Enrollment numbers are normally updated on the first of every month. Westinghouse started school early, in August, but there is no information on enrollment:
http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/15212011160423557/site/default.asp
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One possible explanation- could the district be waiting for the end of the 30 day period that had been mentioned as an opt out period?
U Prep had been mentioned as the opt out alternative, but couldn't students in turn opt out of that school because it didn't make AYP?
The only person who knew how the enrollment system worked on the website was laid off.
I heard that students have been leaving the "House" and showing up at U-Prep. Also, the fights between the different neighborhoods continue. PPS keeps everything under wraps.
well if the rumors of "still no class lists are true"-- how would anyone figure enrollment? Yes, these are young men and women without a bell system, but college professors get class lists of people enrolled in classes.
No bell system and no class schedules could catch fire in Pennsylvania if what Arne Duncan said is true: Pittsburgh is a model for other school districts (memo to Arne: how many times in your ball playing days did you proudly say, "we're number 473!!!!!!").
Nobody would tolerate this at Allderdice or CAPA, but hey, these are just some poor African American students, right?
Actions speak much louder than words.
We'll need to see if North Allegheny, Upper St. Clair or Mt. Lebanon follow suit and open up next year without master schedules.
The 30 day opt out period has not been discussed since Dr. Lane made that anouncement in may. Which makes me think it no longer exist. Infact it is my understanding that not such time frame stipulation can be put on the kids. The students at Westinghouse can opt out at anytime under the school choice options since they attended a failing school last year that can exercise the school choice options under no child left behind.
However under the NCLB school choice option, they can only choice a school that is not in improvement status or correction action status. And in PPS there is none except Obama and Capa. Both of witch they would not allow others students to opt into. So they sent letters to all the other students in the other highschools telling them that Westinghouse was the school choice school, since it was newly reconstituted.
Yeah right, what students from the other schools are going to school choice opt into westinghouse. This was another technigue to keep students where they were. For true school school choice opt in they should have opend up obama or sci tech too.
They did a number on the kids at this school and neighborhood. It was doomed from the start. Unless the district makes a real effort to create a dynamic educational program like a cte school, which would diversify this school as well the results will be the same.
Lets face it single gender is not good enough. Heck they have been operating single gender for the last 3 years anyway with the same or worst results. This school is in one the worst neighborhood with the worst test scores. And the district made sure it would continue to be worst when it added the peabody and easthills feeder pattern to it. Those feeders were worst as well only second to Oliver. And it has the most inexperience adminstrators who have unproven results and with 80% displace and inexprerience teachers. What parent in there right mind would want there child to go there except those who live there or are forced.
The best thing the district could do for students from this area is to close Westinghouse, Uprep, Obama and Allderdice and create a new school for all students in the Eastend. Make it a comprehensive school with Magnet programs, like IB, CTE and sci tech as well.
PPS should then build a new Building where Resinstien is or totally redo Resinstein. The way the distict closed schenley and peabody of recent, it all sets up this way. They should call it East end high and lets get to work and make it right.
This would give our students a fresh start and it would be diverse from day one. This would eliminate "turfism" and give a real since of "communityism". It would eliminate the fears of racial domination of any particular neighborhood and ethnic group. It would address Lanes fear of a real alumni presence and historical rivalries, like schenley, whs, and peabody
But since Dr. lane is beholding to Issler and afraid to take on the allderice contengent, if this community should buck the idea let them keep Alderdice as a expection. The other less influencial neighborhoods wouldnt object im sure. Dr. Lane has already shown her disrespect for the hill, homewood and eastliberty and community groups any way so it will work.
Then PPS should create one school on the northside. It would be best in the he oliver building since it is larger. Then, since pps closed south high and made a million on that bulding, they should set up the sout school in the Carrick building. And finally the Westside in the Brashear building, since pps is closing langley.
Then let PPS keep Capa, the darling of the district downtown and we are done.
Any comments?
Nice ideal but it will never happen. For one too much debt owed on the westinghouse renovations. For two, lane would never allow the Ib and Sci tech students to be in same building with the kids from Garfield, Larmer, Homewood, Eastlibery and the Hill.
What about the people from homewood would they be for that? To take Westinghouse from them is just another blow to that community.
I think they would. Anything is better than what they have created for them at Westinghouse now. Although the Alumni would not be happy im sure. But hahah, Lane has showed them and they schenley alumni they dont count
Last I heard they were changing the name, mascot and colors. Once that is done its not Westinghouse any more any way. Unless that community comes together there will not even be a school in Homewood in the next couple of years.
