Mt. Lebanon School District

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mt. Lebanon School District
Image:MtLdistrictlogo.jpg
To Provide the Best Education
Possible for Each and Every Student
Type public school district
Budget $70,890,733
Established July 1912
Grades K-12
Superintendent John Allison
Contact number (412) 344-2000
Teachers 460[1]
Staff 224[1]
Students 5,416[1]
Athletic Conference WPIAL
Colors blue and gold
Location Mt. Lebanon, PA
USA
Website http://www.mtlsd.org

Mt. Lebanon School District is the public school system for residents of Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The district has won multiple National Blue Ribbon School awards.[2] The high school was rated as one of the Top 500 high schools in the United States by Newsweek Magazine in 2000 and rated #1 in Western Pennsylvania by the Pittsburgh Business Times in 2005.[3] The school district generates these results spending only $7,669/student, about 25% over the national average of $6,058/student.[4]

Contents

[edit] Mission Statement

 This section does not cite any references or sources. (March 2008)
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

As defined by its constituents, students, staff, parents and community, this mission is that the Mt. Lebanon School District will provide the best education possible given local resources, and state and federal constraints. This means that the Mt. Lebanon School District provides the best education possible for each individual student and every or all students collectively. Mt. Lebanon School District constituents will know this mission has been accomplished when the five goals have been achieved.

[edit] Mt. Lebanon High School

Mt. Lebanon High School is the public secondary school for grades 9–12. It is accredited by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools and Colleges. As of 2007, Dr. Ronald P. Davis is the head principal. Unit or assistant principals are: Alfred McGivern unit 1, Michelle Murray unit 2, and Lori Pavlik unit 3. Annual enrollment is approximately 2,000 students; it is 1,912 for the 2007-08 school year.[1]

Mt. Lebanon High School has been named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education each of the three times it requested certification: 1983-84, 1990-91, and 1997-98. [5]Newsweek Magazine (March 8, 2000) also rated the high school as one of the Top 500 high schools in the United States.

[edit] High school building

 This section does not cite any references or sources. (March 2008)
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Mt. Lebanon High School is located on twenty-six acres of land. The building houses a 70,000 volume library; a planetarium; science (biology, chemistry and physics), math, computer and writing labs; a Fine Arts complex that includes two theaters, visual arts studios, an arts library, a professional dance studio, choral rooms, music studios, practice rooms, and a full production TV studio linked to the community's cable system. In addition, there are child care, food and nutrition, power technology, electronics, and wood working labs. Three full size gymnasiums, and indoor swimming pool. weight and wrestling rooms, six tennis courts, a 7200 seat stadium and an Astroturf football field with synthetic running track enhance opportunities for both student and community involvement.

The process for the renovation of Mt. Lebanon High School formally began in the summer of 2006. At that time, it was decided that an education specification team would be assembled for the purpose of identifying key needs related to the future use of a high school building. The team consisted of a variety of stakeholders who met for several work sessions during the fall and early winter. The team was led by William DeJong & Associates. The results of their work, including both general and specific suggestions, were presented to the Board of School Directors in January of 2007. Since then, the essential milestones with associated activities related to updating a high school building have been identified. Necessary outcomes from each phase (milestone) have been identified to monitor the progress of the project. A blog [1] has been set up to discuss further plans.


[edit] Graduates

The Class of 2007 graduated 411 students, 96% of whom went on to pursue a full-time or Armed-Service education. Similarly, the Class of 2006 graduated 461 students, 96% of whom went on to some form of full-time college or armed services education (89% four-year college or higher) and 93% of whom took the SAT. Their cumulative mean score of 1168 is 147 points higher than the national mean and 175 points more than the Pennsylvania mean score. [5] In the new writing assessment, the cumulative mean score of 573 was 76 points higher than the national mean and 90 points higher than the Pennsylvania mean score.

Based on national test results, Mt. Lebanon students rank among the highest achieving in the nation. Students have consistently scored above the national mean average in both the Critical Reading and Mathematics sections of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT).

Mt. Lebanon students were top performers on the College Board SAT at the end of 2006. Of the 630 public schools in the state, Mt. Lebanon students posted a combined score of 1741 which ranks 4th in Pennsylvania and 1st in the county among public schools, catapulting Mt. Lebanon ahead of all public schools in Western Pennsylvania. In addition, the critical reading and math scores were the highest ever received by Mt. Lebanon students. [6]

Mt. Lebanon is the Alma Mater of, among others:

[edit] Athletics

 This section does not cite any references or sources. (February 2007)
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Mt. Lebanon has won numerous titles in many sports, such as States in Hockey, and the WPIAL in 7 sports in 2005-2006 school year.[citation needed] They have also produced many professional athletes such as Kurt Angle. School Colors are Blue and Gold.

Since 1965 Mt. Lebanon has won 7 WPIAL Football championships and the last coming in 2000 with an offensive line that had every player go to a Division-1A school.[citation needed] Since 2000, Mt. Lebanon has made the playoffs in 2001-02, 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 which was also the first time since 2000 that a Mt. Lebanon football has made it to the WPIAL semifinals. Mt. Lebanon has had 3 losing seasons in the last 13 years (2001-02 and 2006-07) and 2007-08).[citation needed]

The Mt. Lebanon Girls' Volleyball team has won the PIAA State Title in 1997 and 2000. They have won the WPIAL championship in 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2007.

