Annette Hall: Lucky yet sad

Annette Hall has a fifth-grader at Woolslair PreK-5  and an eighth-grader at Schiller 6-8. 

“There is a little bit [of] happiness for me in general because my kids are lucky and they get to graduate,” she said. “But for their friends, there is definitely that sadness that we’re going into the final year of those schools.”

While the Schiller school building will close, the program will be relocated to the Allegheny Traditional Academy building on the North Side. 

Hall, whose younger daughter has an immunodeficiency and other medical issues, said she hopes to get into a school with a higher vaccination rate like Woolslair. If not, the family is considering moving out of the city. 

Karen Lucarelli: No communication from PPS

Karen Lucarelli’s son is in first grade at Spring Hill K-5. 

“I’m feeling kind of deflated and very hopeless because the communication from the district has been abysmal regarding the closures, and just where we will be afterward, and the transportation plan.”

District spokesperson Ebony Pugh said parents can view the current and new school assignments through the updated Find My School tool. She added that the district has planned personalized and comprehensive communications through letters, emails, phone calls and talking points to provide a summary of the plan and other transition changes. 

Lucarelli loved the neighborhood school’s tight-knit community and is considering moving to another district. 

Naomi Chambers: Bittersweet feelings

Naomi Chambers has a fifth-grader and a second-grader at Pittsburgh Miller PreK-5. “It’s gonna be a big task to move, you know, 6,000 students in one year, and it feels really helter-skelter.”

Chambers feels bittersweet about her children spending the last year at Miller with classmates they have known since kindergarten.

Brian Wagner: Concerns of displacement 

Brian Wagner teaches English at UPrep Milliones 6-8. 

Wagner, who began teaching in 1998 and hoped to end his career at Milliones, said, “There’s definitely some disappointment. There’s some trepidation as well because it’s still not very clear where I’ll be next year. Will I continue to be teaching English at a high school level? Will I be displaced? … So there’s a lot of unease, particularly, is how I’m feeling.”

He hopes the district’s plan to move the Sci-Tech middle school program to Milliones and make it a neighborhood magnet creates more equity and opens doors for students living in the Hill and Garfield.

Emily Sawyer: Manchester’s inclusive classes

Emily Sawyer’s son is in sixth grade at Manchester PreK-8.

“I think people that are committed to the school are committed to the school, and it’s just a real disservice to sort of throw away something that is so valuable to the people who use it. That’s been a community pillar that has dedicated staff,” she said. “It’s something that you can’t recreate.”

Sawyer will miss the small class sizes, the inclusive environment and dedicated special education teachers who have spent decades at Manchester. 

Ruth Orr: Hopeful about a positive transition

Ruth Orr’s son is starting kindergarten at Allegheny Traditional Academy K-5. 

“We love the school and so it’s gonna be sad that we’re not gonna be able to send our kids there anymore,” she said. “But hopefully the PPS keep their promises and then whatever neighborhood schools our kids go to will be a good transition.”

Orr hopes that her kids’ reassigned school will have the same diversity as ATA, where 52% of the student population is Black and 11% of students are multiracial.

Denise: Uncertainty of new schools

Denise, who declined to provide her last name, has a sixth-grader in South Brook 6-8 in Brookline and an eighth-grader in South Hills 6-8 in Beechview. 

“I’m upset. I am wondering where they’re gonna go,” she said. “Where are they supposed to go? Are they gonna be sent to a different school that’s further away? Harder for me to get to if something happens or if they get sick? That’s what I’m worried about.”

She hopes that her children’s new schools are not too crowded because of the closures and reconfigurations. 

Trina Washington: Transportation worries

Trina Washington’s two kids have started sixth grade at Sci-Tech 6-12 in Oakland. 

Washington, who lives in Brookline, worries about transportation issues when her children are reassigned to the Sci-Tech 6-8 program in the Milliones building after Milliones closes next year.

“It’s a bigger school and it’s only gonna be 6-8. So that just concerns me a lot. And of course, being in a different building— probably different teachers — it’s not going to be the same as the original school.”