Montour High School
Encyclopedia
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
located at 223 Clever Road in Robinson Township, Allegheny County
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Allegheny County is a county in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,223,348; making it the second most populous county in Pennsylvania, following Philadelphia County. The county seat is Pittsburgh...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. The only high school for the Montour School District
Montour School District
The Montour School District serves Kennedy Township, Robinson Township, Ingram, Thornburg and Pennsbury Village, which are western suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States.-School Board Members:...
, it serves the suburban towns of Kennedy
Kennedy Township, Pennsylvania
Kennedy Township is a township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a suburb of Pittsburgh. The population was 7,672 at the 2010 census.-Institutions:...
and Robinson Townships
Robinson Township, Pennsylvania
Robinson Township is a township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States approximately west of Pittsburgh. The population was 13,354 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Robinson Township is located at ....
, and the boroughs of Ingram
Ingram, Pennsylvania
Ingram is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,330 at the 2010 census.It is located in the Montour School District, which educates the children of Kennedy Township, Robinson Township, Pennsbury Village, Thornburg, and the borough of...
, Pennsbury Village
Pennsbury Village, Pennsylvania
Pennsbury Village is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 661 at the 2010 census.-History:Pennsbury is a unique borough in that it is entirely a municipality of condo-style houses, having been built in 1973. In 1976 there was a disagreement with Robinson...
, and Thornburg
Thornburg, Pennsylvania
Thornburg is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 455 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Thornburg is located at...
.
Established in 1956 the campus that serves students in grades 9 through 12 opened in 1957. The campus is divided into three buildings: the 9th/10th grade building, 11th/12th grade building, and the main gymnasium with a pool and weight room.
The High School underwent renovation, High School students and (isolated) 6th graders attended David E. Williams Middle school, and the middle and elementary students were split among the three primary schools for the 2010-2011 school year. The new high school is asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
free and includes newly renovated classroooms, hallways, and a cafeteria. The 9/10 and 11/12 buildings are connected through a new lobby. The high school opened by the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year.
Academic achievement
The Montour School District was ranked 34th out of 105 Western Pennsylvania School Districts in 2009 by the Pittsburgh Business Times, a drop of three spots from the year prior. The ranking was based on three years of student academic performance on the PSSAPennsylvania System of School Assessment
The Pennsylvania System of School Assessment is a standardized test administered to public schools in the state of Pennsylvania. Students in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 11 are assessed in reading skills and mathematics. Students in grades 5, 8, and 11 are assessed in writing skills...
s in three subjects: math, reading, writing and one year of science. In 2008, the school district ranked 111th out of 498 districts state-wide.
Graduation Rate:
2010 - 58%
2009 - 98%
2008 - 98%
PSSA Results
11th Grade Mathematics
2009 - 69% proficient and above (55% state-wide)
2008 - 71% proficient and above (56% state-wide)
11th Grade Reading:
2009 - 81% proficient and above (65% state-wide)
2008 - 77% proficient and above (64% state-wide)
11th Grade Science:
2009 - 48% proficient and above (39% state-wide)
College remediation: According to a Pennsylvania Department of Education
Pennsylvania Department of Education
The Pennsylvania Department of Education is the executive department of the state charged with K-12 and adult educational budgeting, management and guidelines. As the state education agency, its activities are directed by Pennsylvania's Secretary of Education, Gerald L. Zahorchak...
study released in January 2009, 36% of the Montour High School 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
Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a large public university system in the United States. It is the tenth-largest university system in the United States and 43rd largest in the world...
or community colleges. Per the Pennsylvania Department of Education
Pennsylvania Department of Education
The Pennsylvania Department of Education is the executive department of the state charged with K-12 and adult educational budgeting, management and guidelines. As the state education agency, its activities are directed by Pennsylvania's Secretary of Education, Gerald L. Zahorchak...
, about one in three, or 33%, of recent high school graduates who attend Pennsylvania's public universities and community colleges takes at least one remedial course in math, reading or English.
Campus Renovations
In 2006, Montour School District officials announced a plan to remodel the buildings of the existing high school campus and preparation for construction officially began in January 2008. However, financial issues had brought the project to a temporary halt and parts of the building, including one of the tunnels, half of the 11/12 building including the library and the auditorium and band room in the 9/10 building were sealed off from student access, rendering them unusable since the 2007-08 school year.In 2007, the board approved approved the project at a cost of $49 million. However, in May 2008, months after preparation had begun, bids for construction came in somewhere from $5 million over budget. Conflict ensued between PJ Dick, the construction manager, and Graves & McLean, the architect. By early 2009, those two firms had been replaced by Burns & Scalo and Apostolou & Associates, respectively. On July 16, 2009 Apostolou & Associates held a presentation that revealed construction plans, that would, among other changes, connect the 9th/10th and 11th/12th grade buildings and include a new free-standing administration building. A memorandum released by Apostolou & Associates laid out a timeline that scheduled groundbreaking in May, 2010 and completion in September, 2011.
