When students in the Bethel Park (Pennsylvania) district resume classes later this month, classes, it will mark the final year for education at five elementary schools and one middle school.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Memorial and William Penn elementary schools are scheduled to close in the spring, as is Neil Armstrong Middle School.
In 2026-27, youngsters in kindergarten through fifth grade will attend the new $133 million Bethel Park Elementary Center, now under construction. The three-story, 280,000-square-foot building is designed to accommodate up to 1,800 students.
Neil Armstrong Middle, which will have grades five and six this year, will close in the spring. Fifth grade will be housed in the new elementary, and sixth grade will move to a newly renovated and expanded Independence Middle School.
The Armstrong campus, which shares its site with the new elementary school, may be considered as a new home for the district's administrative offices, Bethel Park Superintendent James Walsh says.
A school board subcommittee is examining the possible uses for all the buildings that will no longer house students. The municipality of Bethel Park may acquire Franklin and Washington to expand recreational opportunities for the community.
The school closings will leave the district with three educational buildings in 2026-27: the new elementary center, Independence Middle and Bethel Park High School.
Some community members initially balked at the idea of elementary-school consolidation, Walsh said, but the attitude seems to have shifted in a positive direction.
"Seeing what they're going to get and what's going to be available has made it exciting and enticing," he said. "The part that I think we don't emphasize enough is that we're going to be able to have all of the support services and programs in one building, one location."
