2016-2017
f ox c hapel a rea s chool d istrict s tate of the s chools
Fox Chapel Area
School District
Was One of Just
19 New Districts
Accepted Into the
National League
of Innovative
Schools.
Since joining the League last fall, Dr. Freeman and Deputy Superintendent David
McCommons, Ed.D., met with the 87 school districts from 33 states, representing
3.5 million students, in order to advance positive change in education. According to Dr.
Freeman, “As we field calls from colleagues around the nation, we are able to positively
impact learning and make a difference nationally. We are simply better together.”
The district is collaborating with two League-member schools in reimagining the creation
of media centers, partnering with a tech start-up to evaluate computational thinking
in first grade, and partnering with the RAND Corporation on a National Science
Foundation Grant in the area of digital fabrication and Fab Labs. Partnerships have
been created among regional schools as well as schools in Virginia, British Columbia,
California, and Georgia. According to Dr. Freeman, the district is grateful to Digital
Promise, the League of Innovative Schools leadership, and local pioneers in innovation.
Students Organize
Local Hackathon
For the first time in the Pittsburgh area
– and among one of the first in the state
and nation – three Fox Chapel Area High
School students organized a high school
hackathon, FCHacks. In March 2017,
more than 185 students in grades 8-12
from 28 schools gathered at the high
school to discover, first-hand, how exciting
computer science and engineering can be.
The teams of students conceptualized an
idea and then used hardware and software
to take their idea and turn it into reality
using computer science and engineering
skills. Projects at a hackathon are built
from scratch and can include apps, drones,
games, robots, and more. Mentors from
schools, universities, and tech companies
around the region were on hand to help
the students with their projects and the
title sponsor was Eaton.
•Middle school sixth grader Elijah Conklin
was named a semifinalist and qualified for
the 2017 Pennsylvania Geographic State
Bee where he won third place.
•A total of 13 high school and middle
school students won first place awards
at the 83 rd Annual State Meeting of the
Pennsylv ania Junior Academy of Science
(PJAS).
•Sophomores Courtney Kennedy and Ryan
Setzenfand were chosen to attend the
Pennsylvania HOBY Leadership Seminar
in June.
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