About Catalyst

At Catalyst we are dedicated to preparing our scholars to achieve their dreams. By closing achievement and opportunity gaps, our educational philosophy seeks mastery along three dimensions:college readiness, career readiness and life readiness. This week we are focusing on life readiness. Here’s a quick review of what all three mean to us:  College Readiness All scholars will be prepared to attend and graduate from a four-year college or university.  Catalyst scholars will be prepared by achieving mastery of a broad, rigorous college-preparatory curriculum that both prepares and inspires. Career Readiness All scholars need to be equipped with the skills to thrive [...]

Changing your child’s school can feel daunting. Sometimes it’s more daunting for parents than for the student. Here we’re focusing on the second grade and how truly seamless it can be. At Catalyst, we are ready to welcome your second grader to our founding second grade class.  Open for only K and 1st for the 2020-2021 school year, we are thrilled with our successes as a new public charter school. As our charter outlined, we will grow a grade each year until we are a K-8 public school. We prepare every one of our scholars to define and achieve their dreams. [...]

At Catalyst, play time is very important to us. We ensure our scholars get PE four days a week! Plus plenty of recess time and movement brain breaks. Why?  We’re very glad you asked.  Play creates a sense of adventure and nurtures imagination. Through play, children of all ages, learn valuable skills like working with others, sharing, problem-solving and more. In turn, play can also help our scholars develop their ability to concentrate. “Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.” [...]

Kindergarten is a special time for every child. It’s also an important decision for families and caregivers - which kindergarten to choose. Thank you for considering us in your search. At Catalyst, we love Kindergarten!  Catalyst is a tuition-free public charter school, the first new public school in over six years in Pittsburgh. We’re here to make and keep learning fun. We aim to prepare our scholars for a lifetime of curiosity, confidence and character-building. Our school is currently K-1 and will be a K-2 in the 2021-2022 school year, so we can focus on our youngest learners, and grow with [...]

Belong. Grow. Achieve. Our common values are the cornerstone of our educational efforts at Catalyst. While founding and opening our tuition-free charter school in a pandemic truly made for some unprecedented experiences, we could not be more proud of how far we have come -- together.  We are thrilled to share the results of our recent family survey. We feel it’s a litmus test of the intention and accountability we ascribe to  -- as partners --  with our much valued families as a whole, and to each special, individual, beloved scholar as a unique learner.  How did we do? We’re glad [...]

Oh 2020, let us count the ways you disrupt.  Our first graders, like students of all ages and stages around the world, have been impacted by the global health pandemic and coronavirus. The disruption to their previous school year and 2020 spring semester has caused expected learning slippage. Here are some ways we’re addressing first grade gaps: Informing our instructional practices with universal screeners given to all students at the beginning of the year and monitoring progress. Using daily exit ticket data to target instruction and small group interaction. Utilizing after-school time to play learning games with our scholars as they [...]

Elise Neill Founding STEM Teacher, North Pittsburgh Symphonic Band Oboe Player and Girl Scout Leader My hope is that our scholars will not be afraid to explore, discover, and sometimes make mistakes as they delve into the deeper mysteries of coding, science and engineering. I chose to teach at Catalyst because our scholars get to experience STEM in the classroom more than once a week. We explore different topics and test many engineering challenges. My desire to go into education started out in high school, but took a hiatus as I found a niche in computer programming. It was while volunteering [...]

Our education model at Catalyst is based on high expectations, academic rigor, quality teaching, strong relationships, innovation and personalization, and holistic development. We strive for this everyday we are together -- be it in-person or online. And as our scholars join our Catalyst school community they also join the online world, via our 1:1 devices and digital backpacks.  The internet is a magical place full of fun. Playful games, colorful characters and educational options abound. Plus being online provides numerous ways to keep in touch with family and friends.  But life online is also full of bullies, predators and scams. And [...]

Charter schools are public schools that excel where traditional public schools and private schools can’t. Catalyst Academy Charter School is the first new charter school in Pittsburgh in six years! We are in our founding year. It’s a very special time and we would love to share it with you and your child. Charter schools are public schools and are tuition-free Charter schools get funding from the state. A charter school's "charter" serves as a performance contract between the school and its state government. Catalyst public charter school must fulfill its mission and realize student success in order to satisfy the [...]

Every member of our Catalyst Academy Board is mission-aligned. They each have a background and history in education and equity. They’re extraordinary members of our community and they will help us to grow and thrive. Here is the superstar team we are proud to call our Board: Rachel Amankulor, President Ms. Amankulor is a long-time advocate for enabling greater high-quality educational opportunities for disadvantaged families. She is the former Director of PennCAN: The Pennsylvania Campaign for Achievement Now, a statewide advocacy organization working to enact common sense reforms to ensure that every Pennsylvania child has access to a high-quality [...]