On Thursday, October 15 The Campus School of Carlow University hosted The Bridge Educational Foundation and CSX Transportation, Malady & Wooten and RBC Capital Markets for a scholarship check presentation to the families of Pittsburgh.

Thank you to the Bridge Foundation, and Malady & Wooten, for the EITC Scholarship funds awarded to The Campus School! We were thrilled to also welcome distinguished guests: Senator Jay Costa, Representative Jake Wheatley, Mayor Bill Peduto, and Dr. Suzanne Mellon. Thank you all for joining us on this special day for the Campus School!

Scholarship funds are made possible through Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) Programs. To learn more about participating in these programs visit our Tax Credit page.

If you did not have to opportunity to see the ‘Classroom of the Future’ story in the spring 2015 issue of Pittsburgh Quarterly, please take a moment and click here to read about the progressive programming at our school.

It is through support of the Annual Fund that technology and programs such as these exist at The Campus School. And for that we, the faculty, staff and students thank you.

With the 2014-2015 school year behind us, I am pleased to announce that $72,756 was given to The Campus School Annual Fund by current parents, faculty and staff, alumni, and friends of the school. I want to thank you for your support and I would like to take the opportunity to reflect on some of the exciting accomplishments funded by your Annual Fund donations.

In 2013 the Annual Fund was established to augment the general operating budget and support the ever-changing needs of our students, classrooms, and faculty. Support for the fund has grown from $18,919 to $47,570 to $72,756 annually. This progress would not have been possible without the commitment, hard work and personal investment from so many.

Your hard work really paid off!  As a result of the consistent growth of the Annual Fund, The Campus School was able to welcome a dedicated fundraising staff person in March. The Director of The Campus School Annual Fund will manage all Annual Fund activities. This is a huge milestone in our fundraising efforts and will help to align The Campus School’s fundraising with other schools in the region.

Also this past spring, The Campus School was featured in an article titled ‘Classroom of the Future’ in Pittsburgh Quarterly. The classroom highlighted in the article was made possible in part through Annual Fund donations, and illustrates to the entire community the high-quality and progressive education that The Campus School provides our students.

In June, the Annual Fund made it possible for our entire faculty to complete a four-day Responsive Classroom workshop. As dedicated educators, we are always striving to provide the best learning experience for the students. This recognized, research-based approach to education is associated with greater teacher effectiveness, higher student achievement, and improved school climate, while emphasizing the importance of social-emotional learning.

And currently, the school’s website is receiving a needed, and requested, makeover. Annual Fund dollars have been invested to develop an updated, user friendly and visually-appealing website for our school that will launch this fall.

In closing, thank you. These accomplishments, and so many others, are possible because of your contributions to the Annual Fund. With your ongoing support we can continue to enhance The Campus School programming and facilities for our students and faculty.

To see a full list of 2014-2015 Annual Fund donors, visit the Annual Fund website www.campusschoolfund.org.

If you have any questions about the Annual Fund you may contact Megan Frenz, Director of The Campus School Annual Fund, at 412-578-8844 or mefrenz@carlow.edu.

Thank you for all that you do for the students and our school.

With warmest regards,

Michelle A. Peduto

Executive Director and Head of School

I was hired over 18 years ago by Sister Mary Paul.  It is hard to believe that so much time has passed.  Now she loves to come to my classroom and introduce me as either the best decision she ever made or the worst.  I can’t thank her enough for hiring me that August day so long ago. Therefore, I find it important to work hard, improve myself, and pay it forward.

“I can’t thank her enough for hiring me that August day so long ago. Therefore, I find it important to work hard, improve myself, and pay it forward.”

— Sarah Posti

I have seen many changes take place within our school but one thing rings true for all of us and that would be the importance of professional development. It provides ideal opportunities for teachers to share experiences, increase knowledge, discover new ways of doing things, network and inspire one another.

As enthusiastic teachers of The Campus School of Carlow University we all enjoy continued classroom success. This is the result of sustained, collaborative, as well educator-directed opportunities for professional development programs. Research shows that the best professional development is ongoing, experiential, collaborative, as well as connected to and derived from working with our students.

In November Brandi Cottrell, LuAnn Lagnese, Christy Bonomo and I had the chance to attend a conference in Harrisburg with the 95% Group. The 95% Group and their Response to Intervention provides highly effective school-wide systematic approaches to intervention. It is more than just a scripted program. The 95% group has shifted the instructional practices of teachers by increasing their professional knowledge of early literacy and how students learn to read. We participated in the implementation of RtII practices, the identification of the four types of reading behaviors, assessments to pinpoint student skill deficits, and the planning of small group interventions which will ultimately increase student fluency and comprehension. We practiced strategies to help students use morphemes to uncover the meaning of unknown multisyllabic words. We learned how to introduce the layers of language demonstrating how words are constructed within those different layers of language. The goal is to help students learn the meaning of most common affixes, Latin roots and Greek combining forms. Support is provided to students as they practice and apply what they have learned about word part meanings using manipulatives and mats. Students are actively engaged through entertaining games. We are very pleased that the 95% group will be doing a two day professional development in June for all Language Arts teachers at the Campus School.

The conference we attended ties in nicely with Cafe/Daily5. Christy and I participated in webinars for each in early November. CAFE is an acronym for Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding Vocabulary. This framework includes goal-setting with students in individual conferences, developing small group instruction based on clusters of students with similar goals, and targeting whole-class instruction based on emerging student needs and fine tuning one on one conferring. The Daily5 component is a model that helps students develop the daily habits of reading, writing, and working independently which will lead to a lifetime of literacy independence. In mid April Brandi Cottrell, LuAnn Lagnese, Brandi Bonomo and I will be attending the Cafe/Daily5 two day conference in Washington, D.C. which will enable us to help and support others at the Campus School with their implementation of these strategies.

“We are engaging ourselves as the learners, acquiring the knowledge of these new strategies, implementing those strategies in the classroom, with the strong desire to grow as professionals in our field.”

We are engaging ourselves as the learners,acquiring the knowledge of these new strategies, implementing those strategies in the classroom, with the strong desire to grow as professionals in our field. It is our goal to learn about how to do our job even better, and make a difference in the lives of every child that walks through the Campus School doors.

The cost for these 4 teachers to participate in these professional development programs was $3592. These funds came directly out of the Annual Fund thanks to parent participation.

For those of you who do not know me, I am one of the kindergarten teachers at the Campus School. On June 23 – 26th I had the opportunity to attend a four day Responsive Classroom Institute in Kennett Square, PA, near Philadelphia.  Our instructor not only shared a wealth of information, but she modeled the Responsive Classroom approach to both instruction and building a positive classroom community.

Responsive Classroom is a research- and evidence-based approach to elementary education that is associated with greater teacher effectiveness, higher student achievement, and improved school climate. It has been recognized by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) as one of the most well-designed, evidence-based social and emotional learning programs.

The Responsive Classroom goal is for teachers to become a more effective by learning research-based strategies that lead to:

• Engaging academic instruction
• Better classroom management
• Positive learning communities

This interactive, highly practical course gives training to classroom teachers and special area teachers everything needed to start using core Responsive Classroom teaching practices.

It was a wonderful experience, and I want to express my gratitude to you for giving me this opportunity through your generous donations to the annual fund.

“ I am looking forward to using the many ideas and strategies that I learned when school resumes.”

You can learn more about the Responsive Classroom at www.responsiveclassroom.org

Thanks again for your support of the Campus School.