About Us

ABOUT BETHEL PARK HIGH SCHOOL

The new, award-winning Bethel Park High School was designed and constructed based on a primary premise: Student Performance. And from that premise comes a four-story facility that is constructed across the street from the old high school. Ground was broken on the building on September 12, 2009 and the final steel beam was placed on September 2, 2010. The new Bethel Park High School opened its doors on January 30, 2012 as a 21st century learning facility, incorporating technology, space flexibility and environmental consciousness.

The design of the school evolved as the character of the interior spaces was refined to achieve all of the goals set by the Board of School Directors and Administration during the planning and programming phases. Major concepts that influenced the final design include:

Zoning the school so that the public use areas could be separated from the classroom spaces and multiple activities and events could be accommodated without crowding.
Organizing the classrooms in a way that would be flexible for future educational objectives.
Setting up the main entry as a high volume/high impact space that functions as the center of the school and the center of activity and circulation.
Designing the school into the sloped site to soften the impact of the building’s volume and provide multiple, safe and secure ways to enter and exit the school. All four floors egress to ground level.
Introducing natural daylight into all areas of the school (even the corridors) by creating an interior courtyard open to the south to bring light into the building and utilizing clerestory windows between the classrooms and corridors.
Providing a variety of visual forms, finishes and arrangements of finish materials to reduce the scale of the building, both in the design of interior and exterior elements.
Utilizing low maintenance materials and high quality operational systems to lengthen the functional life cycle of the school.

The school was dedicated on February 18, 2012 and received Green Globe Certification on February 22, 2012. The school also received the 2013 Building Excellence Award from the Master Builders Association of Western PA in the Best New Construction Over $25 Million Category. The new Bethel Park High School cost $88 million and is financed with a 25-year bond.

THE ACADEMIC WING

The four-floor Academic Wing features 96 classrooms that are designed to facilitate student performance. Classrooms have been designed to promote collaboration, information sharing, creative problem solving, critical thinking, communication, fluency and decision making, to help students succeed in their future careers.

Student desks have been designed to be easily moved into several different configurations, depending on the instructional strategy. Moving away from a teacher lecture model of content delivery, all classrooms are wireless and equipped with interactive technology that will facilitate student engagement and provide students with more opportunities to actively engage in their learning and demonstrate what they know.

The perimeter of all classrooms features a two-foot tack strip, where quality student work can be displayed, supporting a rigorous standard of excellence. Art classrooms were designed to include additional space for the exhibition of student work.

Science classrooms have moved away from in-classroom labs to stand-alone labs, which are equipped with safety features, including eye and body wash stations. The Science Department now boasts a state-of-the-art Prep Lab, featuring roll-away chemical storage, hood vents for chemical mixing, a test tube dishwasher and two specimen coolers.

THE ATHLETIC WING

The centerpiece of the Athletic Wing is the 2,450 seat, full-submersion gymnasium, where spectators enter from the top level and walk down to their seats. The gym triples the seating capacity of the old gym, and features a 1/8-mile walking track around the upper level, a 4-sided scoreboard and four drop-down projection screens. When the bleachers are pushed back, the gym floor is large enough for three basketball courts. The new gymnasium is large enough to house the entire student body for assemblies and programs, and can comfortably host graduation.

The Athletic Wing also houses a 100-seat South Gym that boasts the same size floor as the main gymnasium. The South Gym also has two drop-down batting cages.

Physical Education students share the new Aerobics/Dance Room during the day with the Wrestling Team, who uses the same room after school for practices.

The new eight-lane, 25 yard Swimming Pool is 12 feet at its deepest and has two diving boards, two scoreboards and a built-in sound system. There is spectator seating for 286.

A Rifle Range, Boys and Girls Physical Education Locker Rooms and three Fitness Rooms round out the Athletic Wing, featuring one room for free weights, one for weight training circuit equipment and a cardio room, featuring treadmills, bicycles and rowing machines.

PERFORMANCE AREAS

One of the places the community enjoys is the 1,286-seat auditorium, which includes an orchestra pit, two sound and light boards, a cat walk and two types of acoustical panels to reflect as well as absorb sound. Audiences enjoy concerts, the annual musical and school play in this environment where students are heavily involved in all of the performance and production aspects of the events held here.

Music students enjoy the separate large ensemble rooms for Band, Chorus and Orchestra. There are also six Practice Rooms and a large Instrument Storage facility.

The Small Theater seats 186, and is equipped with a control room and state of the art, professional recording studio. This room is used for acting classes, recitals and as a large group instruction room. The Small Theater is also equipped with lights and a sound system, providing students who are interested in the technical aspects of theater with hands-on experiences using the equipment. The recording studio is part of the Music Lab, where students can not only compose and record music, but also learn audio editing.

The new Bethel Park High School also features a fully equipped Television Studio, with chroma key (green screen) technology, three cameras and an adjacent editing/control room with 20 video editing stations. The TV Studio also has portable equipment to film/broadcast from other locations throughout the school and beyond. Since all of the classrooms are equipped with an interactive projector, the TV Studio will be used on a daily basis for announcements and other programming that can be seen from every room in the high school. The District now has its own television station, Black Hawk TV on Verizon Channel 28 and Comcast Channel 19.

LOBBY AND CORRIDORS

The main lobby of the new Bethel Park High School features a 24 foot medallion of the Black Hawk mascot and the Grand Staircase, leading downstairs to the cafeteria. Hallway lighting is facilitated by the sloping of classroom ceilings to take outdoor light and spill it into the hallways. All hallways and corridors feature display cases, in keeping with the philosophy of providing our students with multiple opportunities to share their learning throughout all educational departments.

