PHOTO PROVIDED First graders at Liberty-Curtin Elementary School are pictured on the 100th day of school celebrating 100 days of laughter, friendship and amazing discoveries.

MILL HALL — The Keystone Central School District continues its focus on creating lifelong learners out of its students throughout the entirety of their time within the district.

This focus has seen a variety of new and different approaches, including the expansion of its Career and Technical Education.

“The CTE program is continually finding ways to grow and develop to help find students what they’re passionate about,” KCSD Superintendent Dr. Francis Redmon said.

That growth and passion extends past just the educational aspect and into financial assistance as well.

Through its CTE school and dual enrollment programs, students have saved over $2 million while they advanced their post-secondary education — all before graduating high school.

PHOTO PROVIDED Level II/III Health Assisting CTC students practice the use of the hoyer lift.

Redmon stressed this value is something that also assists parents who may otherwise be unable to financially help their child move into a secondary education.

In January, Kurt Lynch, director of the district’s Career and Technical Education Center, and Nick Verrelli, principal at Central Mountain High School, provided the KCSD Board of Directors an update on both the center and other programs it’s offered students in the district.

The district has an agreement with Pennsylvania College of Technology to expand course offerings for students in CTE.

On the academic side, Lynch said the district offers courses for English, web design, chemistry and math.

On the CTE side, they offer courses for health auxiliary, two machining courses, four drafting courses and two construction trades courses.

PHOTO PROVIDED Pictured are CMHS students who competed in District Chorus. Five of which are advancing to Regionals including Sarah Long (Soprano 1), Kathryn Farrall (Soprano 2), McKenna Gray (Alto 1), Chloe Corbin (Tenor 1) and Connor Kleckner (Tenor 2).

In the 2023-2024 school year, 196 students were enrolled in one or more of these courses with 909 credits earned towards a post-secondary education, Lynch said.

With a reduced rate for tuition per course, students saved $552,672.

At the time, Lynch touched on the Diversified Occupations and Co-Op programs the district offers students.

He explained a co-op involves a student that is already involved in a career and technical field that goes out to work at a local business.

Prior to 2020, the district had two community partners for the program. That number increased to 110 as of 2024.

PHOTO PROVIDED A Mill Hall Elementary School second grader reviews different types of writing during CKLA skills lessons.

Verrelli spoke about the dual enrollment programs made possible through partnerships with Commonwealth University-Lock Haven and Lackawanna College.

At CU-LH, Verrelli said the partnership has “grown immensely” since it began in 2021. The program offers students a reduced rate per credit, costing about a fifth to a quarter of what it normally would.

The program has grown since, Verrelli said, with 108 students enrolled in the 2020-2021 school year to 248 students in the 2023-2024 school year. The cost savings last year for students and their families was $250,480.

Verrelli and Lynch provided the following numbers gathered over the last four years of the various programs offered:

— 560 students participated in Penn College courses.

— 689 students participated in dual enrollment between CU-Lock Haven and Lackawanna

— Students earned 4,633 credits

— Through these reduced rates, students saved $2,226,501

Redmon told The Express the district is continuously looking to expand the current programming in the CTE Center.

“We’re looking into a biotech course to tie into the academic side of things,” he said. “We’re always looking for more opportunities for students to grow.”

In terms of other projects, Redmon said the on-going Liberty Curtin Elementary School construction project is well on track. Students are expected to move into the new building — located on the same property as the current building — by this fall.

Redmon said construction should be completed by June 5, with demolition of the old building slated to take place before the start of the 2025-2026 school year.

“Once demolition is done we’ll begin groundwork and work for parking,” he said.

An open house will be held for the building to give students and parents the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the facility before school begins.

Open houses are something, Redmon said, that will be implemented at all buildings throughout the district in 2025-2026.

He noted these were a normal occurrence prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the elementary school level, Redmon said a focus has been put on its language arts curriculum.

“We’ve started to use the Science of Reading as a way to teach students how to read and write,” Redmon said.

The Science of Reading, he explained, is based on neurological research and helps students not only learn the pronunciation of letters and words, but how to comprehend the meaning behind each to create a sentence.

Utilizing this curriculum was first introduced as a pilot program before being implemented across the district’s elementary schools in the 2024-2025 school year.

“Based on assessments from our first semester, in general we’re seeing an increase in reading comprehension,” Redmon said.

The current curriculum is able to be utilized throughout grade school, with the ability to be implemented up to grade eight.

On a middle school level, both at Central Mountain and Bucktail, Redmon said the focus is on creating a positive school culture.

“Our Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) program has really hit its stride since it began,” Redmon said. He noted the program was first implemented before his arrival in the district.

However, he’s heard a lot of positive feedback about the program.

“I’ve gotten reports from different staff and administrators that the school feels like a better environment,” he said.

That positive feedback doesn’t stop at the PBIS programs in CMMS and Bucktail Middle/High, it also includes Central Mountain High School.

Redmon said CMHS Assistant Principal Jeff Williamson has focused on ensuring ninth grade students integrate into the high school environment as seamlessly as possible and create a positive energy amongst the students and staff.

On the academic side of things, Redmon said the focus on the middle school level has shifted from English Language Arts (ELA) to the sciences.

The administration is currently reviewing potential programs to implement with the goal to improve students’ comprehension of sciences.

Returning to the high school levels, the district recently implemented a student government initiative at both CMHS, CMMS and Bucktail.

“We’re trying to find ways to have students get involved and have a voice in decisions,” Redmon said.

Students from each developed bylaws and elected representatives to their governmental bodies, with each group providing a presentation to the school board at its work sessions each month.

During these presentations, the board hears updates on projects, events and more taking place at each building and fields questions or concerns raised by students.

Looking ahead, Redmon said the district is gearing up to begin the process of reviewing its Comprehensive Plan. He explained the plan was put into place a few years ago and, at the mid-way point, the district does a check-in to ensure it’s meeting the goals set in the plan.

“We’ll be meeting with various stakeholders — parents, teachers, students — and getting feedback,” he said.

The goal, Redmon said, is to review the plan and see what steps should be taken to, or items implemented for next year, to keep the plan moving forward.

The district is also in the early stages of preparing its 2025-2026 budget. The board heard a preliminary presentation from Business Manager Joni MacIntyre in February.

A preliminary budget will be presented to the board in April, a final proposed budget presented in May and a final vote set for the school board’s meeting in June.

Keystone Central School District

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86 Administration Drive,

Mill Hall, PA 17751

570-893-4900 / www.kcsd.us