Rockwell Middle School
Opens Its Doors

The first time Patrick Brunins saw plans for Rockwell Middle School, he was a sixth grader sitting in Benedum Hall, studying a rendering of a building that seemed almost impossible.

President Bart Griffith ’93 P’28 had come to announce that Shady Side Academy’s Middle School would soon have a new home. As Brunins looked over the plans, one detail immediately caught his attention: an outdoor seating area.

“I remember asking my advisor, ‘Do you think we will get to eat out there? Or maybe even do homework out there?’” he recalls. “I thought, ‘How are they going to build such a big school in two-and-a-half years?’”

Nearly three years later, Brunins walked through the doors of that building as an eighth grader on its first day of operation.

“It was so surreal,” he says.

On January 6, 2026, Middle School students crossed the threshold of Rockwell Middle School for the first time as a cheering crowd of Senior School faculty and students lined the walkways outside. For Brunins, the moment marked the realization of a vision he had first encountered years earlier on a screen in Benedum Hall.

And one of the spaces he had imagined using as a sixth grader was now part of his everyday life.

This spring, the outdoor seating area became a place where students gathered to eat lunch, study, collaborate, and connect. “It’s amazing to think that my vision of what this space would be used for all the way back in sixth grade is actually true today,” Brunins says.

But Rockwell Middle School represents far more than the fulfillment of one student’s expectations.

Designed specifically for grades 6–8, the building is a purpose-built home for young adolescents — one that reflects their energy, curiosity, independence, and need for connection. Wide hallways, adaptable learning environments, collaborative gathering spaces, and usable outdoor areas were thoughtfully designed to support the ways middle school students learn, belong, and grow.

But Rockwell Middle School’s story began long before the day students and faculty claimed it as their new academic home. It was born out of a journey of careful thought, planning, and collaboration.

Building with Purpose

Erecting a building of Rockwell Middle School’s size and intention relied on a careful dance between teams of professional architects, builders, and designers, as well as Shady Side’s facilities team. 

Architecture firm Strada delved into years of research, analysis, planning, and documentation to develop plans for Rockwell Middle School. “Our main goal was to give the educators and students as much flexibility as possible,” says architecture principal Sean Beasley. He and his team undertook the challenge of not only adding a new building to an existing campus, but of making it feel like it always belonged. “We knew we had to figure out how it could enhance the quality of the campus,” he says. 

Strada had insightful input from Shady Side’s citizens. “When designing the new Middle School, students, faculty, administrators, alumni, board members, and parents were all consulted so the design process was aesthetically, operationally, and functionally informed by everyone’s collective experiences,” says Board of Trustees Chair Rob Mullin ’93 P’25,’30. “There were probably between 50 and 75 different questions posed at various stations for all of us to weigh in on,” recalls Paul Francioni, Director of Facilities at Shady Side.

Following the May 20, 2024, groundbreaking, general contractor PJ Dick began construction while collaborating daily with Strada and Francioni. The task required many hands. “We used 30 subcontractors and had roughly 50 to 60 workers on site every day,” says Theresa Giacomino, Senior Project Manager at PJ Dick. 

The building required professionals in urban design, landscape architecture, interior design, cement masonry, iron work, carpentry, painting, and more. “It took 75,000 hours to complete this project, with work done throughout a very harsh winter,” Giacomino says. “I give so much credit to all of the skilled labor we have in Pittsburgh for allowing us to achieve this build.” 

Throughout it all, Francioni partnered with PJ Dick to manage construction, schedules, specifications, and every product choice. “We were involved in choosing every single aspect of this building, from lighting and roofing systems down to the brick facade, every piece of door hardware, even the screws that attach the drywall to the studs,” Francioni says. 

Giacomino recalls Francioni and his team stepping up in ways that kept the project moving. “During our first concrete pour, the Shady Side facilities team was up on the roof using air blowers to remove snow so we could get the concrete in,” she says. “We all worked so well together.”

Making space a home

In just one semester, Rockwell Middle School has truly become a new home on the Upper School Campus. 

Reflecting on some of the best highlights of the building, Merson says, “The gorgeous views of the quad and trees, the wide hallways, and the open collaboration spaces lend themselves to conversation and reflection. Students can be boisterous and happy and still safe in the hallways, and classes can easily spill out to collaboration spaces or think tanks for group work.”

As the weather turned from snowy winter to warm spring, Merson noticed students and faculty regularly heading outdoors to play corn hole and eat lunch — what was once just a dream for an excited sixth grader getting his first look at renderings and floor plans became a heartwarming and very real sight.