Moving to PGH, question about USC schools (Pittsburgh: new construction, school district)

[LisaC5220]

Hi,

We're planning a move to Pittsburgh this summer and I have a question about the USC schools. I've noticed that the elementary schools only go up to 4th grade, with 5th & 6th grade at one middle school and 7th & 8th at another middle school. I though that was a unique configuration and was wondering what parents who have kids in the USC school district think about it. Have the schools always be set up like that or is it a new development in response to overcrowding in the schools? I have a rising 5th grader so this is a pressing issue for me. Thanks!

[okaydorothy]

We are in South Fayette and we have four schools all on the same campus.

Elementary, intermediate, middle and high school.

As we are in the high school, I am not familiar with the grades of the lower schools. I think Middle is 7th and 8th, intermediate is 5th and 6th, and then elementary is thru 4th. I may not be correct in that.

[Pitt Chick]

Originally Posted by LisaC5220

I have a rising 5th grader so this is a pressing issue for me. Thanks!

What is your concern?


To me, it is a good thing as all the 5th graders are new to the building!

[guy2073]

It is a very good system, a lot of the schools do that around here, I like it because it keeps the kids ages closer together. When my son was 10 he was not in school with 14-15 year olds.

[Geeo]

Gee, I went to a combined junior-senior high school with grades 7 - 12. About 900 kids in the same building and never had any problems. Are kids that nasty these days?

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by Geeo

Gee, I went to a combined junior-senior high school with grades 7 - 12. About 900 kids in the same building and never had any problems. Are kids that nasty these days?

I went to Langley when it was 7-12 and peaked out during my education at about 2400 students.

7th Graders rarely had any interactions at all with seniors and juniors, and vice versa, although there were some problems in the school, it wasn't between the older kids and younger ones..

[LisaC5220]

My concerns are not with bullying. I'm wondering whether the population of USC is still growing through new construction and if having 5th grade in middle school is a measure put into place to deal with overcrowding at the elementary school level. Where I live in Virginia, elementary school overcrowding is a serious problem. My kid's elementary school is over capacity by a few hundred kids. This is a situation I want to avoid if I can.

Also, I'm thinking of the way middle school is done here, where it is run like a high school. They have an A/B schedule with 4 blocks per day so classes are 90 minutes long, no recess, limited specials. I know many 6th graders who find that transition to be somewhat difficult. In USC, is the 5th & 6th grade building run more like an elementary school so the change to middle school seems more gradual?

[guy2073]

The middle school is run like a middle school, your children will have a great time, there are a lot of amenities for the kids. I went there when they split the schools up. One of the main reasons at the time for the change was so that the kids were not separated from each other until high school, the old system had kids from streems and Johnston going to Boyce and Eisenhower and baker going to ft couch. Therefore the kids were not fully combined until high school. To keep from over crowding the current schools or having to build a massive middle school they decided to divide the middle schools into 5/6 Boyce and 7/8 ft couch. I was in 5th grade when this happened so I don't know the full details, but this is how it was explained to us at the time.

As far as population growth, I think it has been consistent for sometime, the schools have all been renovated recently and increased in size, I don't see overcrowding being an issue.

The school district is very open to parents calling, I think they would answer any questions you would have.

[robrobrob]

We moved the summer before I entered Junior High/Middle School. I knew no one. I hated Junior High. In hindsight I would much rather have moved the summer before and have gone to the local elementary school.

Our middle school is 6,7 and 8.