l l l A Messagefromthe SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
l l l A Letterfromthe SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT
SHALER AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT
l l l A Messagefromthe SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
Building for Tomorrow Starts Now
JUNE
2026 haler area school district SHALER AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS
Dear Shaler Area School District Community,
Planning for the future is a crucial aspect of preparing our students to be successful in school and in life. With that in mind, we are exploring a strategic reconfiguration of how we utilize our school buildings in order to optimize our existing spaces, upgrade key features, add additional support, and align our educational resources with the evolving needs of our student population.
AUGUST
When HHSDR Architects recently conducted a comprehensive Feasibility and 2027 Facility Study of our seven schools, it was determined that although Scott Primary and Shaler Area High School are in good condition, our five other schools require significant improvements due to age, inefficiency, and suboptimal use of several available spaces. To that end, we developed a working plan to improve our use of all seven school buildings while creating time and opportunity to invest in their necessary upgrades.
Based on community feedback, this plan prioritizes keeping Burchfield, Marzolf, Reserve, and Scott Primary Schools as K – 5 neighborhood elementary schools while fully aligning programming at Shaler Area Middle School to serve Grades 6 – 8. This means at the end of our current 2025-2026 school year no students will transition to Shaler Area Elementary School. Instead, rising 4th-grade students will remain in their neighborhood schools for 2026-2027. Then, in August 2027, rising 6th and 7th grade students will begin transitioning directly to Shaler Area Middle School, which will fully serve Grades 6 – 8. This phased approach helps ensure a smooth transition for students and families while allowing the district sufficient time to plan intentionally for optimal programming, staffing, and facility use. You can stay up-to-date with the latest developments in our facility upgrade plan by visiting bit. ly / buildingfortomorrowSASD We are thrilled to be embarking on this student-focused journey of building for tomorrow, and we welcome community feedback as this plan progresses. As always, student safety and stability are our top priorities, and we will do all we can to ensure minimal disruption and maximum collaboration during this process. I hope you are as excited as we are to see our schools evolve into facilities that are designed to best support the future of learning for every Titan.
Sincerely,
Bryan E. O’ Black, Ed. D. Superintendent of Schools
l l l A Letterfromthe SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT
Titan Pride: On the Board, the Field, and Television!
Dear Shaler Area School District Families, I hope you’ ll join me in welcoming our three new Shaler Area School District board members! Daeja Baker and Amy Goldberg, both representing Region 1, and Robert Cessar, representing Region 3, were all elected to the board in November. I’ m grateful to be working with them and also with our returning board members in order to make the best decisions for how our district can best serve the needs of all students.
We’ re also excited to be cheering for our student-athletes during the upcoming spring sports season, including baseball, softball, track and field, volleyball, and more. If you haven’ t been to a Shaler Area sporting event recently, come on out and root for our kids as they demonstrate what teamwork and hustle is all about. We can’ t wait to see how they do in pursuit of WPIAL glory, but we’ re already proud of them just for standing tall as Titans.
Speaking of our pride, did you know that three Shaler Area High School students recently competed in the KDKA kids’ quiz? KD Quiz is a weekly program that invites local high school students to answer questions from a variety of curriculum areas. On January 31st, Emily Bedeck, Abby Maher, and Nick Mulkerin won their round of competition against students from North Hills and Hampton. We’ re extremely impressed by their quick thinking under pressure, and we wish them the best of luck in the next round!
Thank you for everything you do to support our students in the community, and I look forward to working with our district to make 2026 a year to remember in all the best ways.
Sincerely,
22 SHALER AREA
James Tunstall President of the Shaler Area School District Board of School Directors