Tussey Mountain, Pennsylvania Schools Receive Keystone Awards

On January 30, 2006, Dr. Michael Dillon, Executive Director of the Appalachia Intermediate Unit 8, visited the Tussey Mountain School District as a representative of both IU 8 and the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The purpose of Dr. Dillon’s visit was to present all four schools within the Tussey Mountain School District with the Keystone Achievement Award. Each of the four schools within the district has proudly met the NCLB adequate yearly progress requirements for two consecutive years based on student performance in the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA).

The Keystone Achievement Award goes to schools across the state where students have exceeded the math and reading standards required by the state’s accountability system and the federal No Child Left Behind Act for two straight years. This is the second year that the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Pennsylvania Association of Federal Program Coordinators have partnered to create the Keystone Achievement Award, which is funded by the PA Association of Federal Programs Coordinators. 

MRSH has been working with the three elementary schools—all feeder schools for Tussey Mountain’s Junior/Senior High School—since August 2003. Defiance Elementary, Robertsdale Elementary, and Liberty Saxton Elementary all work collaboratively with MRSH preparing students for the upper grades. “We are very pleased with the quality of our staff development activities, and especially the expertise of the trainers from Modern Red,” states Dr. Ronald McCahan, Superintendent for Tussey Mountain School District. “Our staff truly believe that we have ownership of the reform initiative that we have implemented.”

March 2006