Quaker+Valley+School+District

Quaker Valley School District is located along the Ohio River 12 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Residents have easy access to major highways and Pittsburgh International Airport. Our community is diverse, including various ethnic, racial and socioeconomic populations. Our stable population includes third and fourth generation Quaker Valley families, as well as those who have come to us not only from other states, but also from other countries. We embrace this diversity as an opportunity for cultural understanding and exchange. As a result, our schools mirror the cohesive, small-town atmosphere of the community they serve. We are a small district with a reputation for quality. School and class sizes allow for a personal approach to instruction. Quaker Valley recognizes that it takes a cumulative experience of excellence to produce students who will be internationally competitive. To that end, an innovative curriculum challenges all students to excel as independent thinkers and learners, and gives each the support and incentive to do so successfully. We are honored to have had all four of our schools selected for National Blue Ribbon Awards of Excellence.

In 2010, three Quaker Valley teachers were named semi-finalists and one a finalist for Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year.

Typically 90% of our seniors take the SAT. Recent results place Quaker Valley High School in the top 4% of the 641 high schools in the state. Quaker Valley’s composite score is the sixth highest among the 42 suburban districts.

Historically 90% of graduating seniors go on to higher education.

All elementary and middle school students are engaged in the study of fine arts. 76% of Quaker Valley High School students continue to study and participate in some form of fine arts ~ the graphic and visual arts as well as the choral, orchestral, instrumental and theatrical arts – all through a variety of coursework and co-curricular enrichment.

In 2001, as the winner of a statewide competition, Quaker Valley was designated a Pennsylvania Digital School District. It was a part of a pioneering multi-million dollar initiative by the Pennsylvania Department of Education to create a model of education that illustrates how the information revolution can be harnessed to create a digital education revolution. Today, computers and technology are used as tools to enhance and facilitate learning and assessment. In addition to providing computer instruction and at least one computer lab in each building, every high school student is issued a laptop as a freshman for use at school and home for their four years at QVHS; middle school students are assigned a laptop for use while at school; and computer carts equipped with laptops are available to elementary teachers so that each child has access to a laptop during a class period if needed to support the lesson or curriculum unit. uaker Valley School District brings older adults together with the younger generation through the Generations Together Program. This program was developed at the University of Pittsburgh under the direction of Dr. Sally Newman. It has been in existence at Quaker Valley since 1994, under the supervision of teacher Polly Will. Quaker Valley currently has volunteers working with children at Osborne and Edgeworth Elementary Schools. Typically these older adults spend three hours each week working with small groups of children under the supervision of a classroom teacher. They might help with spelling words, listen to children read or play a learning game. Many of our volunteers have been here for at least five years and are an integral part of our learning experience.

For more information concerning this school district I've included their website for you to explore [|Quaker Valley School District Webpage]

This pretty much sums up a description of the school I am student teaching at. QV has both student teachers and student interns, they are known for only hiring teachers who have a masters degree or are working towards their masters. The teachers are all very young and most of them have either just completed their master degrees or are in the middle of the degree itself.

My first placement was in the first grade. This was especially challenging to me, since I have taught in preschool before, but never first grade. This was a new experience and at time very nerve racking for me. While in the classroom, my cooperating teacher and I had difficulty, I was constantly compared to the previous student teacher and was criticized for just about every lesson I did or prepared. Over all, I found this experience to teach me a few things. First, that I can teach any grade, but I prefer the younger children. Second, that I am not a traditional sit at your desk and let me talk teacher, I am more of the hands on let's figure out what we can create teacher. But, I do have a couple of my favorite lessons that I taught. The first is the lesson I did on the Underground Railroad. I was untraditional and did many different creative activities with the kids, which included making maps, designing quilt squares, reading books, writing stories, and sharing our stories. The kids loved it! They enjoyed it and was disappointed on Monday when we couldn't do a similar routine. The second lesson I taught was actually a math lesson on the fact triangles. I have had a lot of difficulty with math experiences because math isn't my strongest point and it came through. But this lesson I found easy to teach and the children loved it. Normally, for math we would do large group, small group, large group, small group. But on this particular day, I did one big large group and presented the triangle in three different ways, for the last 20 minutes of math time, we then played math games, which reinforced other lessons previously taught. I found that these particular children responded much better to hands on activities and not so much do it yourself, read by yourself, do your workbooks, type of activities. Though I do understand that these are important for first graders, I believe that there needs to be a balance and maybe change up the routine once in a while. I have taken these experiences and feel that they will make me a better preschool teacher.

My second placement is in a Pre-K Counts program in the same school district. Though it is only my 2nd week, I love everything about it. My cooperating teacher is wonderful, the children are wonderful, and I feel this is my niche, where I belong.