School COUNSELing services
STAFF
Ashley Vojtecky
School Counseling Secretary/Central Registrar
Phone: 412-771-3213, ext. 4100
Email: avojtecky@srsd.k12.pa.us
Counseling Resources
Pressley Ridge works with students and their families to improve their emotional, mental, and academic well-being.
LINK: Pressley Ridge Website
Sto-Rox School District Community Resource Guide
Updated for August 2024, take a look at the district’s community resource guide. It includes a comprehensive listing of resources for students and their families, both inside and outside of the district.
Program Types Listed
• Basic Needs
• Community & Family Services
• Mentoring & After School
• Mental Health
Download: Sto-Rox SD Community Resource Guide (PDF)
Resource “Cheat Sheets”
Take a look at these downloadable “cheat sheets” which show the different mentoring and mental health programs offered at Sto-Rox schools. If you’re looking for a program in our district, you will find it here!
Download: Mentoring & Youth Enrichment Cheat Sheet (PDF)
Download: Mental Health & Juvenile Justice (PDF)
Student Resources
Courses of Study
The following guide outlines the courses available to students at Sto-Rox Junior/Senior High School for the 2025-2026 Academic Year. Please download and read this document to understand the many options available to you during your time here.
Edustar Student Access
LINK: go.edustar Login
Graduation Requirements
Effective with the graduating class of 2023, Pennsylvania State Law - Act 158 - provides alternatives to Pennsylvania's statewide requirement of attaining proficiency on the three end-of-course Keystone Exams (Algebra I, Literature, and Biology) for a student to achieve statewide graduation requirements.
LINK: Statewide High School Graduation Requirements
NEWS: Pathways to Graduation Discussed at Town Hall Meeting
Khan Academy
Khan Academy is an organization dedicated to learning that provides free coursework for students. Parents and teachers can also use its programming to enhance a child’s education.
LINK: Khan Academy
Financial Aid
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®)
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) is the most important application you must complete in order to qualify for almost all types of financial aid including federal, state, local, and private grants and scholarships.
DOWNLOAD: Free Application for Federal Student Aid
PHEAA
The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) is one of the nation's leading student aid organizations. Today, PHEAA is a national provider of student financial aid services, serving millions of students and thousands of schools through its loan guaranty, loan servicing, financial aid processing, outreach, and other student aid programs.
LINK: PHEAA website
PHEAA Virtual Financial Aid Night
Check out the following links for more information on how you can access financial aid. Our friends from PHEAA, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, have many resources available. They recently presented those resources at their Virtual Financial Aid Night. It’s also available in PDF form, if you don’t have time to watch the whole thing. If you have more questions, reach out to our counselors!
YOUTUBE: Virtual Financial Aid Night - Fall 2022 Presentation
PDF Version: Click Here To Download
FASTWEB
Fastweb is a free scholarship search platform that connects students to scholarships and financial aid tools. Our goal is to help you find scholarships to make school more affordable.
LINK: Fastweb Website
Helpful Higher Education Resources
Planning for Higher Education Timeline
All the steps you need to start planning BEFORE your Senior year through the summer after Graduation to make sure your future plans are secure!
DOWNLOAD: Higher Education Timeline (PDF)
Scholarship Tips
Scholarships, unlike student loans, don’t have to be repaid and can reduce the cost of college. The more free money, in the form of scholarships and grants, that you find to help pay for college, the less you’ll have to finance.
DOWNLOAD: Scholarship Tips (PDF)
Pennsylvania College Access Program (CAP)
The Pennsylvania College Access Program provides direct access to college preparatory services to low-income seniors from financially disadvantaged districts throughout the region. Eighty percent of these students are the first in their families to attend college.
SAT / ACT Testing
SAT and ACT Exams are key parts of the college application process. Check the links below to see test and registration dates. Stop by the Guidance Office if you have any questions.
LINKS: SAT Schedule/Registration • ACT Schedule/Registration
Cheryl Biggs from NEED at the Jr./Sr. High School Open House on August 22, 2022.
NEED
NEED is a nonprofit college access program which is a lifeline to many young people who otherwise would not have had the guidance and resources to gain invaluable life skills, pursue higher education, and embark on a brighter future by obtaining financially successful careers.
LINK: NEED Website
Contact: Cheryl Biggs, College Prep Specialist, cbiggs@needld.org
Mental Health/Community Partners
Allegheny Children’s Initiative
Allegheny Children’s Initiative is a nonprofit social services agency that provides behavioral and mental health services to children between the ages of 2-21 and their families, throughout Allegheny and Washington Counties.
Contact: Amanda Cottrell
LINK: Allegheny Children’s Initiative
Becoming a Man (BAM)
Youth Guidance’s Becoming A Man® program (BAM®) is a school-based group counseling program that guides young men in 7-12th grades to learn, internalize and practice social cognitive skills, make responsible decisions for their future and become positive members of their school and community. BAM integrates clinical theory and practice, men’s rites of passage work, and a dynamic approach to youth engagement.
Contact: Chris Taylor
LINK: Becoming A Man
Human Services Administration Organization
(HSAO) is an enhanced service coordination program which works with Allegheny County's highest risk population of children, adolescents, and adults.
Contact: Taylor Fazio
LINK: Human Services Administration Organization
MHY Family Services
MHY Family Services (MHY) offers a therapeutic campus environment supporting individualized education programs and community services where learning and healing occur for youth and families.
Contacts:
• Alex Gariepy
• Andre Hersan
LINK: MHY Family Services
Pittsburgh Area Community Schools
Pittsburgh Area Community Schools works in the Sto-Rox School District and several other local school districts. PACS staff members work throughout the Sto-Rox School District to assist with everything academics to resources. Check out the flier at right for more information!
Contact: Nate Brown
LINK: Pittsburgh Area Community Schools Website
Steel City Impact
Steel City Impact is a youth-centered program in the Greater Pittsburgh area that provides mind, body, and spirit-based development and mentoring opportunities to the youth of our communities. We know our youth is the future of our society and we want to make sure that they are equipped with all the necessary skills and knowledge to achieve success while making a positive impact on the world.
Contact: Tyra Grant
LINK: Steel City Impact
Three Rivers Youth
Founded in 1880, Three Rivers Youth [TRY] has extensive experience providing services to at-risk children, adults, and families. TRY accelerates the recovery of children, adults, and families from abuse, substance use, and mental health disorders. TRY achieves this mission through programs and services that touch over 8,500 youth, adults and families annually. TRY programs|services include: Family Services— family preservation and foster care; Health Services—behavioral | mental health and community health advocacy and access; Job Services—for individuals, families, and employers; and Drug and Alcohol Abuse Services—diversion, prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery.
Contact: Richard Williams
LINK: Three Rivers Youth
V.I.B.E.
The V.I.B.E program stands for Violence Intervention Building Empowerment. It started in Sto-Rox in 2023, funded by the Project SEEKS SES grant, a partnership between the Allegheny Intermediate Unit (AIU) and the Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) that addresses trauma, behavior and mental health issues in ten school districts.
Contact: Ronesha Stephens