by Chauleaqua Washington

With City High Charter High School in its 10th year of existence much will be changing this school year, from the location of the school to the senior class curriculum that should better the school overall.

City High, located on Liberty Avenue in the Clark building, will be moving January 2012 to its new location at the Verizon building on Stanwix Street. That will not be the only change, however. Healthier lunches and more space will be introduced to students.

DRAY COTTINGHAM IN FRONT OF CITY HIGH (Photo by J.L. Martello)

“The school is being moved for two reasons,” Mario Zinga, school co-founder, said. “The main reason is the school needs (more) space.” He said, even though the school would have gotten more floors if it had stayed in the old building, they believed that the move was best, because they would have had to split up each grade on separate floors if they had stayed.

As technology advances, society changes and the education process is no different. Before, the typical routine for a student was to wake-up early, get dressed and then go off to school, but with the click of a mouse, students can get their full education from the comforts of their own home-it’s called Cyber Charter School or online schooling. Students from kindergarten to college are now completing their education online.

According to Timothy Eller, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, of the 1,781,206 students enrolled in public schools, 27,779 students are enrolled in Cyber Charter Schools. There are currently approximately 13 Cyber Charter Schools in Pennsylvania and more and more are popping up every year.

by Chauleaqua Washington

May 24 was proclaimed “Dray Cottingham Day” by the City of Pittsburgh, because this 16-year-old City High student has been doing extraordinary things.

“I’ve been writing forever. My family and others who read my stories were always impressed with the things I would come up with,” said Dray Cottingham.

DRAY COTTINGHAM WORKING ON ONE OF HIS PLAYS

He produced, directed, wrote and cast his own play entitled “A Teen’s Unspoken Truth,” which earned him recognition by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

An inspired Cottingham wrote about whatever felt right to him, writing about things that seemed too mature for his age and people disapproving of him, yet he didn’t let it stop him.

Cyber schools, with their virtual educational techniques, continue to make strides in the educational process, but one Pittsburgh based Charter School is putting together programs to help students excel even more.

PA Learners Online Regional Charter School, which is operated by the Allegheny Intermediate Unit—a nonprofit branch of the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the largest of the 29 intermediate units created by the Pennsylvania State General Assembly—will begin accepting students in the Spring of 2012 for their Science Technology Research Engineer Arts and Mathematics (STREAM) Academy. The career based program will not only allow students to attend school online, but will set them up with on-location instruction in the specific career fields they are interested in.