{"id":278260,"date":"2026-09-03T17:10:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T17:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/278260\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T17:10:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T17:10:07","slug":"bethel-park-officially-welcomes-students-into-brand-new-elementary-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/278260\/","title":{"rendered":"Bethel Park officially welcomes students into brand-new elementary school"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Thursday marked the official opening of the new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/pittsburgh\/news\/bethel-park-school-district-start-day-upcoming-school-year\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-invalid-url-rewritten-http=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Bethel Park Elementary School<\/a>, where approximately 1,800 students walked through the doors of a brand-new building for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The new school combines six former schools under one roof, creating one of the largest elementary schools in Pennsylvania. It is located on the Neil Armstrong Middle School campus.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This might be the most exciting day I have ever worked as an educator in 22 years,&#8221; said Principal Lisa Miracle-Volpe.<\/p>\n<p>Students were eager to explore their new surroundings and now have the chance to meet new kids. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I like it. I like the gym,&#8221; said fifth-grader Bennett Willman.<\/p>\n<p>The project has been years in the making, and the hope is that it&#8217;ll make a lasting impact on the community. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Overwhelmed. I have been overwhelmed with joy. It has been four years in the making,&#8221; said Mandi Figlioli, assistant superintendent for K-5 education.<\/p>\n<p>District leaders say the three-story building was designed to encourage learning at every turn. The facility includes STEAM labs, multiple libraries, gymnasiums, playgrounds, and even an outdoor classroom.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We really wanted it to be a space where learning is everywhere,&#8221; said Figlioli. &#8220;We have an outdoor classroom. We have interactive peg boards on the wall. We want the students to be able to explore and be curious.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The school is organized into three sections serving students in K-5 and was built with modern learning environments in mind. The district says it was also built with 21st-century safety and security measures. But district officials say the new building represents much more than updated facilities.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The building facilitates that learning that we&#8217;re looking for,&#8221; said Superintendent Matthew Patterson. &#8220;There are opportunities to increase academic opportunities and growth for all kids at every level of achievement. Whether I&#8217;m a high-achieving student, I struggle to read, or I don&#8217;t speak English, there&#8217;s a place for all of these students in this school.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Bethel Park students will spend the school year settling into the new building as district leaders hope the facility serves generations of students to come.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content__tags__label\">In:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thursday marked the official opening of the new Bethel Park Elementary School, where approximately 1,800 students walked through&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278261,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[894,73,75,74],"class_list":["post-278260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-allegheny-county","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}