Exemplifying this progress, Superintendent Dr. Brian Uplinger has been nominated for Pennsylvania Superintendent of the Year, an honor that reflects his dedication and the district’s commitment to excellence. A YEAR OF UNPRECEDENTED GROWTH The Hazleton Area School District (HASD) has recently seen the completion of several major projects. Among these is the newly opened Hazleton Area Academy, which offers both early intervention and Pre-K programming, along with life skills education for older students. Additionally, the Hazleton Area Arts and Humanities Academy has been moved from the high school to its own stand-alone location. “That is right next to our Hazleton Area Academy of Sciences, or STEM school,” Dr. Uplinger depicts. “We’re able to share instructors and programming between two buildings so students get a taste of both, which creates our STEAM program between both of those buildings.” The Cyber Academy, an innovative learning opportunity that has over 700 online students, has also been added, uniquely located within a local mall. Assistant Superintendent, Robert Mehalick elaborates, “We knew that we didn’t have two to three years to meet the demands of these students, otherwise, they might choose an out-of-district cyber program. That’s something we did not want to risk, knowing that we’d rather educate them, with our teachers providing live instruction for every content and special area.That’s what the students are getting all day long.” This space is also home to an eSports program and a storefront that will be operated by special needs students, further enhancing life skills. “It’s unprecedented for a school district to open three spaces like that in one year,” boasts Dr. Uplinger. “It typically takes a couple of years for any district to do anything like that.” EMBRACING TECHNOLOGY AND ENHANCING OPPORTUNITIES As a one-to-one district, each student receives a Chromebook for use both in school and at home, and classrooms are being upgraded with Clear 249 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 05, ISSUE 09 HAZLETON AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT
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