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Education

October 15, 2025

ECASD Planning For Normal School Day Following Planned Borough Power Outage On Sunday

In a statement released by the Ellwood City Area School District, the schools will plan for a normal day of school on Monday, October 20th – the day following the planned borough power outage. The following statement was made available on the district’s website: We have been working to prepare our facilities, food services, and technology systems for the Ellwood Borough power outage on October 19. Our goal is to ensure everything is ready so we can resume normal operations on Monday, October 20. We will have staff on campus this weekend to check all systems and ensure that our…

October 10, 2025

ECASD Board of Directors Appoint Financial Professionals to Evaluate Funding for Renovation Project

The Ellwood City Area School District’s Board of Directors voted unanimously on Monday night to approve a resolution to appoint professionals to assist in the evaluation of financing for a proposed district renovation project including HVAC, plumbing, and electrical improvements to North Side Primary School and Hartman Intermediate School. The resolution appoints the firm of PNC Capital Markets, LLC (the “Investment Banker”) as managing underwriter and the firm of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP (the “Bond Counsel”) as bond counsel to advise and assist the School District regarding the consideration, authorization, issuance and sale of the Bonds, in one or more…

September 25, 2025

Hartman Intermediate Honored As A PA Blue Ribbon School

The Ellwood City Area School District is honored and excited to share truly wonderful news: Hartman Intermediate School has been recognized as a 2025 Pennsylvania Blue Ribbon School by the Pennsylvania Department of Education! This achievement reflects the dedication and collaboration of our entire community. Hartman is one of only thirteen schools across the Commonwealth selected for this distinction. Hartman was selected for closing achievement gaps. “I am incredibly proud of our students, staff, and community for earning this Blue Ribbon recognition. Coming out of the challenges of COVID, we came together with resilience and determination to support one another…

September 22, 2025

Lincoln High Grad Covert Shoots 82; BC3 Men’s Golf Team Now 5-2

Mitchell Covert, a graduate of Lincoln High School in Ellwood City, tied for fourth among the Pioneers’ lowest scores with an 82 to help BC3 defeat Westmoreland County Community College 311-321 and the Community College of Allegheny County 311-349 at Lake Arthur Golf Club near Butler on Friday. Jaxon Salata fired a career-low 73 as a Butler County Community College golfer and finished as medalist for the first time, and teammate Parker Worsley placed second overall with a 76 as the Pioneers’ men’s team moved to 5-2 with victories last week. The four lowest scores of golfers on each squad…

September 12, 2025

PennDOT Invites Pennsylvania High School Students to Join the Ninth Annual ‘Innovations Challenge’

Harrisburg– This week, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) invited high school students throughout the state to participate in this year’s PennDOT Innovations Challenge, which encourages students to use their problem-solving, creative and strategic-thinking abilities to solve real-world transportation challenges in a competition among their peers. The Innovations Challenge is open to all students in grades 9-12, regardless of their school’s learning model. For this year’s challenge, students are asked to develop a concept for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in work zones to dramatically improve safety for work crews and road users. The concept must outline how PennDOT…

September 11, 2025

ECASD Board of Directors Vote to Retain Architectural Firm in Consideration of North Side and Hartman Construction Projects

Ellwood City Area School District’s Board of Directors voted Thursday night to retain HHSDR to design projects relating to the North Side and Hartman Facility Studies (View a copy of the study here), create bid documents, and seek bids for the projects including alternative bids with options for the project’s scope. The projects, according to the study, come with a probable cost of approximately $9.9 million. Board members Norman Boots and Kevin Boariu voted “No” citing concerns of cost as well as current construction projects already underway. Boariu said the board needs to have extensive discussion before moving forward with…

September 11, 2025

CCBC Increases Access To Cyber Careers With National Science Grant

Monaca, PA – Community College of Beaver County has received a $473,491 Advanced Technological Education (ATE) grant from the Natonal Science Foundation, the U.S. government’s independent science agency. The three-year grant will fund the college’s ACCESS: Creating Pathways to Advance Cybersecurity Career Education for STEM Success program to strengthen and expand STEM programs and train the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. CCBC was one of 12 community colleges accepted to the FORCEE-ATE mentoring workshop in June of 2024 to pursue an ATE grant to create more accessibility to diverse educational pathways in cybersecurity for students from high school to the…

September 5, 2025

ECASD Transition to ABC Transit Experiencing Growing Pains

In a statement released by the Ellwood City Area School District on Thursday, the district is clear in acknowledging the transition to ABC Transit has had some early growing pains. The district contracted with ABC Transit for seven years beginning with the 2025-26 school year, effective July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2032, replacing EC Transit, which wished to end the school transportation side of its business. “We are grateful for the dedication and care shown by Ellwood City Transit, and we are confident that ABC Transit will carry forward that tradition with professionalism and care,” said Superintendent Amy…

August 15, 2025

Ellwood City Girls Softball Team to Seek Neighboring School District Fields for Home Games

The Ellwood City Area School District’s Board of Directors voted to allow the girls softball team to use neighboring school districts’ fields for home games during the August 14th Regular Meeting. The girls previously played at Stiefel Park on a field owned by the borough, but they will not return to Stiefel in their upcoming season. The board expressed safety concerns and a deterioration of the field as the reasoning for seeking play at neighboring districts’ fields. Board members also stated that they no longer wish to invest money into any improvements to the field at Stiefel Park. “I’m not…

August 13, 2025

CCBC Selected As Nationwide Recipient Of Metallica Scholars Initiative

Monaca, PA – Community College of Beaver County (CCBC), is proud to announce its selection as one of 15 nationwide recipients to join Year 7 of the prestigious Metallica Scholars Initiative (MSI). Supported by a generous $75,000 grant, CCBC will use the funding to support students in its Air Traffic Control (ATC) specialist program for the 2025-2026 academic year. As part of the initiative, CCBC will allocate $60,000 of the grant directly to scholarships, providing $1,000 per student—distributed as $500 in the Fall and $500 in the Spring semesters. This scholarship will cover over 10% of tuition costs each semester…