Westinghouse will never close they owe to much on the building. Plus the alternative may be to send those students by pat bus to allderdice. And believe me that is never happening. Isler is already getting the Black kids from easthills out of there. He would never allow the homewood kids to get in there.
Remember there is the school bus for high schoolers, so they would be on pat buses getting off in squiril hill. You get the picture now. Can you imagin homewood kids hanging out on forbes and murray. Isler and lane would never allow it.
Wow, some wacko ideas here. Let's stick with the real world, ok?
Reizenstein is going to be sold for big money. Done deal. Write it down. It was a much sought after piece of property when Schenley moved in and its value has only increased.
It's a cash cow for Dr.Lane.
Perhaps she can hire some more administrators.
I've heard from a reliable source that there are no class lists and no bells at 'da House. So naturally they have no idea what their enrollment is.
As for creating a giant East End high school in the soon to be former Reizenstein, The Homewood kids would get lost in the crowd. It would be so much easier to ignore them if they represented a small fraction of the school. Westinghouse is not the answer, but neither is a huge High School.
The Open East End Panel's recommendation was a CTE academy with quality academics as well.
Not being a nay-sayer, because for sure something needs to happen- we cant lose a whole generation of hs students while we keep changing programs but-- my memories go back to the "great high schools"-- one which was to be in the Ravene St area of East Liberty. I understnad what you are saying- black kids getting lost in huge schools BUT, if we review that stats- black kids did better in magnet schools than almost any other "plan"- so maybe looking at how well that worked. Also, I think black kids had more of an interest in schools and achievement when we had the comprehensive middle schools. Middle school kids are unique-- they arent just big elementary students- or short high sxhools students. Despite what Arni says, I dont envision our Pennsylvania nieghbors copying us
Westinghouse has the potential to become one of the best African American schools in the nation. WAA can provide the impetus for that to happen. It is an alumni group unequaled for it achievements, its support of Westinghouse, and its influence in the city of Pittsburgh and beyond.
When given free reign to take the "House" back to its former greatness, WAA will be successful. However, this will not happen as long as PPS Central Administrators refuse to relinquish their hold on this school.
Actually, Arne said that Pittsburgh could be a "model for the nation." Do you think Arne or the nation would want to 'copy' PPS, as the model, if they knew the real data on the majority of PPS schools?
Not quite sure why celebrated Arne's visit this long. Other comments made on the tour perhaps add some perspective.
When he got to Detroit, he told reporters that Detroit could become the fastest improving urban district in the country.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-mi-educationsecretar,0,1623743.story
Kind of sounds like Broad put up the Bat-signal to call the Secretary out to failing "reform" districts to rally the troops. Just weeks earlier he called Detroit "bottom of the barrel."
The first day of school at Westinghouse was August 22. The first day when students actually had class schedules at Westinghouse was today, September 14. You have to wonder; excellence for all, class schedules for some. I suppose all of those educational experts over in Oakland could not be pulled from their hectic workdays to assist the school in supplying a fundamental service to our students. My heart breaks as to what this cabal has done to a once tremendous urban district.
Dr.Lane decided to cut numerous tech people and at the same time, was implementing a new attendance roll/grade recording system, called Pinnacle.
The lack of foresight in furloughing people at a time when a new system was coming on board--and with it, the usual expected glitches--is almost amazing.
The entire district is a mess where being able to schedule is concerned, where knowing who is in what class, etc., and being able to record grades is concerned.
Westinghouse should have been prioritized, of course, as it was in desperate need of getting out of the gate in a strong, organized manner, but make no mistake, this system is a trainwreck.
Rumors of one school completely throwing out its schedule and starting over, to another that has all core teachers teaching an amazing amount of classes while related arts teachers are given short shrift in terms of classes, to other numerous headaches are off the charts.
What a district, eh?
Going to school for three weeks without a schedule is not just a tragedy, it is a violation of those students' civil rights.
I worry frankly that this is the tip of the iceburg. Let's retrace a few key losses.
First, the data architect Jay resigns in disgust earlier this year. The best way to describe this is that he knew where all of the right data tables in the old student information management existed, how they integrated with out systems (home grown or purchased), etc.
Second, Nancy, the manager who provided meat and potatoes support on the district's grading, scheduling systems was let go in June as part of the reductions.
