{"id":276440,"date":"2026-09-01T11:06:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T11:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/276440\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T11:06:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T11:06:16","slug":"pps-families-face-final-year-before-12-schools-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/276440\/","title":{"rendered":"PPS families face final year before 12 schools close"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Lajja Mistry, Pittsburgh’s Public Source
September 1, 2026<\/p>\n

For more than 5,000 Pittsburgh students, Monday, Aug. 24 marked the last day they celebrated the start of a new academic year in their school.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beginning next summer, Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) will close 12 schools and nine buildings in a phased approach as part of its Future-Ready Facilities Plan<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The plan, first floated nearly three years ago, was passed in May after various revisions. While school administrators said the plan will improve equity and increase resources, it also spurred heavy backlash from community members and parents.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to the closures and consolidations, the plan reconfigures the district to traditional K-5, 6-8 and 9-12 grade models. Most elementary school magnet programs will shut down alongside changes to middle school and high school magnet programs. New feeder patterns will be assigned.<\/p>\n

Families and teachers in PPS shared reflections as they enter the final year at schools slated to close. Some worry about the lack of communication from the district, while others are hopeful that reassignments won\u2019t mean the loss of dedicated teachers and diversity. For many, it\u2019s a poignant moment.<\/p>\n

\"ANina Louis Dagavarian, 7, holds a sign during a rally against proposed school closures outside the Pittsburgh Public Schools administrative building on June 23, 2025, in Oakland. Dagavarian’s school, Woolsair PreK-5, is one of the schools slated to close. (Photo by Caleb Kaufman\/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)<\/p>\n

Annette Hall: Lucky yet sad<\/p>\n

Annette Hall has a fifth-grader at Woolslair PreK-5\u00a0 and an eighth-grader at Schiller 6-8.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a little bit [of] happiness for me in general because my kids are lucky and they get to graduate,\u201d she said. \u201cBut for their friends, there is definitely that sadness that we’re going into\u00a0the final year of those schools.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Schiller school building will close, the program will be relocated to the Allegheny Traditional Academy building on the North Side.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hall, whose younger daughter has an immunodeficiency and other medical issues, said she hopes to get into a school with a higher vaccination rate<\/a> like Woolslair. If not, the family is considering moving out of the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Karen Lucarelli: No communication from PPS<\/p>\n

Karen Lucarelli\u2019s son is in first grade at Spring Hill K-5.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m feeling kind of deflated and very hopeless because the communication from the district has been abysmal regarding the closures, and just where we will be afterward, and the transportation plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

District spokesperson Ebony Pugh said parents can view the current and new school assignments through the updated Find My School tool<\/a>. She added that the district has planned personalized and comprehensive communications through letters, emails, phone calls and talking points to provide a summary of the plan and other transition changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lucarelli loved the neighborhood school\u2019s tight-knit community and is considering moving to another district.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Naomi Chambers: Bittersweet feelings<\/p>\n

Naomi Chambers has a fifth-grader and a second-grader at Pittsburgh Miller PreK-5. \u201cIt’s gonna be a big task to move, you know, 6,000 students in one year, and it feels really helter-skelter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chambers feels bittersweet about her children spending the last year at Miller with classmates they have known since kindergarten.<\/p>\n

\"APPS\u2019s Pittsburgh Fulton PreK-5, a neighborhood school, on April 1, 2024, in Highland Park. The school\u2019s French-emphasis magnet program focuses on French culture and language around the world. As of 2023, the school enrolled 276 students, with 80% being economically disadvantaged, according to PPS. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg\/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)<\/p>\n

Brian Wagner: Concerns of displacement\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brian Wagner teaches English at UPrep Milliones 6-8.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wagner, who began teaching in 1998 and hoped to end his career at Milliones, said, \u201cThere’s definitely some disappointment. There’s some trepidation as well because it’s still not very clear where I’ll be next year. Will I continue to be teaching English at a high school level? Will I be displaced? \u2026 So there’s a lot of unease, particularly, is how I’m feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

He hopes the district\u2019s plan to move the Sci-Tech middle school program to Milliones and make it a neighborhood magnet creates more equity and opens doors for students living in the Hill and Garfield.<\/p>\n

Emily Sawyer: Manchester\u2019s inclusive classes<\/p>\n

Emily Sawyer\u2019s son is in sixth grade at Manchester PreK-8.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people that are committed to the school are committed to the school, and it’s just a real disservice to sort of throw away something that is so valuable to the people who use it. That’s been a community pillar that has dedicated staff,\u201d she said. \u201cIt’s something that you can’t recreate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sawyer will miss the small class sizes, the inclusive environment and dedicated special education teachers who have spent decades at Manchester.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ruth Orr: Hopeful about a positive transition<\/p>\n

Ruth Orr\u2019s son is starting kindergarten at Allegheny Traditional Academy K-5.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love the school and so it\u2019s gonna be sad that we\u2019re not gonna be able to send our kids there anymore,\u201d she said. \u201cBut hopefully the PPS keep their promises and then whatever neighborhood schools our kids go to will be a good transition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orr hopes that her kids\u2019 reassigned school will have the same diversity as ATA, where 52% of the student population is Black and 11% of students are multiracial.<\/p>\n

\"ManchesterPittsburgh Manchester Pre-K-8 School on Sept. 5, 2024, on the North Side. The school is one of 12 that Pittsburgh Public Schools will close as part of a plan to reduce spending and create more equitable options for students. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg\/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)<\/p>\n

Denise: Uncertainty of new schools<\/p>\n

Denise, who declined to provide her last name, has a sixth-grader in South Brook 6-8 in Brookline and an eighth-grader in South Hills 6-8 in Beechview.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m upset. I am wondering where they\u2019re gonna go,\u201d she said. \u201cWhere are they supposed to go? Are they gonna be sent to a different school that\u2019s further away? Harder for me to get to if something happens or if they get sick? That\u2019s what I\u2019m worried about.\u201d<\/p>\n

She hopes that her children\u2019s new schools are not too crowded because of the closures and reconfigurations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trina Washington: Transportation worries<\/p>\n

Trina Washington\u2019s two kids have started sixth grade at Sci-Tech 6-12 in Oakland.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Washington, who lives in Brookline, worries about transportation issues when her children are reassigned to the Sci-Tech 6-8 program in the Milliones building after Milliones closes next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bigger school and it\u2019s only gonna be 6-8. So that just concerns me a lot. And of course, being in a different building\u2014 probably different teachers \u2014 it\u2019s not going to be the same as the original school.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SmilingStudents are greeted by school staff and community drummers as they arrive for the first day of school at PPS Miller PreK-5 African-Centered Academy on Aug. 24, in the Hill District. Miller PreK-5 is one of 12 schools and nine buildings to be closed after the school year as part of the Pittsburgh Public Schools Future-Ready Facilities Plan. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg\/Pittsburgh\u2019s Public Source)<\/p>\n

Lajja Mistry is the K-12 education reporter at Pittsburgh\u2019s Public Source. She can be reached at lajja@publicsource.org<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/www.publicsource.org\/pps-parents-school-closures\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/www.publicsource.org”>Pittsburgh’s Public Source<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.publicsource.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/cropped-ps_circle_favicon_blue.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n

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