Young Scholars Charter School Begins Classes in Baldwin Township

Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania Charter School, which recently unveiled a new-look website, starts classes in on Monday, Aug. 29, at 600 Newport Drive—the former Rolling Hills Manor property.

Young Scholars formally received permission to open in Baldwin Township  despite complaints from numerous township residents and a rejection by the Baldwin-Whitehall School Board in February 2010.

The school board was overruled, however, by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

At an April 5 meeting, members of the Baldwin Township Board of Commissioners discussed a Centre Daily Times article that was published on March 22 and cited by numerous attendants. The article said that the Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania Charter School, which the Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania calls its "sister school," is part of a federal investigation as to whether or not some charter-school employees are kicking part of their salaries back to an Islamic political movement.

Much like that article, though, the township's commissioners could not offer definitive proof that a federal investigation of the "sister school" was actually under way.

"There has never been an acknowledgement by the government that there is actually any investigation," said Tom McDermott, township solicitor.

Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania Charter School is intended for students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade. The school hopes to enroll sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders in the future.

taxpayers fund Young Scholars.