A new school is to move into the former St. Rosalia School and the monastery in Pittsburgh’s Greenfield district – the boys’ campus of the Yeshiva School.
Yeshiva School directors announced the purchase and move on Thursday, determining that the renewed campus will be ready for the fall school year. The boys’ school campus is currently located on the corner of Wightman Street and Hobart Street, in the same building as the Chabad Lubavitch Synagogue.
The Squirrel Hill Jewish day school focuses on “inspiring lifelong learning coupled with a deep commitment to the Jewish faith,” said Rabbi Yossi Rosenblum, chief executive of the schools.
Yeshiva Schools in Pittsburgh have about 450 students enrolled in their early childhood center, elementary and middle schools, and boys ‘and girls’ high schools, officials said. There are about 125 employees.
Rosenblum said the school attracts students from across the country and the school welcomes out-of-town students who can stay in dormitories while attending one of the high schools. The former monastery of St. Rosalia will be converted into one of these dormitories and will house around 50 high school boys.
In April school authorities announced that they would open the school’s first girls’ dormitory. Previously, the school could only accept foreign students if there were host families willing to accommodate them. The girls’ dormitory would make host families superfluous, officials said at the time, and double the number of out-of-town girls they can take in.
The 74,000 square foot St. Rosalia building will be updated, Rosenblum said, and another 48,000 square feet of academic space will be added. These additions include 17 classrooms, science labs, study rooms, common rooms, a commercial kitchen, and more.
St. Rosalia School on Greenfield Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Greenfield neighborhood closed in 2018 due to declining enrollments and high financial burdens. At that time there were 22 students in catechism classes and 99 in preschool through 8th grade.
Pittsburgh City Councilor Corey O’Connor, who represents the Greenfield neighborhood, called the purchase and planned reuse of the buildings “good news for the community.”
“The Yeshiva will provide education and programming in the coming years,” he said in a statement. “The school will be an asset to Greenfield and they strive to be a good neighbor for the surrounding community.”
Megan Guza is a contributor to Tribune Review. You can contact Megan at 412-380-8519, mguza@triblive.com, or on Twitter.
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