Penn-Trafford High School

Penn-Trafford High School
Address
3381 Route 130
Harrison City, Pennsylvania, Allegheny, Westmoreland, 15636
United States
Information
Type Public
School district Penn-Trafford School District
Superintendent Dr. Matthew Harris
Principal Tony Aquilio
Vice principal Greg Saraceni
Vice principal Matthew Capiccino
Headteacher Kathy Kelly-Garris
Grades 9-12
Enrollment 1388[1] (2012-2013)
 • Other Enrollment is Projected to decline to 1094 by 2019[2]
Color(s) Green & Gold
Mascot Warrior
Team name The Warrior Marching Band
Website http://penntrafford.org/hs.htm
Penn-Trafford School District region in Allegheny County

Penn-Trafford High School is a public high school located in Harrison City, Pennsylvania in Westmoreland County, and is the secondary school serving the Penn-Trafford School District. It is the result of several mergers of smaller school districts and entities. It is the successor of Penn Joint High School and Trafford High School. The school colors are green and gold. The different government entities that are incorporated into this school district are, in size order, Penn Township, Trafford Borough, Manor Borough (part), and Penn Borough. The school district is mainly in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania with a small part of Trafford Borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

The school opened in the fall of 1972 and graduated its first class in June, 1973, with Reynold Peduzzi its first principal and William G. Kuznik serving as Penn-Trafford Superintendent at that time.[3]

Graduation rates

2012 - 95.3%
2011 - 95.4%
2010 - 97.3%
2009 - 97%
2008 - 97%
2007 - 97%[4]
2006 - 97%[5]

High school

Penn-Trafford High School was ranked 18th out of 123 western Pennsylvania high schools for student academic achievement by the Pittsburgh Business Times.[6]

PSSA Results:
11th Grade Reading
2009 - 78% on grade level, In Pennsylvania, 65% of 11th graders on grade level.[7]
2008 - 79%, State - 65%
2007 - 81%, State - 65%[8]

11th Grade Math
2009 - 68%, In Pennsylvania, 56% of 11th graders are on grade level.
2008 - 70%, State - 56%
2007 - 69%, State - 53%

11th Grade Science:
2009 - 48% on grade level. State: 40% of 11th graders were on grade level.
2008 - 50%, State - 39%[9]

College remediation

According to a Pennsylvania Department of Education study released in January 2009, 20% of Penn-Trafford School District graduates required remediation in mathematics and or reading before they were prepared to take college level courses in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education or community colleges.[10] Less than 66% of Pennsylvania high school graduates, who enroll in a four-year college in Pennsylvania, will earn a bachelor's degree within six years. Among Pennsylvania high school graduates pursuing an associate degree, only one in three graduate in three years.[11] Per the Pennsylvania Department of Education, one in three recent high school graduates who attend Pennsylvania's public universities and community colleges takes at least one remedial course in math, reading or English.

Classroom of the Future

The Penn-Trafford School District recently accepted grants to fund "The Classroom of the Future." Each classroom is equipped with a Smart Board 600i and a projector mounted. Some teachers have portable Smart boards allowing mobility around the classroom. Selected core classes will be given a cart of laptops that teachers have to incorporate into their lessons.

Dual enrollment

The high school offers a Dual Enrollment program. This state program permits high school students to take courses, at local higher education institutions, to earn college credits. Students remain enrolled at their high school. The courses count towards both: high school graduation requirements and towards a college degree. The students continue to have full access to all clubs, activities and programs, at their high school including the graduation ceremony. The college credits are offered at a deeply discounted rate. The state offers a small grant to assist students in costs for tuition, fees and books.[12] Under the Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Agreement, many Pennsylvania colleges and universities accept these credits for students who transfer to their institutions.[13]

For the 2009-10 funding year, the school district received a state grant of $13,378 for the program.[14]

Graduation project

By law, all Pennsylvania secondary school students must complete a project as a part of their eligibility to graduate from high school. The type of project, its rigor and its expectations are set by the individual school district.[15]

Vocational-Technical Services

Penn-Trafford High School uses the services of Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center in New Stanton for the students there who wish to choose a vocational or technical program.

Extracurriculars

The Penn-Trafford School District offers a large variety of clubs, activities and sports. Eligibility for participation is set by school board policy.

By Pennsylvania law, all K-12 students in the district, including those who attend a private nonpublic school, cyber charter school, charter school and those homeschooled, are eligible to participate in the extracurricular programs including all athletics. They must meet the same eligibility rules as the students enrolled in the district's schools.[16]

Athletics

Penn-Trafford participates in the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL).[17] The colors are Dartmouth Green and Green Bay Gold. The nickname of the school's teams are the Warriors or Lady Warriors, depending on gender. In keeping with the native American theme of the two high schools that merged to form Penn-Trafford, Warriors was chosen. The nickname of Penn Joint High School (a predecessor to Penn-Trafford) was the Indians. The nickname of Trafford High School (a predecessor to Penn-Trafford) was the Tomahawks. In 1971-1972, prior to the merger of the two high schools, a panel of eight students, four from each high school met to develop the new school nickname and color-schemes. The student body of each school were given the task of voting on the new school colors from three color-scheme options chosen by the student panel, Kelly Green and Green Bay Gold being one of them. The color-scheme options were selected by the panel to differentiate Penn-Trafford from the other Keystone Conference member schools. The top vote getter was Green and Gold. Dartmouth Green eventually replaced Kelly Green.[18]

John Ruane has coached the football team back to prominence since taking over in 2010.