LIBRARY

The Library is located at the entrance of the Academic Wing’s fourth floor, featuring 15,000 books and numerous computer stations for on-line research. Adjacent to the Media Center is a classroom where teachers can bring their classes when the students need to complete research beyond the resources located in the classrooms.

TECHNOLOGY

The new Bethel Park High school features high speed wireless in all academic areas. Every classroom is equipped with a projector that can turn any surface into an interactive computer screen, connected to a media controller, which is able to receive content from the internet. The projectors are remotely controlled and can be used to transmit announcements and emergency warnings as well as common content delivery throughout the school.

There are 800 student computers in the school—500 traditionally wired and 300 on computer carts that can be shared and transported into any classroom where there is a need. Computer labs are located in the Music, Business Education, Technology Education, English, Math and Art Departments, as well as the Writing Center and are used for activities such as music composition, art, programming, Auto CAD, graphics, robotics, reading, writing and math.

Nine informational kiosks are located throughout the school and are used for the display of announcements, videos, cafeteria menus and directions. With a touch of a button, users can have access to a wealth of information about Bethel Park High School.

SAFETY AND SECURITY

Safety and security is a top concern. The new Bethel Park High School is equipped with 140 interior and exterior video cameras to monitor the building, parking lots and fields. Visitors to the school need to buzz in to have the doors unlocked, and all visitors to the building have to register with security before being admitted.

The building is also equipped with swipe card access to exterior and high security interior door areas.

THAT OUTDOOR CAMPUS FEEL

The new Bethel Park High School has been designed to keep the outdoor campus feel that the students were so fond of with the eight-building campus-style high school. The new school features large windows to incorporate as much natural light as possible.

Nowhere is that more evident than in the 700 seat cafeteria, which boasts a two-story wall of glass leading to Center Court, a football field size outdoor space, featuring a small amphitheater and seating for 100. It is a space where students are able to enjoy their lunch outside. Center Court is also used as an outdoor classroom and concert venue for student performances and other activities.

Students who enjoy going outside to change classes are still be able to do so, with outside access through Center Court, from the second floor of the Academic Wing to the Physical Education locker room area, weather permitting.

CAFETERIA

The 700 seat Cafeteria is supported by a state of the art, high-efficiency kitchen, featuring outstanding presentation, merchandising, cooking techniques and new food items, including healthy options. The serving line is set up like a food court, with six cashier lines to expedite the check-out process. Food stations include pizza; fresh baked hoagies, sandwiches and custom wraps; comfort entrees such as chicken bowls, mac and cheese, pasta and pierogies; Mexican fare; specialty salads and fresh-baked cookies. Breakfast is also served daily.

WELCOME TO OUR GREEN HIGH SCHOOL!

The new Bethel Park High School has been designed to be Green Globe certified, which means the building has many energy efficient and environmentally friendly components to it.

Green Globes Project Features:

Low Flow Plumbing Fixtures – The plumbing fixtures used reduce the amount of water usage to conserve water consumption.
Water Metering – The amount of water usage is metered and monitored to improve efficiencies.
Energy Efficient Light Fixtures – The light fixtures used reduce energy consumption.
Daylight Harvesting – This system monitors the amount of natural daylight and turns off light fixtures to reduce energy consumption and utilize natural daylight.
Energy Metering – The amount of energy usage will be metered and monitored.
Energy Efficient Mechanical Systems – The mechanical systems are an energy-efficient design that incorporates the use of an ice storage system for building cooling.
Mechanical Unit Filters – The filter rating for the mechanical units was increased to a MERV 13, which reduces dust and improves indoor air quality.
Building Energy Modeling – An energy model for the building was generated to identify performance.
Building System Commissioning – The building systems are being commissioned and tested for operation and controls to ensure they are working properly.
Construction Waste Recycling – Almost 95 percent of waste materials from the new building’s construction were recycled and diverted from landfills.
Demolition Waste Recycling – Materials from the old campus buildings were recycled and diverted from landfills. The brick and concrete from the existing buildings was crushed on-site and reused for the construction of the new parking lot and athletic fields where the previous high school was located.

Sustainable Design Features:

Building Thermal Envelope – The exterior wall assembly and insulation used in construction increases the thermal performance of the building envelope, reducing overall energy costs.
White Roof – The flat portions of the roof are white, which reflect direct sunlight and reduce heat build-up on the roof.
Building Acoustics – The building design incorporates STC (sound transmission coefficient) rated walls and materials to improve the interior acoustics of the building and lower noise pollution.
Natural Daylighting – The exterior windows and interior corridor clerestory windows design allows for maximum natural daylight to enter spaces of the building.
Material Recycled Content – The specifications called for flooring, drywall and acoustic ceiling tiles to have amounts of recycled content.
Improved Indoor Air Quality – The mechanical system is designed to supply air low and return high to improve indoor air quality.

By having Green Globe certification, the District is eligible to receive receive an additional $1.5 million in State reimbursements.

THE ATHLETIC COMPLEX

Because the new high school is located where practice fields and tennis courts were previously located, demolition of the old high school allowed for the creation of parking lots and a new athletic complex that includes:

378-space parking lot
Eight tennis courts
Three full-size practice fields that can be used for football, lacrosse and soccer
Girls softball field
Full-size baseball field for the ninth grade team