The Development of eCommunity in Upper St. Clair 

A Brief History of Our Initiative

Early in the year 1998 a few members of the Board of Trustees of the Community Foundation of Upper St. Clair, along with a few Administrators of the Upper St. Clair School District participated in meetings relative to the National Guards’ Distance Learning Program. The National Guards’ distance learning network extends to all fifty states, plus four territories with 1,500 distance learning classrooms. This ATM connection regionally links seven hubs capable of bridging 40 classrooms in one conference session. Since the National Guard uses this system less than 15% of the time, Congress was interested in shared usage and the development of a nationwide program involving school districts and colleges and universities across America.

After several meetings, the Board felt that a collaborative project could be developed that would advance life-long learning, communication and commerce throughout the community and school district that would provide a model for other communities and school districts.

Over the summer and into the fall of 1998, the committee decided to proceed independently and work toward the development of an "Electronic Community". Rep. John Maher secured a $16,000 community improvement grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development to aid in our research and planning. During this year, the Board of Trustees of the Community Foundation approved a $9,000 grant to establish a community technology center at Streams Elementary School. These were matching funds given in support of this community project that involved the Township, School District, Streams Faculty and Streams PTA.

In February 1999, the Science and Technology Committee of the Community Foundation suggested the creation of a separate committee within the focus area to research the possibility of enabling Upper St. Clair to become an electronically connected community. With funding from the Foundation a seminar was scheduled for March 4, 1999 with representatives from the foundation, school district, township government and public library. A facilitator led the group in a discussion that produced a list of unified goals.

Mainstreetusc.com is owned and operated by the Community Foundation of Upper St. Clair for the benefit of the whole community, as part of our mission to build a sense of community by supporting activities and programs that enhance the quality of life for our residents. For more information see our Copyright/Legal Statement.