The Lady Warriors Girls Golf team won the WPIAL championships during the 2012- 2013 and the 2013-2014 seasons. In both competitive years, they proceeded to the PIAA state championships where they placed as runners- up.

Marching Band

When Penn High School and Trafford High School merged to form Penn-Trafford, the Marching Band used both the Penn and Trafford uniforms. The band was under the direction of Emery Toth. The band soon became one of the most respected bands in the county. Toth directed the band from 1972-1986. The marching band would be known as "The Big Green Machine" during these years. The Big Green Machine became a well known marching band and became particularly famous for their green uniforms. When Toth decided to leave the high school, his replacement was former Assistant Director, Tom Monteleone. The band then became the Warrior Marching Band. Over the next few years, the band would become more involved in competitions where Toth had left off. Monteleone retired after the 2009 marching season and was replaced by David Cornelius, who previously directed the Elizabeth Forward Marching Band. On Monday, December 7, P-T school directors named Cornelius the new PTHS Band Director. In 2011, P-T hosted a band show dedicated to the founding director, Emery Toth.

The band has placed third in the "Quad-A" (AAAA) class of PIMBA (Pennsylvania Interscholastic Marching Band Association) championships for several years running. In 2012, championships will be held at Penn-Trafford.

Drama Guild

One of Penn-Trafford's most notable features is its High School Drama Department. They have put on musicals that have consistently achieved high acclaim at the "Night of the Stars" event that features musicals from high schools all around the area.

In 2008, Penn-Trafford High School's production of the Cole Porter musical "Anything Goes" won national honors in the USA Weekend Magazine's "High School Musical Showstopper" contest as one of four runners-up. Along with that, their set won 3rd place in "ScenoGraphics Set Design and Building Competition".

The high school's drama department has recently been recognized as one of the runner-ups in the USA Weekend Showstopper contest. 600 other high school productions from around the country were considered for the award and their production, "Anything Goes", was selected as one of the four runner-ups.

The First Penn-Trafford Musical was Camelot in 1974.

** Denotes musical has been done more than once.

Notable sponsors and alumni

Following his retirement and until his death, Alistair Cooke was a frequent and generous donor to the high school. His support was based on a long friendship with a former Social Studies teacher at the school (Ray Edelman). Cooke referred to the school's education as "effective, efficient, and quality" which was later adopted as the district's motto. Plans are currently being discussed by the school board to rename the school's library in his honor [19]

Alma mater

"Years from now we will all recall,
Fond memories of these days,
Where we saw our future in our dreams
And prepared to make our way.
So it's here that we have started,
And where ever we shall roam
We'll remember deep in our hearts
Penn-Trafford High, our warrior home."

Michael J. O'Halloran, 1972

References

  1. ↑ "Pennsylvania School Performance Profile: Penn Trafford HS (2012 - 2013)". Pennsylvania Department of Education. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  2. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of Education Enrollment and projections for Penn-Trafford School District January 2009
  3. ↑ Mochnick, John W., History of Penn Township, 1982, pp.229, 231.
  4. ↑ Pennsylvania Partnership for Children - High School Graduation Rate 2007
  5. ↑ Penn-Trafford High School Academic Achievement Report Card 2006
  6. ↑ The Rankings: 11th Grades, Pittsburgh Business Times. May 15, 2009
  7. ↑ Penn-Trafford School District Academic Achievement Report Card 2009
  8. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of Education PSSA Math and Reading results by school 2007
  9. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of Education PSSA Science 2008 by school and grade
  10. ↑ Pennsylvania College Remediation Report http://www.scribd.com/doc/23970364/Pennsylvania-College-Remediation-Report
  11. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics
  12. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of Education - Dual Enrollment Guidelines.
  13. ↑ Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Agreement. site accessed March 2010. http://www.patrac.org/
  14. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of Education Dual Enrollment Fall Grants 2009-10. August 2009
  15. ↑ Pennsylvania Code §4.24 (a) High school graduation requirements
  16. ↑ Home-Schooled, Charter School Children Can Participate in School District Extracurricular Activities, Pennsylvania Office of the Governor Press Release, November 10, 2005
  17. ↑ Barnes, Keith (2007-11-16). "Penn-Trafford to play for first PIAA title". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved 2008-04-12. The Lady Warriors were the third seed from the WPIAL after losing to Seneca Valley in the semifinals, but they recovered with victories against District 10 champion Erie McDowell, a Peters Township team that had defeated them, 9-1, in the South Park Kickoff Tournament and Mount Lebanon after losing, 1-0, to the Lady Blue Devils in the season opener.
  18. ↑ Bucar, Paul - Date: 2010-08-18. One of the original eight student panel members representing the Trafford high school sophomore class.
  19. ↑
  20. ↑ Smith, Bryan. "Sean O'Donnell". Rivals.com. Rivals.com. Retrieved 2014-09-25.
  21. ↑ http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourpenntrafford/yourpenntraffordmore/5862882-74/shrek-musical-april#axzz3XgUio0vW

External links

Coordinates: 40°21′13″N 79°39′24″W / 40.3536°N 79.6566°W