The Upper St Clair School District is a public school district

School district

School districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...

 serving the Pittsburgh suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

 of Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania

Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania

Upper St. Clair Township is a Home Rule Municipality and township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located about south of Pittsburgh. The population was 20,053 at the 2000 census.-History:...

. The district features three elementary schools for grades K-4: Albert F. Baker Elementary, Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary, and Carl R. Streams Elementary. The school district also includes two middle schools, Fort Couch Middle School and Boyce Middle School. Boyce Middle School contains both 5th level students, and 6th level students. Fort Couch Middle School contains grades 7th and 8th grades, and is the oldest running school of the school district. Upper St. Clair's schools are run by a school board system as well as the superintendent of schools, Dr. O'Toole. Based on three years of the PSSA

Pennsylvania System of School Assessment

The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment is a standardized test administered to public schools in the state of Pennsylvania. Students in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 11 are assessed in reading skills and mathematics. Students in grades 5, 8, and 11 are assessed in writing skills...

s on:reading, writing, math and one year of science. In 2008 the district ranked first of 105 western Pennsylvania schools.

PSSA testing results

In 2008-2009 Pennsylvania used the Pennsylvania System of State Assessments (PSSA) to test students in grades 3 through 8 and 11 in math and reading, in grades 5, 8 and 11 in writing, and in grades 4, 8 and 11 in science.
Reading

• 96% (2010)
• 92% (2009)
• 93% (2008)
• 93% (2007)

The state average for Reading was 67% in 2010.
Science

• 81% (2010)
• 75% (2009)

The state average for Science was 40% in 2010.
Writing

• 96% (2010)
• 98% (2009)
• 98% (2008)
• 99% (2007)

The state average for Writing was 81% in 2010.
Math

• 96% (2010)
• 91% (2009)
• 89% (2008)
• 86% (2007)

The state average for Math was 60% in 2010.

District administrative school leaders

• Superintendent of Schools- Dr. Patrick T. O'Toole

High School

• Principle- Dr. Michael Ghilani

Fort Couch Middle School

• Principle- Joesph Demar

Boyce Middle School

• Principle- Karen Brown

Baker Elementary-

• Principle- Mark Miller(until replacement is found)

Eisenhower Elementary

• Principle- Mark Miller

Sreams Elementary

• Principle- Dr. Claire Miller

International baccalaureate controversy

An academic controversy during the 2005–2006 school year was the elimination of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Members of the new school board elected in 2005 criticized the program as being too costly, a needless duplication of Advanced Placement. In February 2006 the new school board voted 5–4 to phase out the IB program over two years, allowing only current 11th and 12th grade students to complete requirements.[12] In March 2006, the ACLU filed a lawsuit[13] and an out-of-court settlement was reached in May 2006 [14] with two main stipulations. First, the program was reinstated for a minimum of two years. Second, a nine-month study to determine the value of the IB program was conducted as part of the settlement agreement. The study resulted in a recommendation to retain the IB curriculum.[15]

Middle School Renovation Project

Both Fort Couch Middle School and Boyce Middle School are undergoing an extensive renovation and modernization which began during the 2009-2010 school year. These projects are scheduled to continue through the 2010-2011 school year with completion slated by the start of the 2011-2012 school year. Although the exact cost is currently unknown, it is projected to be over budget. The completion of the middle schools means that the district will be operating in all new schools, the high school was refurbished, and extended in the year 2000, and the elementary schools were renovated soon after.