Canon-McMillan on track to complete new middle school in October
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
A new Canon-McMillan Middle School is nearing completion. Construction on the school is slated to be finished in October.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Canon-McMillan School District is constructing a new middle school on Route 519, near AHN Canonsburg Hospital.
Courtesy of Canon-McMillan School District
Canon-McMillan administrators and school board members tour the new Canonsburg Middle School, slated to be completed in October.
Editor’s note: This story was updated March 31, 2022, to correct the total cost of the project.
Construction on the new Canonsburg Middle School and Canon-McMillan School District administration building that are being built along Route 519 is on track to be completed in October.
“It’s extremely exciting, to say the least. It’s been a long time coming. We’ve simply just outgrown this space. But what’s most exciting to me is that (the new middle school) is going to be able to match the exceptional programming and instruction that has been going on for years,” said middle school principal Dr. Gregory Taranto, noting the school in 2021 was designated by U.S. News and World Report as a Best Middle School and has been recognized by the Pennsylvania “Schools to Watch” program.
Students are expected to move into the building for classes in January 2023, after Christmas break.
The project is estimated to cost between $70 million and $80 million.
The new three-story, 214,183-square-foot middle school, which is situated across from Allegheny Health Network Canonsburg Hospital, is designed to accommodate around 1,050 students in grades 7 and 8.
Unlike the existing middle school, which doesn’t include air conditioning, the new, more energy-efficient building will be air-conditioned.
Taranto said the school was designed “with the middle school student in mind.”
It will include student collaboration zones on each floor – collaborative spaces with flexible seating, each with a different theme; a gifted/maker space; updated technology education labs; a music wing; and an expanded cafeteria.
The new middle school won’t have a pool like the old one did.
It will feature a gymnasium and an auxiliary gym, and an auditorium. The new school also will hold multiple conference rooms and a support services suite. Modern-style lockers will be located near students’ homerooms.
While the current middle school campus is land-locked, the new campus will enable teachers to take students outside for classroom exploration and activities, Taranto said. The campus also will boast a multipurpose athletic field.
Other projects include construction of nearly 500 parking spots and designated bus and parent drop-off areas.
Additionally, a segment of the building is designed to be able to build additional classrooms, if necessary.
The central administration office that is being relocated to the site of the new middle school will include expanded office space and a larger board room.
Taranto said several factors led to the district’s decision to build a new middle school.
“The infrastructure of the current building simply was not keeping up, and many aspects of the building are outdated,” Taranto said, noting renovation on the current site was too costly, and the footprint is limited.
Additionally, a number of housing plans have been built or are being constructed in the school district, which encompasses Cecil and North Strabane townships, and the borough of Canonsburg, and the student population has been outgrowing the middle school.
The school district plans to sell the existing middle school, built in 1967 on the site of the original Canonsburg High School, which had been demolished a few years earlier.
The current administration building, which is on the grounds of the Canon-McMillan football field and track, contains lockers and some athletic facilities, so the district will retain the building. The use for the office space has not yet been determined.
“This is a modern building that is going to give us the freedom to do the things we want to do educationally,” said Taranto. “It’s going to be out of this world.”