Apr 4, 2016 By Suzanne Elliott 2 min read

The cold and rainy afternoon skies did not dampen the spirits or enthusiasm of the nearly 200 people who braved the weather April 2 to celebrate the opening of seven new classrooms and a fully-equipped science laboratory at Hillcrest Christian Academy in Bethel Park.

The $2.2 million addition – funded mostly through private donations – gives the school much needed class and lab space that sometimes forced the 240 students who attend the private Christian pre-K through 12th grade school to share space in creative ways. That’s not the case anymore.

“This allows us to expand our programming,” said Cindy Levi, a Hillcrest Academy board member and chairman of its building committee. “We can now have more biology and chemistry classes for the high school students, as well as the students in the lower grades.”

“We had kids in cubby holes and closets,” Levi added. “The cafeteria was used as a math and art room too. The entire high school shares one homeroom.”

The 12,000-square-foot, two-story addition will be used as soon as Bethel Park approves the school’s occupancy permit – which is expected sometime this month – and will mostly be used by the school’s high school and middle school students, Levi said. The first floor of the addition houses the lab and three classrooms. The top floor, meanwhile, has four classrooms and a conference room that can double as instructional space for smaller classes.

Existing space in the building has been transformed into a band, music and art space. The school is adding 26 new laptop computers for students and the school library was also expanded.

“This marks another milestone in the development of Hillcrest Christian Academy,” said Kenneth Barbour, Hillcrest principal. “I have been blessed to have been given the opportunity to lead the school.”

Hillcrest was formed in 1981 when South Hills Assembly of God bought the building that had housed Bethel Park Elementary School. Hillcrest opened a year later with 70 students in pre-K through sixth grade. The school’s middle school wing was constructed in 1994 and seven years later, the school gym was built. Classes for ninth graders were added in 2010 and the first class of high school seniors graduated in 2014.

“So many people made tremendous financial sacrifices to make this happen,” Levi said. “When it looked like we couldn’t do it, God came through.”