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Upper St. Clair School District

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History of USC

Fort Couch School was dedicated on November 7, 1951, construction having begun several years earlier. The cost was estimated at $650,000 and accommodated 650 students in grades kindergarten through ninth and had the first cafeteria in Upper St. Clair. The following year, a $325,000 addition was added. In 1957, 10th grade was added, followed by 11th grade in 1958.

Eisenhower School, named for Dwight D. Eisenhower, opened in September 1959. The construction cost was $710,000. Grades kindergarten through five were moved from Fort Couch school to the new school. The next year, an addition was added, costing $160,000, and the sixth grade was moved from Fort Couch School to this school.

In June 1960, Fort Couch had its first and only high school graduation. Seventy-four seniors were the first to graduate from Upper St. Clair High School, held at Fort Couch School. In 1969, Fort Couch was modernized at a cost of $1,750,000 and opened in 1970. The student capacity was 900. In 1985, Fort Couch became a seventh and eighth grade middle school. The current Upper St. Clair High School building opened in 1962.

Carl R. Streams Elementary School opened in September 1966. The cost was $1,225,000. The school was named for Dr. Carl R. Streams, Supervising Principal in the district 1956-1963.

Albert F. Baker Elementary School was opened in 1969 at a cost of $1,650,000. The school district and the township, in a joint venture, purchased land on Morton Road from the State of Pennsylvania for $1. The school was named for Albert Baker who was employed by the Upper St. Clair School District for twenty-nine years in various capacities.

Boyce Middle School was built at a cost of $2,700,000 and opened in 1969. In 1985, it was converted from a sixth through eighth grade school to a fifth and sixth grade school. An article was published about the research that went into the Upper St. Clair decision to group fifth and sixth graders together - "The Forgotten Fifth: Not Forgotten, Just Often Misplaced."
 


History of Upper St. Clair Township

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Upper St. Clair Township traces its origins to the mid-18th century when the first known settler, a Scotsman named John Fife, arrived from Virginia. In 1788, the township was formed and named in honor of General Arthur St. Clair, who came from Scotland in 1755. During the Revolutionary War, St. Clair rose in rank to become the only Pennsylvanian promoted to the rank of Major General in the Continental Army. At the end of the war, Major General St. Clair entered the Continental Congress and served as its president in 1787.

In the 18th century, the parcel of land extending southward from the Monongahela River, named after St. Clair, became one of the seven townships formed in the new Allegheny County. About 50 years later, it was divided into Lower St. Clair and Upper St. Clair. The part known as Lower St. Clair, bordering the river, was absorbed into Pittsburgh. Upper St. Clair, in the south hills of Allegheny County, was left to grow slowly for more than 100 years.

In the middle of the 20th century, the township was rediscovered. The post-war demand for housing swept into the berry patches, the pastures, the woods, and the small farms. Plans were laid out and houses built, red-dog roads were widened and paved, and utilities were extended. (Source: John Kotzuk - USC Today Magazine)

Located approximately 12 miles south of Pittsburgh, Upper St. Clair still reflects characteristics described in a 1913 brochure in which a real estate developer promised "interurban refinement and social eminence...a community where children, atmospheric purity, rustic beauty and ennobling sentiment may mingle." (Source:Neighborhood Snap-Shot)