Third, the district also let's 1/2 of a solid operations/infrastructure team go (Steve), but doesn't just stop there - right in the thick of this the CIO decides it is time to strike a sweetheart deal with Xerox and then prioritizes implementation of that $2 million per contract.
Fourth, in a move earlier than the three above, the CIO flips the implementation schedule of the Gates' grant driven utilities ahead of the scheduling/grading/child accounting system.
Fifth, the roots of this disaster are actually planted in the pre-Gates planning stages, as the McKinsey consultants convince the PR happy crowd at PPS that the implementation of the scheduling/grading/child accounting system is somehow not the foundational work of this IT enterprise upon which the fancier and cute Gates' grant panels/views/reports would very much depend on.
The loss of institutional knowledge and intellectual honesty in key parts of the district will haunt us in years to come. This is just a taste.
Is it true that 2 Westinghouse teachers left/resigned already?
Knowledgeable sources say yes, and that others may leave. It probably would have been better to keep the teachers and staff members who were committed to the school rather than requiring 50% of them to leave.
They also need to replace many of the PELA principals who did not climb the ladder by teaching or being assistant principals with PPS first. They have proven themselves to be incompetent leaders. They came into the district knowing nothing about PPS and were handed principal assignments. They are to blame for the majority (if not all) of the confusion going on in the schools.
Some teachers wanted to remain at Westinghouse, but were transferred elsewhere. A couple of them did a lot with the students outside of school (prom volunteers, community activities, etc). It was a shame to see them transferred.
PELAs by and large spent little time in the classroom and the ones that I know of were the types of "teachers" you would not want your kids to have. What can you say about a program that finds people who got into urban education, couldn't cut it and then opt for an "emerging leaders" program that will allow them to take their minimal talents and stay in education?
If their organizational skills were lacking in a classroom situation of 25 kids, how are they suddenly going to be able to manage 600 kids? If their people skills limited their ability to establish rapport with 25 kids, how will they establish a rapport with staff? With parents?
Like the leadership of "PELA", here is a group of people who are unfit to run anything with regards to schools and yet have been "empowered" by PPS.
I'm sitting back and looking forward to the trainwrecks that will take place at local schools in the years ahead....trainwrecks that old school principals knew how to nip in the bud and deal with, and that this lot is clueless about.
Again, the kids suffer for PPS blunders and insane ideologies.
One of the problems people keep mentioning is that many PELA's are always in meetings and not out in the building with students and teachers. This is particularly a problem at Westinghouse, so that even though the school already has 3 prinicipals they needed to bring in a former principal from another school. Is it part of PELA training to huddle in meetings most of the day?
The district's central administration uses these meetings as job justification. Questioner, ask yourself why the taxpayer needs all of this bloat at the top of the employee plan? What do these people do all day?
It's not just PELA's that are pulled out--although they certainly need to be in their respective buildings because they were in many cases were not very good teachers and can use the exposure on one hand, and on the other need to disconnect from the sensory-deprivation approach to meetings that central administration runs and see the real world of our schools.
Regular principals--PELAs and old school--are frequently pulled out, too.
Sound judgment by PPS heirarchy.
I'm sorry, but I can't believe I'm the only person on here who sees this. Or maybe I'm the only person with the gall to say it...Why is this all about race? Why is it that we should just let any student into places like Obama and Sci Tech? They are magnet schools. Anyone can apply from any region and background. As a matter of fact, those schools look to fill quotas, so preference is given to minority and impoverished groups.
The problems that students experience at Westinghouse do not arise from them being "poor and black." Many of our white students in the district suffer from these problems as well. If you're looking to blame poor achieving schools on something, blame it on the fact that there is a large portion of families (not all, by any means), in all schools, who do not value education and so neither do their children. But I guess we can't fix that problem, so we just place blame elsewhere.
Ask all of the "hay days" people what their parents were like. I don't think you'll find that many of them we able to get away with so much outright. Sure, they snuck around and didn't get caught, but I'm pretty sure their parents didn't depend on the drug money their kids were bringing home. I'm sure that welfare was a last resort because they had some pride.
If anything has changed in education, it's the values of families. Stop trying to reform schools. Let it be the way it used to be. With all the new initiatives, our kids are being less and less prepared for college. Stop trying to make it a race issue. Magical men, like Martin Luther King, Jr. would be rolling in their graves right now to hear the excuses we use for failure.
When culture changes to something with more values, then our schools will succeed.
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