SCASD Board OKs Geotechnical Survey for New Park Forest Middle School Site as Project Continues to Push Forward

State College Area School District is taking its first steps toward construction of a new Park Forest Middle School.

The school board on Monday approved a preliminary geotechnical exploration for the planned site of the new school on a district-owned parcel off of Valley Vista Drive. The survey, which will be conducted by project architectural firm Crabtree Rohrbaugh and Associates at a cost of $6,545, will take five standard earth borings approximately 20 feet deep to provide data showing the site is stable for construction.

Though it had long been on the radar, the district began formal discussions and presentations about replacing the 53-year-old middle school in Patton Township last year. In March, the board approved the 18-acre parcel across Valley Vista Drive as the site for the new building, and in May authorized the purchase of an adjacent 7.4-acre parcel from Hawbaker-Brower Limited Partnership for $1.4 million to supplement the property.

The Valley Vista Drive site was among three options under consideration , along with renovations and expansion of the existing school and construction of a new building on a wooded parcel on School Drive adjacent to the current Park Forest Middle and Elementary sites.

Preliminary plans for the new school include a three-story, approximately 200,000-square-foot building at an estimated cost of $89 million to $100 million.

Construction is tentatively expected to begin in December 2025 and take 28 months to complete.

A community forum on the project will be scheduled for Sept. 23 prior to the board's meeting. The board will consider approval for moving to the schematic design process on Oct. 7.

Mount Nittany Elementary Expansion

Bid documents are being prepared for the Mount Nittany Elementary School expansion project , with work expected to get underway by January, according to Randy Brown, district finance and operations officer.

The estimated $21 million project will include 38,575-square-foot addition and renovations to 2,000 square feet of the existing building on Brandywine Drive in College Township. Primarily intended to alleviate capacity issues at the school — where for three years and counting two fifth grade classrooms have had to move to the nearby Panorama Village Administrative Center — the expansion and renovation will add six classrooms, special education rooms, a large group instruction room, music room and a dedicated cafeteria.

The board will vote on authorizing bids at its Sept. 23 meeting and award bids in December, Brown said in an overview of the schedule.

SCASD also will follow the process for potential Plancon funding, in case the now eight-year moratorium on Pennsylvania's reimbursement program for school construction projects is lifted.

Construction for the Mount Nittany Elementary School Expansion is planned for completion in the spring of 2026.

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