Back to school: Here are start dates for Erie County districts, and school-year calendars

Erie Times-News
·5 min read

The countdown is on — both for the end of summer vacation and the beginning of the 2022-23 school year.

Here's when classes begin in public, parochial, private and charter schools in Erie County.

Public schools

Parochial and private schools

Charter schools

Local agencies giving away free school supplies

School supplies are a lifeline for children to begin the school year right.
School supplies are a lifeline for children to begin the school year right.

Local agencies and businesses are stepping up to alleviate the cost of school supplies and more.Here's what you need to know about back-to-school giveaway events in the Erie region over the coming days:

Back-to-school giveaways:Local agencies giving away free back-to-school supplies to Erie-area students

Craig Heidelberg, a member of the Blue Coats safety initiative, leads a walking school bus with Edison Elementary School students on the first day of school in Erie last fall.
Craig Heidelberg, a member of the Blue Coats safety initiative, leads a walking school bus with Edison Elementary School students on the first day of school in Erie last fall.

Erie-area schools, colleges will look much like they did before COVID-19 pandemic

Erie-area schools and colleges will look much like they did in February 2020 when classes start this month.

Students, teachers and staff are no longer required to wear face masks, except in nurse's offices, and desks don't have to be spaced at least three feet apart. The plastic dividers and temperature scanners that schools used in 2020 and 2021 have likely been placed in storage.

In many ways, it's like the COVID-19 pandemic is over — even though Erie County health officials have said the virus continues to spread through the community.

Back to normal?:Erie-area schools, colleges will look much like they did before COVID-19 pandemic

'As safe as it has ever been': Here are security upgrades at Erie High following shooting

In its 66-year history, the building for Erie High School has never had as many safety measures.

The April 5 shooting at the school — an unprecedented event for the building — spurred the improvements that will greet students when they start classes on Aug. 29. Some of the changes, including metal detectors, were introduced in the spring, after the shooting.

Upgrades also occurred at Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy and the Erie School District's three middle schools and its alternative-learning center. Sweeping improvements to the security measures at the district's 10 elementary schools are on their way, district officials said.

Securing schools:'As safe as it has ever been': Here are security upgrades at Erie High following shooting

Erie-area schools are works in progress as renovations, construction continue

First-phase renovations at Erie High School are nearing completion as a four-story addition is rising at Fairview High School.

A multiyear, multi-million-dollar renovation is underway at McDowell Intermediate High School. Another is about to begin at Corry Area Middle-High School.

They're just some of the construction and renovation projects underway as local schools prepare for the start of classes.

Work zone:Erie-area schools are works in progress as renovations, construction continue

Some Erie County school districts anticipate looking for teachers 'up until the last minute'

Many Erie County school districts have an optimistic outlook about hiring full-time teachers and substitutes for the upcoming school year. But challenges remain as a national teacher shortage continues.

Last school year, the Erie School District lost nearly 100 full-time teachers to resignations and retirements, said Natalie Fatica, director of human resources for the district. The school year before, they only saw around 40 teachers leave.

It's been a busy teacher hiring season for Erie-area school districts, but many are feeling confident they'll fill their classrooms this school year.

Teacher shortage:Some Erie County school districts anticipate looking for teachers 'up until the last minute'

'We know we're ready': Cathedral Prep president talks priorities in wake of consolidation

Kevin Smith, the new president of the Villa Maria Cathedral Preparatory Catholic School System, which oversees the newly-consolidated Cathedral Preparatory School, has likened the coming days to a 5-kilometer race.

"I feel like I'm standing at the starting line," he told the Erie Times-News. "We've done the hard work. We know we're ready. We know it's going to go well. But until that gun goes off and you're in it, there's always that nervous anticipation for what's to come."

The nerves are understandable.

Smith, 58, a Cleveland-area native who most recently led the pre-K-8 Monte Cassino School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is now leading a school system in the wake of consolidation.

Read the full interview.

School merger:'We know we're ready': Cathedral Prep president talks priorities in wake of consolidation

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County school district start dates and calendars