Less Than a Month Before It's Back to School for USC Students

So, it seemed like yesterday that the school year ended and the kids started enjoying their summer.

Not to put a damper on anything, but Upper St. Clair students will be back in the classroom in less than a month.

Along with checking for sales on pens, pencils and iPads prior to that magic date of Monday, Aug. 27, you might want to keep this school-related information in mind:

Student Transportation Survey

In case you haven't looked closely at that nice little bill you received from the school district, the tax rate has increased for 2012-13.

The reasons are myriad – in other words, pick your poison – but district officials say they're attempting to minimize the damage to your wallet. Here's a statement issued by Dr. Patrick O’Toole, district superintendent:

"All areas of our budget have been under review in order to streamline operations and ultimately reduce costs. With your assistance, we believe that there are opportunities to streamline operations and reduce costs in student transportation.

And so the district seeks input from parents who do not plan for their children to use buses in the morning, midday (for kindergarten students only) and/or afternoon to use the following link to place relevant information into the transportation planning system, by Tuesday, Aug. 1:

http://www.uscsd.k12.pa.us//cms/module/selectsurvey/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=260

Jonn Mansfield, director of transportation, will use the information for scheduling purposes and will not schedule bus stops for children who are identified on this survey. If parents need to make changes to the information prior to the start of school or during the year, call Mansfield at 412-833-1600, ext. 3451, or contact him at jmansfield@uscsd.k12.pa.us.

School Calendar

If you like to plan ahead – or at least, give it the old college try – the district has its 2012-13 calendar prepared, as approved by the school board in May. You can download it by clicking here.

The district notes that the calendars posted on its variou buildings' websites are being developed through an online process and represent works in progress. All events that are currently posted are proposed activities and will not be official until approved by the superintendent's office prior to Aug. 15.

Technology Fundraiser

Speaking of calendars, here's something to mark: The district's second annual Celebrate Our Schools Gala will be held on Oct. 20 at St. Clair Country Club.

Sponsored by the Community Foundation of Upper St. Clair, the event benefits technology in Upper St. Clair School District.

The 1988 and 1989 WPIAL championship football teams will be honored during the program. 

Football

Speaking of the gridiron, football camp begins Aug. 13, and the season kicks off – hey, how else can you put it? – when the Woodland Hills Wolverines visit USC on Aug. 31.

The Panthers are coming off another stellar season, making it all the way to the WPIAL Class AAAA championship game. The opponent on that Saturday in November at Heinz Field was North Allegheny, which had handed USC its only regular-season loss, a 28-21 heartbreaker.

Unfortunately, the title tilt turned into a case of deja vu, with the Tigers beating the Panthers by the exact same score.

In the meantime, head coach Jim Render will forge further ahead as one of Pennsylvania's winningest coaches. He goes into 2012 with 355 career victories, third on the state's all-time list.