SCASD approves design for new, $130M+ Park Forest Middle School. What to know
The State College Area School District’s plans to construct a new middle school took a significant step this week.
Following many months of planning and presentations, the district’s school board on Monday unanimously approved final plans for a new Park Forest Middle School that will replace the 55-year-old middle school of the same name, which last received substantial renovations in 1995. Officials are expected to soon put the project out to bid before construction can begin ahead of expected completion during the 2028-29 school year.
The latest estimates for the project suggest it will cost between $130.3 and $144.9 million , Jeff Straub of project architect Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates said Monday. That estimate does not include “soft costs” associated with the project — such as design costs, surveys, permits and more — that could bring the total project cost up to roughly $152 million.
“Not a lot has changed with inside the building’s design as we’ve moved forward over the last six months, but something that has changed substantially is the site work, which has evolved,” Straub said. “It’s been, quite frankly, a very complicated site with a lot going on as well as tying in to the local infrastructure. That’s probably the largest change we saw in the budget.”
The new Park Forest Middle School, slated for construction along Little Lion Drive off of Valley Vista Drive in Patton Township, will span 270,000 square feet spread across three stories. Plans for the site call for a bus drop-off and pickup area just north of the school, staff parking and parent drop-off and pickup sites just south of the building as well as tennis courts and a soccer field on the property’s eastern side.
Key points of interest inside the new school will include a “main street” layout that provides access to classroom and core facilities like the gymnasium, auditorium and cafeteria. The three-story classroom wing will see students physically “move up” through the sixth, seventh and eight grades, in part to help them prepare for their eventual move to State College Area High School.
Interior renderings for the building show tall ceilings, open spaces and bountiful natural light in nearly every room. Finding ways to incorporate more daylight was key as the district prepares to move on from the existing Park Forest Middle School, where access to windows and natural light is less common.
The new middle school’s exterior will feature a blend of stone, masonry and both wood grain and dark bronze metal paneling.
What happens next?
State College’s school board is expected to approve a motion at its Feb. 16 meeting to put the Park Forest Middle School Project out to bid before bids are eventually reviewed and potentially accepted as soon as late April.
The district expects to host a required Act 34 hearing for the project on March 23, according to a timeline outlined in a district memo. If current plans hold, crews could begin construction on the new Park Forest Middle School by mid-May.
The current timeline would see the new middle school reach substantial completion by November 2028, laying the groundwork for expected occupancy in January 2029 follow the district’s holiday break. Earlier plans for the project called for the school to open in time for the start of the 2028-29 school year.
What about the existing Park Forest Middle School?
While discussing the Physical Plant and Facilities department’s current 10-year capital plan at Monday’s meeting, district officials said State College will soon need to consider the fate of the current Park Forest Middle School.
Several factors will complicate the path forward, they said, including stormwater management challenges and the needed replacement or rerouting of the sanitary main currently routed under the middle school. Additionally, the front parking lot must be retained as overflow parking for the new middle school.
Though State College’s district has not yet formally considered the future use of the Park Forest Middle School property, its Physical Plant and Facilities department says the longtime school could serve as the future home of the district’s transportation terminal.
The Physical Plant and Facilities department, alongside Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates, has already performed a preliminary scoping of the site and concluded that, at first glance, it has the potential footprint and power requirements for a transportation terminal, assuming the building is razed. A terminal there would house maintenance facilities for “multiple bus fuel types,” as well as charging stations if the district moved toward electric fleet options, the department wrote in a presentation.
State College’s current bus terminal is past its useful life and must be replaced, the department wrote. The terminal has no room to add capacity if the district moves toward electrifying its transportation fleet or power infrastructure, according to the assessment.
This story was originally published February 3, 2026 at 3:14 PM.
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