The Junior School is set on seven acres in the city neighborhood of Point Breeze, adjacent to Frick Park. The beautiful campus grounds include a main PK-5 building with a gymnasium, a separate pre-kindergarten building (renovated and expanded in 2014), and plenty of outdoor spaces for children to play and learn, including three playgrounds, an athletic field and educational gardens.

Junior School classes aren’t limited by their four walls. Teachers utilize our seven-acre campus to take lessons outside, where students can engage with nature and explore the world around them. On any given day, you'll find our students enjoying recess on our playgrounds, our PE classes using the field or hiking in Frick Park, and our science classes discovering insects, flowers and trees in our gardens. Learn more about our outdoor spaces below.

Playgrounds

Every day (weather permitting) our students enjoy recess on our three playgrounds. Free play allows students to recharge their minds and stretch their legs. PK students have their own playground adjacent to the PK building. The K-1 playground is accessible directly from the K-1 classrooms and the gym. The grades 2-5 playground sits on the other side of the gym next to the field.

Athletic Field

Outside the gym and next to the grades 2-5 playground is a full-sized athletic field, used by PE classes and at recess. Here you'll find our students playing all sorts of sports and games and even building snowmen in the winter. Informal games give kids the opportunity to learn sportsmanship, teamwork and get some exercise in a supportive and supervised environment.

William W. Foster ’30 Educational Garden

This beautiful garden tucked behind the Junior School building houses a living classroom. Students learn about nature during hands-on science classes in the garden. A pond provides the perfect setting for learning about tadpoles, while flowerbeds serve as first resting spots when students release butterflies. Trees and fauna create homes for the most interesting creatures to investigate. This is a place where hands get dirty and minds are engaged.

Garden Beds

The Junior School campus also includes five raised garden beds alongside the field. Each spring students help to choose and plant vegetables in the garden beds. Students also have the opportunity to help with garden tasks, including feeding and collecting eggs from the hens. 

Frick Park

Our campus sits adjacent to Frick Park, offering students and teachers off-street access to this wonderful Pittsburgh resource. Students in grades PK-2 take hikes and adventure walks on the trails during PE class, and even enjoy log-rolling down Cowboy Hill for some good old-fashioned fun. Students in grades 3-5 run the trails in PE class for conditioning and do a mile run through the park each spring. Students in our Girls on the Run program also run the trails after school.