises and step movement through the salary scale, with an average raise of $3,005 per year including step movement. The District will also experience cost reductions under the new contract, not including increased managerial efficiencies and increased teacher time, which will average 1.44% annual savings of $472,604. When deducted from the overall increase of 4.15%, the net increase to the District for all costs is 2.71%. The salary schedule includes the addition of a half step before Step 16.

The agreement increases teacher contribution to health care, establishes a longer teacher work year and work day, allows for increased opportunities for online and distance learning, and for the first time, includes the discussion of implementing merit pay. In addition, many other changes in this agreement will provide managerial efficiencies and cost savings.

Highlights of the new agreement:

•Teachers will now contribute up to 10% of the premium for health care by the 5th year of the agreement. All teachers will move to the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) plan or pay the difference for Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) coverage. Both of these provisions will create significant cost savings for the District.

•The teacher work year will increase to 197 ½ days from the current 194 ½ days. The teacher work day will increase to 8 hours from the current 7 ¾ hours. Most importantly, this includes 2 additional instructional days for students for a total of 184 days.

•The new agreement includes greater flexibility for the District to expand the use and delivery of online and distance learning experiences for students.

•For the first time, the District will recognize the achievement of teachers attaining National Board Certification by providing financial incentive. Teachers who achieve this certification meet rigorous standards through intensive study, expert evaluation, self-assessment and peer review.

•A new article is included in this agreement that commits both the District and the MLEA to discuss implementing merit pay during the term of the agreement. This concept of merit pay is distinct from existing models which typically provide incentive to struggling school districts.

 “The new agreement focuses on providing our students with greater learning opportunities and acknowledges the teacher’s role in achieving that goal,” said Superintendent Dr. Timothy Steinhauer. “Mt. Lebanon is fortunate to have dedicated, committed and professional teachers who realized the need to reach an agreement that will help maintain our position as one of the premier school districts in the country.”

There will be a reconvened meeting of the Board of School Directors on Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 8:00 a.m. in Conference Room B of Mt. Lebanon High School continuing from the recessed regular Board meeting on Monday, July 19, 2010.

This year was exceptional one for Mt. Lebanon High School athletics. Lebo teams won five WPIAL championships: girls’ volleyball (19-2, PIAA semifinals), boys’ soccer (19-2-1, PIAA first round), boys’ basketball (26-2, PIAA quarterfinals), girls’ basketball (29-2; 60-2 for the past two seasons), and girls’ softball (23-3). This year, our athletic program added two state championships: girls’ basketball and girls' softball--a first for the High School athletic program.

Athletic Director John Grogan, was quoted in a recent Post-Gazette article about the reasons for the Blue Devils' success: "It takes a community to build great programs, and that's what we have here," said Grogan, now in his 10th year as AD. "We have student-athletes who have a great work ethic and coaches who work really hard. We have a lot of [supportive] parents. I expect our success to continue."

Congratulations to our student athletes, coaches and Athletic Director, John Grogan, for an outstanding year.

A Message from Relay for Life Co-Chairs, Sue Wilcher and Heather Knuth

So many of us care, about cancer.  It is the most unifying thing I know and the community of Mt. Lebanon echoed that by participation in the First Ever Relay For Life in Mt. Lebanon.  The American Cancer Society calls the Relay For Life its signature fundraising event.  Relay For Life events will be held in 21 countries around the world. 

On June 5-6, for 22 hours, sometimes in pouring rain, 930 participants came together on the Mt. Lebanon High School track for one reason: to fight cancer.  Nothing could dampen the impassioned response of this community as young and old, men and women circled the track together, in relay teams.  We came collectively so that those who face cancer will be supported, so that those who have lost their battle will not be forgotten, and so that one day cancer will be eliminated.

The goal of the ACS is to raise awareness and to raise funds.  What happened here was powerful as neighbors walked with neighbors continuously.  At 3:00 AM the track was crowded. At 5:00 AM there was still a constant hum of conversation; bonds that will not be severed by this disease, bonds that had people talking about their participation in the next Relay For Life in Mt. Lebanon.

The unexpected, unplanned for happened. In the “fight back” against the beast of cancer, in the celebration of those who have survived and in the commitment to never forget those that we have lost, Mt. Lebanon had a Community Day.  We were united, connected, aligned.  The force of many will come out on top, because we worked together.

 Thank you, Mt. Lebanon.  Ten months ago, this was a little dream. We set a goal of 20 teams and $25.000.  The force of many. . .  76 teams, 930 participants, 102 Survivors, 341 Luminaria, 27 Financial Sponsors, hundreds of volunteers and a total of $156,000.  “This is what Community Day should look like!”   

Thank you to the Mt. Lebanon School District, Time Steinhauer, Superintendent, Gerald Ingram, Director of Facilities and Jeff Kaiser, manager of the High School Facilities in addition to countless principals, teachers, support staff, parents and students. For nine months you met with us, brainstormed and worked to say “Yes, we can do this here!

