Where is PEPP?

PEPP-McKeesport

The Penn State Educational Partnership Program (PEPP) at McKeesport is located on the Penn State Greater Allegheny Campus and partners primarily with the McKeesport Area School District which are both located approximately 14 miles east of Pittsburgh. As well, PEPP-McKeesport occassionally interacts with other schools throughout Allegheny County including Pittsburgh Public Schools. The Penn State Greater Allegheny Campus enrolls approximately 800 students, most of whom commute to the University campus. The McKeesport Area School District could be identified as an “urban/suburban” community setting with educational responsibility for approximately 4,300 students.

Since its implementation, PEPP McKeesport has served to initiate most of the programmatic models used throughout the Partnership including: PEPP Academy, PEPP Institute, Middle School Academic Bowl, PEPP Camp, PEPP Spelling Bee Competitons, the Mirror Program, and PEPP Lesson Plan Presentation Programs, to name a few. Today, PEPP locations include:

Cornell Intermediate School - (Grades 4 - 6)

McClure Intermediate School - (Grades 4 - 6)

Founder's Hall - (Grades 7 - 8)

McKeesport Area High School - (Grades 9 - 12)

PEPP-Reading

A primary focus of the five PEPP-Reading school sites is to provide Reading School District students with the opportunity to interact with Penn State Berks Campus students in supervised study groups that provide assistance with homework completion and development of positive work ethics (academic and personal). Career awareness and educational opportunities are stressed through field trips, summer residential programming, academic competitions, and guest speakers.

Located 57 miles northwest of Philadelphia, the Reading School District enrolls over 15,000 students in its small urban setting with a majority Hispanic population. PEPP operations began in Reading with a primary focus on professional development for classroom teachers. The extended-school-day models, PEPP Academy and PEPP Institute, were introduced and implemented during the 1990-91 school year. Today, PEPP-Reading locations include the following schools and serves approximately 200 students in grades 7 through 12:

Northeast Middle School - (Grades 7 - 8)

Northwest Middle School - (Grades 7 - 8)

Southern Middle School - (Grades 7 - 8)

Southwest Middle School - (Grades 7 - 8)

Reading High School - (Grades 9 - 12)

PEPP-Philadelphia

The College has established the Penn State College of Education Partnership with the Philadelphia School District as part of an intensive urban student-teaching initiative. The After-School Study Program (ASAP), educational exploratory/experiential field trips, and parent programming serve as an integral part of the PEPP-Philadelphia effort at the Isaac Sheppard Elementary School in North Philadelphia.

At present, PEPP-Philadelphia activities are being overseen by the Assistant Dean of Multicultural Programs, Maria Schmidt. For additional information relating to programming offered by PEPP-Philadelphia, contact her office (Office of Multicultural Programs) at (814) 865-0904.