The administrators and staff of the Ellwood City Area School district gave updates of continuing education during the April 20 board of directors special meeting.
School Superintendent Joseph Mancini said he is pleased with the overall transition to online learning and attributes the success of the challenging transition to the district’s staff.
“I’d like to thank the teachers, administrators, staff, parents, and students,” he said.
Mancini said efforts to keep the district’s students fed during this pandemic has been an impressive endeavor. He thanked Food Service Director, John Dzurina, as well as the numerous volunteers, drivers, and other staff involved in making sure the district students have breakfast and lunch.
He also pointed out the efforts of Paul Pishioneri, supervisor of buildings and grounds for the district, and his staff in maintenance of the schools. Pishioneri and his staff will play a pivotal role in working to gather and return personal belongings to students as well as tackling the cleaning and sanitizing of the school buildings once his full staff is able to again work in the facilities.
Dzurina gave a cafeteria update. He said his staff has been busy since the state mandated closing.
“I didn’t know how big and grand of an effort this would be,” he said.
Pleased with the determination and hard work of his staff and volunteers, Dzurina said they have been feeding thousands of meals to area students. He said 6,400 meals were served on the Wednesday before Easter to sustain the students through their break.
“We are doing the best we can,” he said. “The ladies are working hard.”
Kirk Lape, high school principal, said the transition to online learning was smooth for his student body.
“The high school’s transition has gone well as they were already using Google classroom,” Lape said.
According to Lape student activities, especially those for the senior class have not been forgotten, and although not set in stone, alternate plans are in the works. This could include a rescheduling of the senior picnic and dinner dance, a possible summer prom, and a virtual commencement ceremony that would include all the parts of the traditional commencement ceremony.
Frank Kealy, principal of Hartman and Perry Schools, said he is thankful to the PTO and school board for their generosity over the last few years in working to secure Chromebooks for the school district.
He said school staff has done a great job working to get the Chromebooks ready for students as well as distributing them to the students that need them.
He said parents will be receiving report cards via mail coming up soon.
Kealy gave a shoutout to the teachers.
“The teachers are doing such a great job,” he said.
Kealy said a main focus of his staff has been the connection with the families.
“The focus has been on the need to galvanize relationships with kids and families,” he said.
Christine Gibson, principal at Northside School, said she is impressed with the “above and beyond” job that is being done in the school and in the community. Especially impressive, according to Gibson, is the cafeteria staff.
“I am amazed at the wonderful, beautiful, thoughtful work the cafeteria staff is doing,” she said.
As far as education goes, she said her staff working hard to keep the kids encouraged and moving forward in learning. She said many of them have gone above and beyond to get computers to students.
She said she has personally delivered computers to students and talks to anywhere from two to twenty families per day.
“My hat is off to the entire community for stepping up,” she said.
Leslie Gleghorn, director of special education, for the district said she can’t say enough good things regarding the district’s staff in their response and efforts during this pandemic.
She said the special education staff has been vigilant to the needs of their students by keeping in touch with the students and families. She said her staff meets weekly to ensure those needs are being met. Pishioneri reported that his staff is working on continued maintenance of the facilities including monitoring of the boilers. He said an upcoming goal for his staff will be getting personal belongings back to the students when a safe and appropriate time has been determined.
A virtual graduation seems like a really generic solution. I understand why it is being considered but maybe the air force academy graduation ceremony this year should be looked at as a model.