Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy (sometimes referred to as SciTech) is a
public school in the
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...
neighborhood of
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylv ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Mary ...
, United States. It currently serves grades 6-12 in the
Pittsburgh Public Schools
Pittsburgh Public Schools is the public school district serving the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (except for two small parts served by the Baldwin-Whitehall School District) and adjacent Mount Oliver. As of the 2021–2022 school year, the ...
. SciTech's first graduating class of seniors was 2013. Its building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
on Sept. 30, 1986.
History
Originally the building served as the home for the Henry Clay Frick Training School for Teachers, founded by
Henry Clay Frick
Henry Clay Frick (December 19, 1849 – December 2, 1919) was an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, and played a major ...
in 1927, which served a training school for teachers. In 1983 it became a
middle school
A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...
housed at Dilworth School in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of
East Liberty.
Pittsburgh Frick 6–8 Middle School moved to the building in 1986 and was temporarily located at Reizenstein which in 2012 was renamed the
Barack Obama Academy of International Studies 6-8. and has since been demolished. The Barack Obama Academy of International Studies 6-12 is now located in the former
Peabody High School building in East Liberty. In June 2009, staff working on The Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy received possession of the Frick International Studies Academy building. SciTech officially opened to students in September 2009 after a pilot project by graduate students at
Carnegie Mellon
Carnegie may refer to:
People
*Carnegie (surname), including a list of people with the name
* Clan Carnegie, a lowland Scottish clan
Institutions Named for Andrew Carnegie
* Carnegie Building (Troy, New York), on the campus of Rensselaer Polyt ...
Heinz College
The Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, often called Heinz College, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a private graduate college that consists of one of the nation's top-ranked public policy schools— ...
.
Operating schedule
Pittsburgh SciTech offers a
block-schedule of classes; this structure allows students 80-minute classes.
Field trips to local attractions in the
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...
area are plentiful and make use of local libraries, museums, universities, and seasonal attractions. Additionally, students are given 42 minutes a day to entertain themselves in a list of activities which are not school related, this is called Activity Period. This practice was suspended for the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year due to COVID-19, but was later reinstated.
Concentrations
Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy offers four fields of science for students to focus on. These fields, named "Concentrations", are split into the following categories:
* Computers and connections
* Body and behavior
* Form and function
* Environment and energy
These sub-categories cover a wide range of careers and offer early experience in classes they would not study otherwise. Students pick their concentration at the end of their Ninth-grade year. The pickings are chosen in a weighted lottery, biased on grades, behavior, and attendance.
Computers and connections
The Computers and Connections concentration focuses on teaching students computational thinking, breaking hard problems up into easier steps.
Body and behavior
In the body and behavior concentration, students focus on aspects of health and science. Students are given accelerated teaching about different professions and health careers.
Form and function
Form and Function focuses on engineering and the various aspects of it.
Environment and energy
Environment and Energy instructs students about Environment and Energy in the form of firsthand activities in Panther Hollow creek and elsewhere and learning about the aspects of each.
Enrollment
As of 2022:
References
External links
Pittsburgh Public Schools
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pittsburgh Science And Technology
High schools in Pittsburgh
Magnet schools in Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmarks
School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania
School buildings completed in 1927
National Register of Historic Places in Pittsburgh
2009 establishments in Pennsylvania