BIDS IN!  CONTRACTS AWARDED!

BLACKHAWK SCHOOL DISTRICT BREAKS GROUND

With bids coming in on target, significant additions and alterations for the Blackhawk School District’s Highland Middle School are moving forward.  Ground was broken for the project on September 2.  The project was designed by VEBH Architects and will provide state of the art educational and technological improvements to the school building. 

The primary focus of the project is to increase the building’s size in order to accommodate the District’s eighth grade instructional program currently at the High School.  Highland Middle School currently serves the sixth and seventh grade program.

Major portions of the Middle School will be rebuilt and reconfigured in an innovative format that encourages team teaching and student collaboration. Each classroom will be equipped to provide a seamless, high-tech learning environment for students and teachers.  The classrooms are organized into three neighborhoods, each of which will serve the Middle School grade groupings.

The building’s new entrance and lobby will open to a new media center and multipurpose presentation room that will be an inspirational hub of activity for the students and the community.

 When the Blackhawk Board of Education voted to award the construction contracts in August, they began the final step in what is approaching a decade long effort to improve their Middle School.  

The project approach recommended by VEBH created a fiscally responsible format to address multiple capital improvements and repairs at other buildings in the District while simultaneously addressing the major undertaking at the Middle School.  These series of smaller projects have occurred over the past two summer construction seasons and have resulted in successful improvements at each of the District’s four other buildings.

Construction of the Middle School improvements will occur in multiple phases that will allow the building to continue to function during the two-year construction process.

The Blackhawk School District is recognized as one of Western Pennsylvania’s finest public school systems with the top-ranked High School in Southwestern Pennsylvania by Newsweek in 2010.  The District serves more than 2,600 students in Beaver County.    (back)