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2030 Swallow Hill Road Pittsburgh, PA 15220 412.429.2201
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Building for the Future While Strengthening Student Achievement hartiers Valley
CHARTIERS VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS
Dear Chartiers Valley School District Community,
As we begin the 2026-2027 school year, I am glad to greet our students, families, teachers, staff, and community members.
The start of a school year is a time for fresh energy. It is also a good time to look at where we are and where we are headed. Chartiers Valley enters this year with real momentum. Our work is guided by one simple promise: give every student an excellent education, and be careful with the resources this community trusts us with.
We have a lot to be proud of.
Our Students Are Making Real Progress in Math
The best news starts where it matters most: student achievement.
Our 2025-2026 results show a clear turnaround in math. From 2018 through 2024, our math growth indicators were rated " Well Below." This year, that changed.
The Middle School led the way. Grade 6 advanced PSSA math proficiency rose 94.76 %. Overall advanced math performance at the Middle School rose 66.21 %. At the Intermediate School, Grade 4 advanced math performance rose 25.73 %, and Grade 5 rose 31.30 %.
We believe these results reflect real work by our teachers and administrators. They rebuilt curriculum modules. They added instructional time. They used better assessment tools to see what students know and where the gaps are. And they kept a growth mindset front and center with students.
One year is not the finish line. But it tells us the approach is working, and it gives us something to build on.
Our goal is bigger than test scores. We want students to leave here with the math knowledge, problem-solving skill, persistence, and confidence they will need in later coursework, in careers, and in life.
A Three-Year Future Ready Plan
This work is part of a larger vision: the Chartiers Valley School District 2026-2029 Future Ready Plan.
The plan sets our direction for the next three years. It focuses on raising student achievement and preparing every student for life after high school.
We start from a position of strength. Our graduation rates are strong, and many students take part in STEM. We also know we have gaps to close, especially for students with disabilities and English learners.
Our priorities are to use real student data to guide instruction, strengthen how we assess learning in STEM, match resources to demonstrated student needs, keep building core academics,
32 CHARTIERS VALLEY expand chances to innovate and solve problems, and prepare students for college, careers, and citizenship.
Being " future ready " is not about handing students more technology. It means they can think clearly, communicate well, work with others, solve problems, adapt to change, and use what they learn.
That is the future we are preparing them for.
STEM and Robotics for Every Student
This fall we are launching a Primary and Intermediate robotics team, continuing our Middle School program, which reached the state championship last year, and starting a Unified Robotics team where students with and without disabilities compete side by side. Our high school now offers a full-year competition robotics course. And we are preparing to host our own robotics tournament in the spring.
Running through all of it is one practice: the engineering notebook. We want students to do more than build a robot. We want them to document their thinking, explain their reasoning, and show how their work changed when it failed. That is what engineers actually do, and it is what we mean by authentic learning.
A $ 40,000 grant from the Grable Foundation, awarded this spring, is supporting this work, including how we bring artificial intelligence into it responsibly. Our goal is simple: STEM should not be reserved for a select group of students.
Our Finances Make This Work Possible
None of this happens without a stable budget.
On June 26, 2026, S & P Global Ratings revised the District ' s outlook from negative to stable. It also affirmed our " A +" long-term and underlying rating on the District ' s general obligation debt.
That is meaningful outside validation. S & P expects our reserves to stay in line with similar districts. It also expects District leadership to keep finding ways to balance the budget structurally. The agency recognized recent structural decisions we have made to reduce ongoing costs.
Being responsible with money is not just about balancing one year against the next. It is about making careful, sometimes hard choices that protect the District ' s long-term health while protecting what happens in classrooms.
The A + affirmation tells us we are moving in the right direction. We will keep making financial decisions with discipline, transparency, and a long view.
New Student Cell Phone Procedures for 2026- 2027
Students learn best when they are focused, engaged, and present.