School for dyslexic students to replace North Catholic location
Photo by Nicole Moga
Founded in 1939, North Catholic High School closed it’s doors in June 2014 due to a drop in enrollment. The school moved to a new location in Cranberry and modified the name to Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School.
By Alyse Horn
By the end of June, the old North Catholic High School in Troy Hill will begin its transformation in becoming Provident Charter School — the first school in the city “dedicated to serving the needs of students with dyslexia and other language-based learning differences,” according to a press release.
The school will be open for the 2016-2017 school year, and pre-enrollment applications are being accepted now until June 15 for students entering 3rd and 4th grade.
There will be two 3rd grade classes and two 4th grade classes with 24 students in each and four teachers to each class, totaling 96 students and 48 in each grade level. The school will continue to “add one additional grade level per year to include students between the 2nd and 8th grades by the 2021-2022 academic year,” according to the press release.
Provident Charter School Principal and CEO Brett T. Marcoux said when the sale closes in June, renovations on the building can begin.
Marcoux has spent a large portion of his career dedicated toward teaching students with dyslexia, and said the reading disorder tends to fly under parent’s radar during the earlier stages of a child’s development.
“Twenty-five percent of the population has a language based learning disability, and most go diagnosed,” Marcoux said.
Some signs of dyslexia include: trouble following a sequence of directions, difficulty rhyming, blending sounds and words, and struggling to read and spell words.
From noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 5, Marcoux will be at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s 2016 Summer Reading Extravaganza, 4400 Forbes Ave. Marcoux encouraged those who are thinking about enrolling their children to come and meet him.
“We want to help parents understand who we are and what we do,” Marcoux said.
If parents want to begin the pre-enrollment process or would like to learn more, they can contact Director of Enrollment Karen Hanchett at khanchett@providentcharterschool.org or by calling (412) 636-2014.
According to the press release, the “enrollment process will be open to all students in the Pittsburgh region on a space-as-available, first-come, first-serve basis.”