Mt. Lebanon made it to the last two WPIAL basketball championship games and won in 2006 against the McKeesport Tigers.[citation needed]

The hockey team won the State Championship in 1976 and 2006.[citation needed] A few Blue Devil players were selected by Division I collegiate and professional teams throughout North America (Shane Ferguson, Matt Bartkowski, Tyler Murovich).[citation needed] Mount Lebanon was the 2005-2006 State Champions setting both scoring records and defensive records.[citation needed]

The Blue Devils have won 5 boys' lacrosse WPSLA Championships since 2000 and are nationally known for their excellence.[citation needed] The boys' lacrosse team advanced to the Pennsylvania state championship 3 times since the late 90's, most recently in the 2007 season.

The Baseball team has won the section title dozens of times,[citation needed] WPIAL 5 times,[citation needed] and States once in 1998.[citation needed] Their most recent championship came in 2006.[citation needed]

The Mt. Lebanon rifle team won the WPIAL Championship[11] for the 2006-07 year, and tied for first place in WPIAL Section One with their team record. They went on to place third in the state-level competition. They have also won the WPIAL Championship in: 2003, 1987, 1971, as well as the state shoot in 1958.[citation needed]

[edit] Rivalries

Mt. Lebanon has an ongoing rivalry with the Upper St. Clair High School, highlighted by meaningless taunts about the communities rather than individual athletes.[12] It is among WPIAL's most natural rivalries due to the close proximity of the two communities, which are adjacent.

The most notorious incident was a clash between the USCHS Principal and a Mt. Lebanon student after a basketball game at the USC High School.[13] An investigation of the incident by the Upper St. Clair School District cleared the Principal of any wrongdoing.

Other less notable rivalries include nearby towns Bethel Park and Peters Township.

[edit] Fine Arts

The Fine Arts Department was rated one of eight finest nation-wide by the United States Department of Education.[5]

[edit] Theater

In the 2002-03 school year, the high school received one of six Outstanding School Awards from the Educational Theatre Association.[5] The school's theater program began in 1930, and has produced a number of notable actors.[14]

[edit] Music

See also: Mount Lebanon Percussion

In 2007, the American Music Conference listed Mt. Lebanon High school as one of the "Best 100 Communities for Music Education." [15]

Mount Lebanon Percussion ensemble performed at the 2007 National Percussion Festival in Indianapolis.[16]

The high school's chamber string orchestra, string orchestra and symphony orchestra, all under the direction of Robert J. Vogel, have played twice at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City, in 1998 and 2004.[citation needed] They also comprised three of only six ensembles chosen nationwide for the 2006 Orchestra America National Festival.[17]

The Mt. Lebanon Blue Devil Marching Band performed under the direction of Louise Marino performed in the 2008 New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade.

[edit] Forensics

The Mt. Lebanon Forensic Team won the Western Pennsylvania District Forensic Championship four years in a row (2001-2004).[citation needed] In 2004, the team won the state championship in dramatic interpretation and extemporaneous speaking and then earned a second-place title in extemporaneous speaking at the national competition in Salt Lake City.[18] George Savarese is the coach of the team and has been since the late 90's. During Savarese's tenure Mt. Lebanon has become the dominant school in Western Pennsylvania winning the district championship five of the last six years, and in 2003, 2004, and 2005 sending record numbers of students to National Forensic League national tournament.[citation needed]

In 2006, the team captured the Pennsylvania High School Speech League championship,[19] Events included extemp, dramatic interpretation, humorous interpretation, duo, and original oratory.

[edit] Schools

All enrollment figures are for the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year.[1]

Note: Keystone Oaks High School is physically located in Mt. Lebanon, but it serves the youth of the adjacent communities of Greentree, Dormont and Castle Shannon.

[edit] Teachers

As of the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year, the school employed 460 professionals.[1] Teachers are paid on an 18-step schedule, from $39,955 (minium with bachelor's degree) to $89,520 (maximum with master's degree plus credits).[1] Currently 68% of teachers have a master's degree or higher.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Mt. Lebanon School District (Sept. 2007). District Profile. Retrieved on 2008-03-04.
  2. ^ "Changes afoot for Blue Ribbon Schools", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2002-07-30. Retrieved on 2007-02-04. 
  3. ^ Lott, Ethan. "Mt. Lebanon tops 'PBT Honor Roll' rank of region's school districts", Pittsburgh Business Times, 2005-07-22. Retrieved on 2007-02-04. 
  4. ^ Neighborhood Profile. Sperling's Best Places Website. Retrieved on 2007-02-04.
  5. ^ a b c d 2006 profile, Mt. Lebanon School District
  6. ^ The SAT rankings: Mt. Lebanon ranks highest among local schools
  7. ^ Time Magazine: A Bigger Screen for Mark Cuban, April 22, 2002
  8. ^ "Kurt Angle", The Washington Post. 
  9. ^ Associated Press. "Prank starts 25 years of computer security woes", CTV. 
  10. ^ Head Coach - Carnegie Mellon University
  11. ^ O-R Online
  12. ^ Pace, Laura. "Rivalry in the bleachers", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2007-01-25. Retrieved on 2007-02-04. 
  13. ^ Niederberger, Mary. "Mt. Lebanon student claims USC principal attacked him", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2007-01-18. Retrieved on 2007-02-04. 
  14. ^ Mary Niederberger. "Mt. Lebanon High School marks 75 years of theater", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2005-11-17. Retrieved on 2007-02-04. 
  15. ^ The 2007 "Best 100 Communities for Music Education" Roster
  16. ^ Mt. Lebanon School District Fine Arts News, February 2007
  17. ^ Mt. Lebanon School District Fine Arts News, April 2006
  18. ^ http://www.mtlsd.org/district/stuff/district%20report%20card%202003-04mt.pdf 2003-2004 Report Card, page 11
  19. ^ Microsoft Word - 06May.doc

[edit] External links