Tech school applications soaring
Posted: Friday, December 16, 2011 12:31 pm | Updated: 7:55 pm, Fri Dec 16, 2011.
Business has rarely been better at the Bucks County Technical High School in Bristol Township.
The full-time comprehensive school, which offers academic and vocational instruction, has so far received 667 applications from students who want to enroll as freshmen for the 2012-13 school year, said Kevin Gentilcore, supervisor of pupil services.
That's 182 more than last year at this time and the highest total in six years, he added.
Gentilcore said several factors are at play at BCTHS, which draws students from the Bensalem, Bristol, Bristol Township, Morrisville, Neshaminy and Pennsbury school districts.
"My personal opinion is that word is getting out that BCTHS is an outstanding school that provides students with the best of both worlds," said Gentilcore. "They can prepare for the world of work and a post-secondary education at the same time.
"The economy is certainly playing a role," he continued. "Students and their parents alike are thinking that, wouldn't it make sense to prepare for a trade while also getting your high school diploma from the same place. Many of our students are learning a trade and then using it to pay their way through college."
The 667 applications amount to 167 more than the 500-student cap for incoming freshmen for the next school year, said Gentilcore.
To decide who gets in, the school holds an annual lottery that determines the order in which applications are reviewed. This year's lottery was held Thursday morning in the school's auditorium.
Every student who submitted an application was assigned a number. The numbers were laid out on the auditorium floor to make sure none were missing, Gentilcore explained.
Then, the numbers for each school district were placed one by one in a box, shaken up and picked out number by number by Samuel Lee, the Bristol Township School District superintendent and also the superintendent of record at BCTHS.
District Judge Robert Wagner, who oversaw the entire process, picked out Bristol Township numbers to avoid any conflict of interest, Gentilcore said.
He said four of the six districts -- Bensalem, Bristol, Bristol Township and Morrisville -- have more applications than their assigned slots for next school year. Neshaminy and Pennsbury are under their quotas, said Gentilcore.
That means applicants from Neshaminy and Pennsbury are assured of getting in, provided they meet the technical school's admission standards, he explained. The standards are based on a rather complicated formula that factors in grades, attendance, disciplinary record and other items from the seventh grade and as much of the eighth grade record as possible, said Gentilcore. Applicants also write an essay on why they want to attend BCTHS, he added.
Applications from school districts that are under their quotas still go through the lottery to keep the entire process uniform and in case more applications are received from those districts later in the year, Gentilcore said.
"This lottery has become quite an event at the school," he said. "We even videotape it to maintain the integrity and in case anything should ever be questioned."
Applications that have gone through the lottery will be reviewed in January and early February and letters on admission decisions will go out to students the week of Feb. 22, Gentilcore said.
However, applications from all districts will still be accepted throughout this school year and will be considered in case students who are already accepted to BCTHS change their minds, Gentilcore said.
Total enrollment at BCTHS is currently 1,401.
"It is pretty amazing the number of applications we have received for next year," said Leon Poeske, BCTHS administrative director. "I anticipate us having around 700 applications before the summer begins.
"We have always believed BCTHS offers a great product and value to the community and our staff made a concerted effort this past year to reach out to the middle schools," he continued. "The teachers and staff, along with our student ambassadors, did a tremendous job of developing and organizing the middle school visits to explain what our school is all about. In addition, I believe the community values what we offer, the opportunity to prepare students to be college- and career-ready."
10 comments:
I hope that Morrisville's new school board will change the "directive" given to the administration by the old school board. Per the superintendent the prior school board directed the administration to accept only those applicants who were chosen in the lottery and met the minimum requirements of the Tech school for acceptance. If a student's number was picked in the lottery but that student did not meet the minimun requirements and was not accepted, another number was not allowed to be picked to fill the open spot.
In other words Morrisville's full allotment of seats were not filled despite the fact that there was a huge number of disappointed applicants wanting to get into the Tech School.
Very unfair and STUPID policy of the prior School Boared to cutoff the number of kids attending (in a very secretive way)so that the district pays less to the Tech School. NOt how it is suppose to work at all. And by the way, Morrisville still pays about 20% of the cost of those unused seats to the Tech school (I guess for the full 4 the full four year period but not sure) so I don't really see the savings in paying 20% for nothing.
This was all brouht to light at a recent Superintendent advisory meeting by parents who had been asking the questions for a while about the process and checking the process out with the Tech school as well, so they could fully understand what they were being told by the Morrisville powers that be.
It was finally answered by the Super at the first meeting after the new board was elected. I wonder if that would have ever been admitted if the old School Board was still seated. Just goes to show you the prior board member's disregard for being truthful to the public and the negative affects to innocent, powerless students.
I hope it changes for the better now.
