1 week Ago By Jen Garofalo
Like many other districts in the area, Uniontown Area School District launched its cyber school in 2024 with live instruction. In the past, if a student was in need of a remote or cyber educational experience, the school district paid the tuition for an outside program. To combat the large payments, Uniontown chose to create their own.
“What sets ours apart for K-6 is the dedicated teachers to the cyber education. For grades 7-12, we’ve integrated it into our regular teachers’ schedules,” said Curriculum Coordinator, Mindy Harris. “Students at home follow the schedule just like they would in person but they log on to the course remotely.
” Teachers prepare course work for remote and in-person students and in the event a student returns to in-person school, they are able to adjust and maintain their coursework without any loss in instruction. “There’re a lot of reasons students need cyber. They may be having trouble in the traditional school setting.
Sometimes it’s temporary, and they can come in and out because they’re all on the same schedule,” Harris said. “We’re trying to stop the bleed with the funds leaving the school district, and so we’re hoping parents choose our cyber option.” Uniontown Area School District also took the leap into online testing last year.
In the spring of 2026, the state will move to online testing assessments. USAD administrators decided to take advantage of the online trial testing to prepare for the official launch. “We chose to take the plunge to get our teachers, students and tech department ready for online testing,” Harris said.
“The principals worked really hard to check and make sure everything is up and running. We’ve done the online tutorials and trained teachers who have in turn, taught students. The first round went better than expected.
” In addition, they’re embracing artificial intelligence (AI). “This is a powerful tool. We can use it as a time saving tool.
Some local school districts use it to help make their master schedule. We trained a small group of teachers last year and have plans to train all of our teachers in the future,” Harris said. Lesson plans can be utilized through AI programs.
For example, a teacher can request a third-grade lesson on multiplication that uses hands-on activities, and it pulls up several options. Harris said AI can be used in behavioral plans too. “We can request a behavior plan for a student with this diagnosis who likes race cars and it’ll give you search options and tailored specifically for the student,” Harris said.
“Obviously, we don’t want anyone using ChatGPT to create their essay. We’re able to limit those kind of things on the school iPad’s. It’s something we have to edit and make it appropriate for the student.
” In a world where technology is continuing to increase, Harris hopes to embrace it and use it to their advantage when possible. “It’s something available to us and we need to use it responsibly and to the best of our ability,” Harris said..
