For the Cribbs family, school is a top priority in their home. For them, home is where the classroom is. “One of my favorite things about cyber school,” commented Tim Cribbs. “I would say is you can sleep in!” 11-year-old Tim and his nine-year-old brother Trenton are cyber school students, both attending Commonwealth Connections Academy. [...] More »
Eleanor Lohry, 18, already has the dress and the shoes, but the West Shore School District is not allowing the cyber student to attend Cedar Cliff High School’s prom. The Lemoyne teenager attended Cedar Cliff High School her Freshman year, but after several medical issues caused her to fall behind in classes, her family decided [...] More »
The board of Pittsburgh Public Schools approved renewing the charter of the Environmental Charter School at Frick Park for five years beginning July 1, 2013. The school, which opened in 2008 in the former Regent Square School, has expanded to include the former Park Place School. The grades served also have increased to K-7, with [...] More »
On Earth Day, Spectrum Charter School was awarded a PA Department of Environmental Protection Education Grant by Governor Corbett. These funds will be used to teach students about watersheds and related fields in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We will be purchasing rain barrels, seeds, gardening tools, mini greenhouses, and water conservation books. Also, in [...] More »
I’ve been at Pennsylvania Virtual Charter Schools since kindergarten, and now I’m in ninth grade. My school is considered a public cyber charter school, which is different than homeschooling. In this letter, I’m going to state why I love this school, explain the difference between homeschooling and public charter schools, and why public cyber charter [...] More »
Hattie Henderson, a 2012 Achievement House Cyber Charter School graduate, attended a House education hearing to advocate for cyber schools. “I felt like I was able to put a face on what cyber school was like for some students,” said Henderson, who graduated as valedictorian from Achievement House. “Cyber school…made a huge impact on my life [...] More »
By Jeffrey Piccola Cyber charter schools are meeting unique needs in public education—needs defined by 38,000 parents who view cyber schooling as the best, and sometimes only, alternative for their children. Parents, better than anyone, know when they see failure and know when they see hope. Cyber charter schools provide that hope, save taxpayers money, [...] More »
Public school districts try to provide new opportunities through varied curricular choices and enhanced programs. But a different model exists charter schools. “The future looks bright,” Dr. Doug Allen, chief educational officer of Tidioute Community Charter School said of both TCCS and the charter movement, generally. “TCCS will prosper because it serves a community as [...] More »
PCPCS issued the following response to State Rep. James Roebuck’s report on charter and cyber charter schools that was clearly drafted in the interests of maintaining the status quo and destroying real choice for parents. Representative Roebuck acknowledges that the study focuses on only a very few charter schools and very specific situations. Furthermore, the report [...] More »
After the 2011-2012 results for the Pennsylvania System of School Assessments (PSSA) scores were released, the contrast between traditional district schools and charter schools is striking. A higher percentage of charter schools achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) statewide. In Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the percentages of charter schools that made AYP were much greater than the traditional district schools in those cities. More »
Fourth-grader Karson Hair of Mechanicsburg, who came with an army of students from Commonwealth Connections Academy, also was ready with a reason why it was important to keep the charter school movement thriving."For some kids, the right school is public school and that's right for them but you can't just throw every child into a public school and think they are going to be successful because some kids need better education and cybercharter schools are going to give them that education," Karson said. More »
The following is a letter from Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools Executive Director, Robert Fayfich, in response to the article “State Charter, Public Schools Not Always Bound to Same Rules” that ran in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette on Sunday, August 12, 2012. More »
The following is a published letter to the Pittsburgh Tribune from the PCPCS Executive Director, Bob Fayfich, on the common Misconceptions of Charter Schools in Pennsylvania. More »
The December 2 issue of the Morning Call contained an article on a “report” announced to have been released on November 25 in which 26 school superintendents from Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton and Pike counties blasted charter schools. We have read the original document, the press release, and the story and have found there are [...] More »
by Ed Mahon, Centre Daily Times Elizabeth Eirmann knew middle school could be a challenge for her son. She figured that if Samuel fell behind then, it would be hard for him to catch up later. And she didn’t want him to get lost in a crowd. “I take education seriously for my kids,” she said. [...] More »