As the proposed January, 2010 groundbreaking date neared, however, school officials had received new information that essentially deemed it unsafe for students to be present during the renovation. As a result, acting Superintendent Dr. Boyer proposed closing the campus for the 2010-11 school year and completing the renovation in time for the 2011-2012 school year. Ultimately this plan was approved by the school board. Consequently, Montour High School was relocated to the grounds of David E. Williams Middle School for the 2010-11 school year. The scheduled 14-month renovation of the Hilltop campus began in June, 2010. The high school renovation was completed in September 2011 in time for the 2011-12 school year.
Thomas J. Birko Memorial Stadium, home of the football, soccer and track & field teams, was renovated during the Summer of 2009. FieldTurf
FieldTurf
FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by the FieldTurf Tarkett division of Tarkett Inc., based in Calhoun, Georgia, USA. In the late 1990s, the artificial surface changed the industry with a design intended to replicate real grass...
was installed to replace the natural grass field and a new surface was installed on the six-lane track. Also replaced were the partially-wooden bleachers and one-story press box; in their places are new aluminum bleachers and a new two-story press box. While the academic buildings were closed for the 2010-11 school year, Birko Stadium was available for use.
Project Lead the Way
Montour is one of the current schools at the forefront of Project Lead the Way, a technology curriculum combining both sciences and math to promote engineering principles and technology prior to college matriculation. Courses currently offered at the Hilltop include Introduction to Engineering and Design (considered the first module), Principles Of Engineering (second module), and Digital Electronics (third and final module.) With the campus renovation yielding a modern workspace with all the technological needs of the classes, the Technology Education department introduced more classes, including Civil Engineering & Architecture as well as Computer Integrated Manufacturing for students to divulge into more specific areas of engineering.Administration
- Principal: Mr. Todd Price
- Assistant Principals: Mr. William King and Mrs. Jennifer Kosanovic
Interscholastic sports
Montour High School is a member of the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League, a division of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League. The only school-sponsored sports that compete in another league are Ice Hockey (Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League), Boys & Girls Bowling (Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Bowling League) and Ultimate Frisbee (Pittsburgh High School Ultimate League).| Fall | Winter | Spring |
|---|---|---|
| Cross Country Cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road... (boys and girls) |
Basketball Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules... (boys and girls) |
Baseball Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond... |
| Soccer Football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball... (boys and girls) |
Golf Golf Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes.... (boys) |
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| Football High school football High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations.... |
Wrestling Scholastic wrestling Scholastic wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the high school and middle school levels in the United States. This wrestling style is essentially Collegiate wrestling with some slight modifications. It is currently... |
Tennis Tennis Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all... (boys) |
| Tennis Tennis Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all... (girls) |
Ice hockey Ice hockey Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take... |
Softball Softball Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand... |
| Volleyball Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive... (girls) |
Indoor Track and Field Athletics (track and field) Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking... (boys and girls) |
Volleyball Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive... (boys) |
| Gymnastics Gymnastics Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body... (girls) |
Outdoor Track and Field Athletics (track and field) Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking... (boys and girls) |
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| Bowling Bowling Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule... (boys and girls) |
Ultimate Frisbee (boys and girls) |
Notable alumni
- Tony FrattoTony FrattoSalvatore Antonio "Tony" Fratto was Deputy Assistant and Deputy Press Secretary to former United States President George W. Bush.-Career:...
- Former Deputy White House Press Secretary under President George W. Bush, - Sonni Abatta - Former KDKA-TVKDKA-TVKDKA-TV, channel 2, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. KDKA-TV broadcasts from a transmitter located in the Perry North neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and its studios are located in downtown Pittsburgh at Gateway Center....
morning news anchor and current evening news anchor for WOFLWOFLWOFL, channel 35, is the Fox owned-and-operated television station serving the Orlando, Florida metropolitan area. It is licensed to Orlando, with studios located in Lake Mary. It broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 22. On cable, WOFL-TV is currently seen on channel 3 for subscribers of... - Michael KeatonMichael KeatonMichael John Douglas , better known by the stage name Michael Keaton, is an American actor known for his early comedic roles, most notably his performance as the title character of Tim Burton's Beetlejuice . Keaton is also famous for his dramatic portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Tim Burton's...
- Actor - Ted KwalickTed KwalickThaddeus John Kwalick is a former American football tight end in the National Football League and World Football League. He played for the San Francisco 49ers from 1969-1974 and the Oakland Raiders from 1975-1977. In 1975 he also played with the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League...
- Professional and college football player - John HufnagelJohn HufnagelJohn Coleman Hufnagel is a Canadian football coach and former pro quarterback. He is currently the head coach of the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League...
- Professional and college football player and professional football coach