But Mr. McDonald, the district's superintendent, quickly became concerned as more and more students told him they did not have plans following graduation.
"It was kind of like a gut punch," Mr. McDonald said Friday. "It was like OK, we're not doing a good job."
The district — which serves 1,435 students from Port Vue, Liberty, Glassport and Lincoln, 57 percent of whom are economically disadvantaged — typically sees 45 percent of graduates go directly into the workforce. Knowing that, Mr. McDonald realized the district needs to further invest in those students by preparing them for high paying careers that can be started right out of high school.
The district this year debuted new cybersecurity and aviation programs, which prepare students for competency tests that if passed will allow them to become certified while in high school, preparing them to immediately enter the workforce after graduation.
"Our kids deserve it," Mr. McDonald said. "Our whole goal is to give them opportunities that when they walk and they go through our stadium and they graduate we're going to set them up for life. And I think that's what education's about."
On Friday, the second day of school for the district, seventh grade students excitedly made their way down to the cybersecurity classroom, a former fitness center that today is filled with computers and gaming chairs. Classroom space will soon be added to the room, which is tucked behind the gymnasium and a workout room in the combined middle and high school.
The cybersecurity program — which works with CompTIA Apprenticeships for Tech, an organization that helps connect employers with job-ready tech learners — is currently available in the middle school as an introductory course.
It will grow alongside students as they move through their school careers. Eventually, it will be available as a required class for middle schoolers and an elective for high school students through 12th grade.
South Allegheny is now the second public school in the country to partner with CompTIA to allow students to become certified after completing the program.
River Valley School District in Indiana County was the first school to implement and create curriculum for the cybersecurity academy. The district is now partnering with South Allegheny to guide them as they introduce the program. South Allegheny also received a $250,000 grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation to purchase necessary items for the academy.
Both programs come as there is a global shortage of 3.4 million cybersecurity professionals, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
"There are so many openings and it doesn't require as much education as you would think," Jesse MacPherson, the district's cybersecurity teacher, said. "You don't need a college degree to do it. A lot of our kids could do this sort of thing when they graduate."
District officials are also hoping to host night classes to allow adults in the community to become certified in cybersecurity.
On the second floor of the school, the aviation classroom quickly filled up with high schoolers Friday morning, eager for their chance to try one of three flight simulators placed in the back of the room.
The program was started by high school math teacher Tim Rishel who after the pandemic earned his pilot's license. At the time, Mr. Rishel realized that the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association provided high school a curriculum for free that helps teach students about a career in aviation.
After receiving approval from the superintendent, Mr. Rishel spent three days being trained on the curriculum. He also received a Moonshot grant from Remake Learning, funds from which were used to purchase the $9,000 simulators.
"This program can expose these students to a lot of opportunities that they may not have known that they have and because we're teaching this curriculum they'll be eligible for different types of scholarships and hopefully we can get a few students into actual flight training," Mr. Rishel said.
Like the cybersecurity academy, aviation classes will expand as students move through their high school careers. The goal is to eventually expand it to include pilot training as well as classes on airplane mechanics.
For Mr. McDonald, the start of both programs is a big step toward providing necessary skills and opportunities to students. He noted that the district is "living day-by-day from a fiscal responsibility area," so without work put in by district staff and the help of grant funding "we wouldn't be able to provide it."
And that dedication, Mr. McDonald said, is "where the passion comes from within our district."
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