Thank you to the Municipality of Mt. Lebanon!  All who were at Relay saw the 22 hours of support by Municipal Manager, Steve Feller, Police Chief, Colemen McDonough, Fire Chief, Nick Sohoyda and Recreation Director, David Donnellan.  Mr. Feller, his family and team kept the 22 hour vigil in honor of his wife, Jill.  Chief Mc Donough and the Mt. Lebanon Police Department were there walking, advising and protecting for 22 hours. And Yes, that was Chief Sohoyda and his men walking in full turnout gear, in full support of what this event brought home to all of us.  United we stand a chance, united we can fight back, united, What an incredible place to be! 

Thank you Mt. Lebanon, together we made a huge difference.

Retiring teachers and administrators.

Congratulations to our retiring staff members. The group of 13 teachers and 2 administrators represent over 468 years of teaching expertise and experience in the Mt. Lebanon School District. Their devotion and dedication to Mt. Lebanon students and the community deserves our thanks, appreciation, and best wishes on a well deserved retirement. They will all be missed.

Pictured in the photo from left to right: Steve Bullick, Lynn Van Raaphorst, Kathy Pattak, Diane Sanner, Ellen Wilf, Robin Harding, Yolanda Tafi, Pam Helfrich, Jeri Stoehr, Bob Mallery, Ivan Ober.

• Robin Harding began teaching here in the 1978-79 school year.  She worked at Jefferson, Howe and Lincoln as a Title I teacher, 2nd grade and 3rd grade teacher.  Robin is currently teaching 2nd grade at Lincoln.  Congratulations Robin, for your 27 years in the District.

• Pamela Helfrich  started in Mt. Lebanon in the 1970-71 school year at Washington as a 3rd grade teacher.  She transferred to junior high/middle school in 1996-97 to teach mathematics and is retiring from Mellon. Congratulations Pamela, for your 40 years in the District.

• Deborah Monaco was hired for the 1971-72 school year at Foster Elementary as a kindergarten teacher.  She has worked her entire career at Foster and is currently teaching 2nd grade. Congratulations Deborah, for your 39 years in the District.

• Ivan Ober began teaching in Mt. Lebanon in the 1974-75 school year as a high school physics teacher and is retiring from this position.  Congratulations Ivan, for your 36 years in the District.

• Kathy Pattak was hired in the 1972-73 school year as an elementary physical education teacher.  Kathy has worked at Foster, Markham, Washington and Jefferson Elementary Schools.  She is retiring from Foster.  Congratulation Kathy, for your 38 years in the District.

• Diana Sanner – Diana began her career at Mt. Lebanon in the 1971-72 school year teaching 1st grade at Washington.  She has worked at Howe, Jefferson, Washington and Markham and has taught kindergarten, 1st grade and 3rd grade.  Diana is retiring from Foster as the kindergarten teacher.  Congratulations Dianna, for your 39 years in the District.

• Jeri Stoehr began her career in the District in the 1977-78 school year as a high school physical education/dance teacher.  She taught at the high school until 1991-92 when she transferred to the junior high level.  Jeri also worked at Hoover and Howe Elementary Schools.  Jeri is retiring from Mellon.  Congratulations Jeri, for your 33 years in the District.

• Yolanda Tafi  has worked at Hoover Elementary since the 1973-74 school year as a primary teacher.  She is retiring from Hoover as a first grade teacher.  Congratulations Yolanda, for your 37 years in the District.

• Lynn VanRaaphorst was hired effective with the 1990-91 school year as an elementary art teacher.  Lynn has taught at Washington and Howe.  Congratulations Lynn, for your 20 years with the District.

• Ellen Wilf was hired for the 1976-77 school year as an elementary art teacher.  She has worked at Howe, Markham, Lincoln, Foster and Hoover Elementary Schools and is retiring from Markham & Hoover.  Congratulations Ellen, for your 35 years in the District.

• Stephen Bullick – Steve came to Mt. Lebanon in 1993 after working for 18 years at the North Allegheny School District as a teacher and social studies department chair. Here he has served as the Supervisor of Social Studies and Family Consumer Science.  His expertise in his content areas, especially Social Studies, has made him an expert at both the state and national level. He has shaped our curriculum so that our students have a truly global understanding and perspective of the world they live in. Steve has developed a program that is considered a best practice for other districts to model.  Congratulations, Steve for your 17 years in the Mt. Lebanon School District.

• Robert Mallery, Principal, and Markham Elementary School – Bob began his career in the District in 1993 after working for 4 years as a teacher and 15 years as a principal in Warren County.  He began as principal of Hoover Elementary School and stayed there until the 2002-23 school year when he was named principal of Markham Elementary School.  Bob has led both Hoover and Markham schools with distinction. His close connection with his staff, students, and parents has established a remarkable school environment at Markham. Bob’s kindness and empathy for his students creates an atmosphere of trust and caring in his school. It is not unusual to see a student drop by his office or stop him in the hall with a special story or a personal problem.

Five Mt. Lebanon students have been awarded full scholarships to study language through the National Security Language Initiative sponsored by the U.S. State Department.

