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District OK's Advanced Placement Agreement With Mt. Aloysius

By Richard Finch Jr.
The Tube City Almanac
August 20, 2018
Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

McKeesport Area School District has approved a dual-enrollment agreement with Mount Aloysius College to provide advanced placement courses for high school students.

The agreement with the four-year liberal arts school, based in Cambria County near Johnstown and Altoona, was OK'd by the school board last week.

While the district has AP college credit agreements with other schools as well, Superintendent Mark Holtzman Jr. said the Mount Aloysius agreement is an opportunity for students to earn college credits at a lower cost.

If students earn grades of 78 percent or higher in an AP course, he said, they will pay only $55.

“We have some of those agreements established with some of the other local universities,” Holtzman said. “Those tuitions were often times a burden for our students --- and unfortunately, there is no funding to support that --- so we're looking for (additional) ways for our students to earn college credit.”

In other business, Holtzman said sixth-grade orientation for the district was held Aug. 9 and was “standing-room only.” Ninth-grade orientation was held Monday and kindergarten orientation will be at 9 a.m. Tuesday at Francis McClure and 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at Twin Rivers.

Meanwhile, at the high school, Holtzman said the band, which he referred to as “probably the hardest working group on campus,” has been training alongside the football team.

The football team will open its season with a non-conference game against Erie High School at the Wolvarena in Turtle Creek on Aug. 25, School Director Ivan Hampton said on behalf of the board's athletic committee. The homecoming game is slated for Sept. 22 vs. Plum, he said.

In other business:

The school board approved:

The purchase of two Dell Power Edge servers from Ideal Integrations at a cost of $28,500.

The appointment of Tia Wanzo as assistant superintendent, effective Aug. 22. She had been assistant to the superintendent.

An agreement with Care Unlimited to provide healthcare services.

An agreement with the Allegheny County Department of Human Services to provide transportation in accordance with the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act.

An agreement with Alliance Christian Child Care Center to provide child care services before and after school at Twin Rivers and Francis McClure schools for the 2018-19 school year.

A payment of $197,253 to the Pennsylvania School Boards Association for insurance for the period ending Sept. 14, 2019.


Richard Finch Jr. is a freelance writer who is covering McKeesport Area schools and North Versailles Twp. for Tube City Almanac. He may be reached at finchr43@gmail.com.

Originally published August 20, 2018.

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