PA Cyber Cuts Ribbon at New Greensburg Office

GREENSBURG, Pa., Nov. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Families in southwestern Pennsylvania who may be interested in cyber charter education are invited to attend a ribbon-cutting and open house at the newest office of the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, located at 351 Harvey Ave, Greensburg, PA, 15601.

The public is invited the tour the facility and meet the staff on Thursday, Nov. 17, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned at the beginning of the evening, with State Sen. Kim Ward (R-39) and State Rep. Tim Kreiger (R-57) or their representatives officiating, along with officers from the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce.

"Families really appreciate the expanded in-person services and learning opportunities PA Cyber makes available to them through the offices we locate in their communities," said Dr. Nick Trombetta, the school's CEO and founder. Dr. Trombetta plans to attend the event.

The Greensburg office may be reached through the PA Cyber toll-free phone number, 1.888.722.9237 (1.888.PACYBER ), extension 1394. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Families can have their enrollment questions answered in person, and students can be enrolled at the site by appointment, according to James Cassell, Greensburg office coordinator. PA Cyber requires a face-to-face enrollment interview. It does not enroll students by phone or over the Internet.

The Greensburg office is one of several PA Cyber offices around the state to be a site for Building Blocks, the school's innovative supplemental education program for young learners. Currently there are 14 PA Cyber students attending the age 4 kindergarten Building Blocks program at the Greensburg site, where they receive supplemental classroom experience in math, reading, science, social studies, art and music, all under the supervision of a state-certificated elementary education teacher. Building Blocks classes are offered daily, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The Greensburg office also is a Bricks-and-Clicks Learning Center on Mondays and Wednesdays. Bricks-and-Clicks provides a safe and enjoyable learning environment for PA Cyber students in grades 5-12. Supervised by a certificated teacher, Bricks-and-Clicks is designed for students who can benefit from additional structure, guidance, goal-setting, remediation, tutoring or test preparation. Cassell said about a dozen students participate in Bricks-and-Clicks.

Arts, music and theater classes, all part of the PA Cyber ArtReach program, are provided four days a week at the Greensburg office.

Parents pay no fees or tuition for their children who are enrolled PA Cyber students to participate in Building Blocks, Bricks-and-Clicks, ArtReach or other supplemental programs. Additional services and activities are offered at the Greensburg location on an occasional basis, including field trips, Family Link social outings, tutoring, special education parent conferences and student orientation.

Full-time daily staff at the office includes office staff Laurie Richards; age 4 kindergarten teacher Angela Lowmaster; teacher aide Samantha Gilarski; and office coordinator James Cassell.

Other new PA Cyber regional offices recently have been opened in East Liberty (Pittsburgh), Northside (Pittsburgh), and State College. PA Cyber is headquartered in Midland, Pa., west of Pittsburgh. It has larger offices, called Support Centers, in Wexford (Pittsburgh area), Harrisburg and Philadelphia, with expanded staffs and additional on-site services.

ABOUT PA CYBER: The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School was founded in 2000 as Pennsylvania's first statewide K-12 cyber charter school. It is Pennsylvania's largest and most successful cyber charter school, with an enrollment of 11,000 students from every corner of the commonwealth. Recognized as a national innovator and leader in online education, PA Cyber holds "Made AYP" status, having met all AYP targets for the past three years. PA Cyber recently received full K-12 accreditation from Middle States, the premier accrediting agency for schools and universities. It is the only public cyber charter school in the nation to apply for and go through the K-12 Middle States accreditation process.

Contact Fred Miller, 724.777.5918, [email protected]

SOURCE PA Cyber Charter School