I hope that Morrisville's new school board will change the "directive" given to the administration by the old school board. Per the superintendent the prior school board directed the administration to accept only those applicants who were chosen in the lottery and met the minimum requirements of the Tech school for acceptance. If a student's number was picked in the lottery but that student did not meet the minimun requirements and was not accepted, another number was not allowed to be picked to fill the open spot.
In other words Morrisville's full allotment of seats were not filled despite the fact that there was a huge number of disappointed applicants wanting to get into the Tech School.
Very unfair and STUPID policy of the prior School Boared to cutoff the number of kids attending (in a very secretive way)so that the district pays less to the Tech School. NOt how it is suppose to work at all. And by the way, Morrisville still pays about 20% of the cost of those unused seats to the Tech school (I guess for the full 4 the full four year period but not sure) so I don't really see the savings in paying 20% for nothing.
This was all brouht to light at a recent Superintendent advisory meeting by parents who had been asking the questions for a while about the process and checking the process out with the Tech school as well, so they could fully understand what they were being told by the Morrisville powers that be.
It was finally answered by the Super at the first meeting after the new board was elected. I wonder if that would have ever been admitted if the old School Board was still seated. Just goes to show you the prior board member's disregard for being truthful to the public and the negative affects to innocent, powerless students.
I hope it changes for the better now.
You can say that again. And I'll second it.
Seems like you thirded it Jon
LOL! I have the same last name as a certain Texas Governor who has trouble getting to 3!
then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out.
Three is a magic number,
Yes it is, it's a magic number.
Somewhere in the ancient, mystic trinity
You get three as a magic number.
The past and the present and the future.
Faith and Hope and Charity,
The heart and the brain and the body
Give you three as a magic number.
It takes three legs to make a tri-pod
Or to make a table stand.
It takes three wheels to make a ve-hicle
Called a tricycle.
Every triangle has three corners,
Every triangle has three sides,
No more, no less.
You don't have to guess.
When it's three you can see
It's a magic number.
A man and a woman had a little baby,
Yes, they did.
They had three in the family,
And that's a magic number.
3-6-9, 12-15-18, 21-24-27, 30.
3-6-9, 12-15-18, 21-24-27, 30. *
Multiply backwards from three times ten:
Three time ten is (30), three times nine is (27),
Three times eight is (24), three times seven is (21),
Three times six is (18), three times five is (15),
Three times four is twelve,
And three times three is nine, and three times two is six,
And three times one is three of course.
Now take the pattern once more:
Three! . . .3-6-9
Twelve! . . .12-15-18
Twenty-one!. . .21-24-27. . .30
Now multiply from 10 backwards:
Three time ten is (30 - Keep going), three times nine is (27),
Three times eight is (24), three times seven is (21),
Three times six is (18), three times five is (15),
Three times four is twelve,
And three times three is nine, and three times two is six,
And three times one...
What is it?!
Three!
Yeah, That's a magic number.
A man and a woman had a little baby.
Yes, they did.
They had three in the family.
That's a magic number.
The Board + Administration needs to stop this policy of playing Educational Whac-a-Mole over the Tech School.
WOW,
If this article is acurate & what Anonymous says twice is true, the students in Morrisville school district, which also includes Holy Trinity, have not been getting a fair chance at entry to the Tech school.
If anything, Morrisville & the other sending districts should be looking into EXPANDING the Tech school so that ALL students who meet the 'minimum' requirements can attend!
The current Tech school rep, Jack Buckman needs to replaced ASAP, as it's obvious all he's interested in is the pending law suit & keeping the same solicitor in place.
The Tech school rep should be working for the students of Morrisville, not against them!
Koutsouradis to head technical school board
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Posted: Wednesday, December 21, 2011 12:00 am | Updated: 6:42 am, Wed Dec 21, 2011.
By Chris English Staff Writer | 0 comments
Neshaminy school board member Kim Koutsouradis was elected president of the Bucks County Technical High School joint school board committee at Tuesday night’s meeting.
The school in Bristol Township is governed by the joint committee made up of school board members from the districts that send students to BCTHS. The districts are Bensalem, Bristol Borough, Bristol Township, Morrisville, Neshaminy and Pennsbury.
John Doyle of Bristol was elected first vice president of the joint committee and Gary Sanderson of Pennsbury the second vice president.
In other news from Tuesday’s meeting, BCTHS Administrative Director Leon Poeske announced that the allocation the school will be getting this school year from the federal Carl D. Perkins grant has dropped from $385,440 to $381,794.
The grant is the single biggest source of federal money for vocational and technical schools across the country, Poeske said. It’s named for the late U.S. congressman from Kentucky who was a well-known advocate for education.
At BCTHS, the grant is used to hire part-time and full-time teaching assistants, who work one-on-one with students who need extra help, Poeske said.
The technical school got $423,198 from the Perkins grant in 2010-11, so this school year’s allocation represents a 3 percent drop, he said. It means BCTHS will have only 18 facilitators as compared to the 24 who worked at the school in 2010-11, Poeske added.
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