Dear Families of Shadyside Presbyterian Church Nursery
School
Navigating the Kindergarten options in the City of
Pittsburgh can be quite confusing! Here is a list of some of the more popular
school options in the area. Hopefully you will find it to be a good starting
point for your search (please note that this document only addresses elementary
school options).
The JCC of Pittsburgh normally hosts a Kindergarten
Information Night which is visited by many of the schools listed below. Contact
Kelly Gable-LaBelle (412-521-8011 x209
or klabelle@jccpgh.org) for information on when that takes place.
Pittsburgh Public
Schools
There are several different school options available through
the Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS).
·
Neighborhood
Schools: Every residence in the City of Pittsburgh feeds into a certain
school. You can find out what school that is by visiting the PPS Street Directory (http://discoverpps.org/) or calling the
Parent Hotline (412-622-7920). (It should be noted that if you are not happy
with the Neighborhood School option, there are several schools in the area that
sometimes have a few spaces open under “Open Enrollment.” The Parent Hotline
should have more information on this process and whether you might qualify. It
should be noted that even if you think you feed into a certain school, you
should check the Street Directory as this list has changes every school year.
·
Magnet
Schools: PPS has several magnet school options available; each one
specializes in either a language (ex: Spanish, German, Mandarin Chinese) or a
specialty (ex: Arts & Humanities). Families can apply to up to three magnet
schools and admittance is conducted using a lottery system. There is usually a
Magnet Information School Fair in the fall, where you can visit with staff from
the different schools. More information on the Magnet Schools is available here (http://www.pps.k12.pa.us/magnet).
Some of the more popular options include
Dilworth (Arts & Humanities), Liberty (Spanish), Linden (German/Mandarin
Chinese) and Pittsburgh Montessori.
·
Charter
Schools: There are several charter school options within the PPS
district. These schools operate a little differently, in that they are
chartered by the PPS, but they EACH conduct their own application
process/lottery (please note that these schools are also tuition-free).
o
The Environmental Charter
School at Frick Park (certainly the most popular!) (http://www.environmentalcharterschool.org/)
Another informative resource about the City’s public school
options is available through A+ Schools, who publish a report each year
regarding various statistics, including school test scores. You can visit their
website here (http://www.aplusschools.org/).
Parochial Schools
Some of the more popular religious schools in the area
include:
Many of these schools have waiting lists, so it is important
to submit your child’s application in a timely fashion.
Private Schools
There are a number of private school options available in
the city. These include:
·
Falk School
(http://www.falkschool.pitt.edu/ ) (laboratory school of the University of
Pittsburgh)
·
Winchester-Thurston
(http://www.winchesterthurston.org/)
Waldorf School of Pittsburgh (http://waldorfpittsburgh.org/)
Waldorf School of Pittsburgh (http://waldorfpittsburgh.org/)
Do you have any additions/corrections to this list? If so,
please email Sara Berg at sberg@shadysideschool.org.
