Publication rates Burgettstown, Charleroi high schools at bronze level
From left, Burgettstown High School students Liam Walsh and Sydney Bongiorni accepted a plaque from the county commissioners along with their principal, Brian Fadden.
Representing Charleroi Area High School Thursday at a meeting of the Washington County commissioners were, front row from left, Dr. Patricia Mason, high school principal; senior Elizabeth LaCarte; and Dr. Edward Zelich, superintendent; and back row from left, senior Daniel Bieliski and guidance counselor Janet Toth.
Among public high schools in Washington County, U.S. News & World Report chose just two for its 2015 “Best High Schools” for their preparation of students for college.
On Thursday, the Washington County commissioners took note of the high schools, Burgettstown Area and Charleroi Area.
Commissioner Harlan Shober, a former member of the Chartiers-Houston school board, asked, “We have a lot of good schools here, don’t we? We have two schools here today that seem to be a little bit above the cut.”
Commission Chairman Larry Maggi said, “We know the struggles of our smaller schools in the county,” and Commission Vice Chairman Diana Irey Vaughan noted Charleroi Middle School was nominated to the “Schools to Watch” initiative by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform.
Liam Walsh, a senior at Burgettstown, the only student to address the commissioners, told the board, “At Burgettstown, we take pride in our community.” The spring musical, for example, “involves more half of the student body” as performers or working behind the scenes handling sets and props. He said the community, alumni and students rally each fall in support of the football team,
Among the representatives from Charleroi was Superintendent Ed Zelich, who said, “We can’t tell you how honored we are to be before you today. Our goal is to keep this award for years to come.”
Also on hand were members of the school board members and the Charleroi Area School District Education Foundation.
Administrators from each school said they found out about their rankings just recently. U.S. News & World Report calculates its annual ranking through standardized test scores in math and reading plus the level of success on Advanced Placement course exams.
According to U.S. News & World Report, Charleroi Area High School’s enrollment is 512 and it employs 39 full-time teachers. Forty-six percent of its students are considered economically disadvantaged. Forty-six percent of the students qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch, according to data reported to the government. A district average places 73 percent of Charleroi Area students district-wide as proficient in literature and 63 percent proficient in math.
At Burgettstown Middle/High School, the enrollment is 745, 34 percent of whom are economically disadvantaged. Thirty-four percent of its students qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch. The school has 57 full-time teachers. The school has 79 percent of its students considered proficient in literature and 78 percent proficient in math.
The report described the setting of both schools as “fringe rural.”
Waynesburg Central High School in Greene County, ranked 62nd among the state’s more than 500 public, charter and magnet high schools, received a silver designation, the same level as Mt. Lebanon and South Fayette high schools at 10th and 13th in the state, respectively. Upper St. Clair High School in Allegheny County received a gold ranking as fourth-best high school in the state, according to the publication’s criteria.
Waynesburg Central High School is part of the Central Greene School District. According to the publication, the 50-teacher school has an enrollment of 597, 39 percent of whom are economically disadvantaged.