This summer, seniors Ben Hutchinson and Andrew Munson will study Mandarin in China.  Junior, Erica Augenstein, will study Arabic in Jordan. Two current juniors, Lacey Barker and Emma Thompson, will spend the first semester of the 2010-2011 school year overseas.  Lacey will study Mandarin in China and Emma will be in Jordan to study Arabic.

Jefferson Middle School students and faculty sponsors, Mrs. Debra Mercier and Mrs. Michelle King, involved in the production of the winning video for the Westinghouse N-Vision competition.

Thomas Jefferson Middle School was awarded the middle school winning video by the Westinghouse Electric Company for their N-Vision Forms of Energy Contest.  Twenty JMS students were involved in producing this video along with their faculty sponsors, Mrs. Debra Mercier and Mrs. Michelle King. The schools with the winning videos in each category (middle and high school categories) will receive $3,000 for the school science department   and each student involved in the video production will receive $100 for  school supplies. JMS submitted three videos: The Atoms Family, Energy Survivor, and Energee.  Energee, a parody of the hit show Glee, was the winning entry. Students on the winning team include:  Sarah Scott, Sophie Engel, Aleana Daniels, Sarah Labovitz, Nathan Donatelli, Danny Cinski, Charlie Strohl, Danielle Isenberg, Clara Davis-Andres, Hannah Felber, Cassidy Lancaster, Grace Watson, Ally Hoberek, Jamie Kozorra, Rebecca Vogel, Hallie Baker, Katie Trombetta, Lesa Bressanelli, James Pfeifer, and Melissa Cruz. Watch the video.

Administered through the company’s speaker’s bureau, N-Vision, the contest is designed “to encourage young persons to think about energy in the context of worldwide political, economic and environmental realities,” according to the Westinghouse website. The Westinghouse N-Vision Program encourages education of youth in science, technology and mathematics.                                              

The contest is open to all middle and high schools and the winning videos were chosen from approximately 40 entries.  To be eligible, each video must outline three key advantages of nuclear power and two other forms of energy.  The video can be staged as a short play, commercial, news broadcast, talk show, music video, documentary, etc.  Students are encouraged to be creative, yet informative. 

About Westinghouse: Westinghouse Electric Company, a group company of Toshiba Corporation (TKY:6502), is the world's pioneering nuclear energy company and is a leading supplier of nuclear plant products and technologies to utilities throughout the world.  Today, Westinghouse technology is the basis for approximately one-half of the world's operating nuclear plants, including 60 percent of those in the United States.

Mr. Michael Carlin's AP Visual Arts students are moving on to some of the top schools in the country for the creative arts.

Congratulations to AP Visual Arts Students class of 2010 for their boundless creative energy and their commitment to excellence.  The stunning artwork created by this group of young people has earned them highly coveted spots in top universities across the country. The seniors—Dan Blaushield, Fabienne Hudson, Miriam Hudson, Tessa Renee Moeller, Katie Mashek, Maura Kearns, Melanie Danver, Andrew Certo, Kevin Schieferstein, Logan Alexander McKee, Jennifer Moreci, and Sara Baicker-McKee—will  attend universities with outstanding arts departments such as Carnegie-Mellon University, Rochester Institute of Technology and Syracuse University. AP Visual Arts teacher, Mr. Michael Carlin, commented, “Their artwork is a reflection of the power of the human spirit and will become artifacts of their personal creative development.  They are a shining example of creativity, divergent thinking, self-reflection, and intellectual discourse.  They are all remarkable individuals who have enriched my life and I am grateful for the time we spent together.”                 

8th grade students from Mellon Middle School at MAGIC on Friday, May 21.

The 5th annual MAGIC program (Mellon All Girl Image Celebration) was held on May 21, 2010 at the Ramada Inn, Greentree. The evening began with speaker Beth Eckenrode, Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for Heinz USA, who spoke about the importance of staying true to oneself and living an authentic life. The audience was then treated to a fashion show put on by high school students to show the different types of outfits to wear to school, dances, or after school events. After dinner, everyone went back to Mellon to take part in more activities. It was a great night for all.

The program has been created to help empower our 8th grade girls to believe in themselves and give them strategies needed to be successful in their upcoming high school years.  This after school program has been made possible through the help and support of the Mellon female staff, as well as enthusiastic high school girls who have "lived the MAGIC" while at Mellon. Special thanks go to Mellon Middle School counselor, Kara Berman and the all of the Mellon women faculty who help make the night very special for the girls.

The Mt. Lebanon School Board unanimously approved the appointment of Jeffrey A. Zeiders as the new supervisor of Social Studies and Family Consumer Science at the May 24, 2010 Regular Board meeting. Mr. Zeiders currently serves as the Social Studies Education Advisor for the Pennsylvania Department of Education where he is responsible for standards-based curricular development, implementation, review, and revision for Pennsylvania’s public, private, charter, and cyber schools, K-12. Prior to his current position, he served at the Capital Area Intermediate Unit 15 as Project Coordinator for the Teaching American History Project. Mr. Zeiders was also the Department Chair and a Social Studies teacher at the West Perry High School in Elliottsburg, Pennsylvania.