‘Bright, cheerful’: Improvements continue at Aquinas Academy in Hampton

When teachers and students returned to Aquinas Academy of Pittsburgh in Hampton this academic year, they were greeted with a “bright” and “cheerful” space that’s quite different from the typical 1950s Catholic school the building used to resemble, according to Leslie Mitros, the head of school.

Aquinas Academy has completed about half of a $6.3 million project to build a new two-story lower and middle school building. There will also be a walkway on both floors to connect the new building to the high school, Mitros added. The general contractor is Franjo Construction of Homestead, and the architect is Strip District-based TKA Architects.

Since construction began in June 2021, costs have rapidly increased, although administrators say they’re still looking forward to an updated school that will accommodate growing enrollment, upgrades some parents and students already enjoy.

For the fall semester, lower school students and teachers will reside in the completed second floor of the new building while construction crews work on the first floor, which is set to be completed between November and January.

When the first floor is finished, grades K-5 will move to the first floor, and middle school students in grades 6-8 will move to the second floor from their current space adjacent to the gym.

“Everything connects to the high school, so we’ll kind of all be under one roof, which will be fabulous,” Mitros said.

The construction process, though, has had some setbacks. The original estimate for the project was $5.2 million, but because the school paused construction due to the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing materials costs, supply chain disruptions and labor shortages upped the price.

“It has been very challenging to keep things moving along on time,” Mitros said.

‘Such a difference’

She said students and teachers are already noticing some positive impacts from the renovations. When Aquinas Academy first acquired the property, Mitros said it was the quintessential Catholic school: one-story, flat roof and lots of metal. She added that the building was “dated” and didn’t have air conditioning or an efficient heating system.

“These kids have been real troopers in that for years, they have had class very cheerfully in a building that was marginally adequate for what it was that they were doing,” Mitros said.

The upgrades — bigger classrooms, bright lighting and climate control — make “such a difference in attitude and morale,” she said. “The students are cheerful because their surroundings are more cheerful.”

She also said teachers also feel more connected to each other because of the bridge, leading to more collegiality.

Parents have also begun to take notice of the renovations. Jennifer Hite, a school nurse as well as mother of three graduates from Aquinas Academy, two high schoolers and one elementary schooler, said her kids are enjoying the new computer and science labs and having more space in classrooms. She said her youngest daughter in the lower school particularly enjoys the lockers on the second floor.

“It’s not to take away from what our teachers were doing before. They’ve always been such a strong group of teachers. They’ve always been able to overcome any obstacles or adapt to new spaces or limited spaces,” she said. “I just feel that the new spaces allow for a next level enhanced learning for the children.”

‘Full circle’

Aquinas Academy has more renovations planned. Hampton Township Council approved at its Sept. 28 meeting the school’s plan to add a permanent parking lot on their property. The lot will include 64 parking spaces, replacing a temporary lot of the same size. Under the approval, Aquinas Academy is required to complete most of the construction on the parking lot by Dec. 1.

Mitros said once the middle school moves to the second floor, the plan is to repurpose the rooms into a fine-arts wing with music and art classrooms.

“We do our school plays, and we do most of our fine arts over in the gym, multipurpose building,” she said. “So to have music and art in an adjoining space will be super helpful and then also frees up more space in the high school.”

She added that, at some point in the near future, she expects the school to renovate its chapel space to accommodate increasing enrollment. Hite also said she’d like to see more chapel space so everyone can participate in Mass.

Mitros started working at Aquinas Academy in 1999 as a teacher and stepped into the head of school position in 2004, so she said she’s seen a variety of building projects: the completion of the gym and the new high school building, for example. However, she said this project brings everything “full circle.”

“We’ll be at a point that every division — lower school, middle school and high school — will be in a space that is appropriate and conducive to learning for everybody,” she said. “So for me, that’s exciting because there’s always the dream of what the campus could look like, and it will be pretty much complete with this project.”