ADMINISTRATION BUILDING
835 OLD CLAIRTON ROAD
JEFFERSON HILLS, PA 15025
PHONE 412.655.8450
FAX 412.655.9544
www.wjhsd.net
Dr. Michael Ghilani
West Jefferson Hills
School District Superintendent
A
s the summer months come to a close and
another school year is suddenly upon us, I can
hardly contain my excitement for all of the great
things we have going on throughout the district.
After reflecting on my first full year as superintendent
of schools, I realized that while we have accomplished
many things as a district, we still have several items left
to complete in our three-year plan. The summer months
were extremely busy facilitating a number of projects that
will prove to be major upgrades and enhancements in
the district; however, we must first roll them out, and, as
with anything new there will be a learning curve. We are
doing everything we can to improve and update outdated
systems and processes, while making changes to our K-12
educational programs that we believe will catapult the
district into being one of the best districts in the state of
Pennsylvania. Now that we have a structure in place for K-12
that meets our vision, we can now begin to invest and build
capacity in our teachers, which I believe are the greatest and
most important asset impacting our students. With so many
things going on concurrently, some of these transitions may
not follow the typical timelines that we’ve had in the past
and may take some time to fully implement, so please keep
that in mind as we progress throughout the school year.
Here are a few notable and exciting changes that are
taking place this school year:
• PowerSchool has been replaced with Skyward as our
Student Information System (SIS) and parent portal.
Skyward is both user-friendly and feature rich while
seamlessly integrating with other district products.
• The 1:1 technology initiative has expanded to all students
in grades 1-12. Kindergarten will be 1:2. Every student
will be assigned a device, and students in grades 5-12
will be bringing their devices home. All of our teachers
will be utilizing G Suite and Google Classroom as tools
to help personalize the learning process for each and
every child. By the beginning of the 2019-2020 school
year, every administrator, teacher, and paraprofessional
will be Google Level 1 Certified. We will also continue
vetting apps and programs which support our goal of
personalized learning and student growth. Students in
grades K-2 will be using iPads, and students in grades
3-12 will be using Chromebooks as their device. Students
and parents will be expected to sign an Acceptable Use
Policy, and all devices will be filtered. Every student will
also be taught the Common Sense Media Curriculum
K-12 to promote responsible and safe use of digital
tools. These devices will be a major tool in our learning
40 WEST JEFFERSON HILLS
environment moving forward.
Students will be responsible for
their devices just as they are their books. Parents will
have the option of purchasing insurance for twenty-five
dollars ($25) which covers one accidental breakage or
replacement.
• The addition of a Life Skills program for K-12 to better
serve and prepare our students for success. In addition,
we are exploring business partnerships to provide
real-world experience and possibly lead to full time
employment after graduation.
• A completely revised code of conduct at the high school
level that includes restorative practices in addition
to punitive consequences. The code of conduct will
be published and transparent to ensure equity and
consistency in how it is enforced with all students.
• The implementation of e-hallpass, a digital hall pass
utilized by student devices, at the high school. e-hallpass
increases accountability, provides analytics on pass
usage, and also adds an increased layer of safety and
security.
• A Full-day Kindergarten program that provides the
additional time to personalize the learning experience to
meet every child’s individual needs. We have also added
a mindfulness component to the Kindergarten program
to begin to teach our students the power of mindfulness
strategies.
• The introduction of INCubatoredu, the new
Entrepreneurship class at Thomas Jefferson High
School. This program offers students an authentic
entrepreneurship experience. In the year long course,
students have the opportunity to create and fully
develop their own product or service. Real entrepreneurs
and business experts serve as volunteer coaches and
mentors guiding student teams through the processes of
developing hypotheses about a business concept, testing
those hypotheses, adapting, and continually learning and
improving.
• The Integration of a flexible block schedule with
small-group instruction for students in K-5 with
departmentalized teaching.
• The addition of Eureka Math, a new K-5 Math curriculum.
• The implementation of Second Step, a social and
emotional learning curriculum and growth benchmark
for students in K-8. Every student will receive one
lesson a week on topics such as empathy, positive