Steel Center for Career and Technical Education gets upgrades

The project that began in November 2022 was mostly completed by the start of the school year.

Renovations are continuing at Steel Center for Career and Technical Education, and “It Starts With Me” has been adopted as the theme for the 2025-26 school year.

Since 1964, Steel Center, which is located on North Lewis Run Road (off Route 51), has provided learning opportunities for students in grades 10, 11 and 12 to begin their career preparation.

The career and technical education facility in Jefferson Hills has 18 programs and a current enrollment of 860 students. It is operated by 11 area school districts, including Elizabeth Forward, South Allegheny and West Mifflin Area.

The project, announced in November 2022, was designed by Matt Franz and the team at HHSDR. There have been upgrades to the HVAC system for around $7.6 million, and there have been improvements to make the building more ADA compliant as well as classroom updates.

West Mifflin Area school board director Mark Donahoe said in August that work was continuing on a $29 million renovation project, and most of it was done to start the school year.

“The renovations are going along really, really well, and they are doing a great job down there,” Donahoe said. “They just started school down there, construction is going on fantastically down there and a major section should be done by the end of this month. That just leaves some sections to be done, which they hope to have done by January.”

The project is into Phase 7, which includes renovations to Conference Room B, the second floor flex space, and the advertising and design program, which has been relocated to a newly renovated space.

Renovations will continue in the culinary arts, baking, welding and collision repair programs as well as the main office, according to a release. Demolition of the future Student Services Center is completed as renovations have begun.

Renovation progress meetings are held every two weeks at 1:30 p.m. Tuesdays in the center’s Conference Room A.

Steel Center’s leadership team participated in strategic planning sessions to reimagine the center’s future, according to a release. One session took place at Onala Recovery Center in Pittsburgh, and a second session was held at the Flight 93 National Memorial.

They also attended the Pennsylvania Association of Current Technical Administrators summer conference July 31.

Donahoe added at West Mifflin School District’s meeting in August that the center is implementing strategies this year to maximize instructional time. They are also working on strengthening relationships with their industry partners.

“Steel Center continues to place strong emphasis on three key areas of growth: curriculum development, increased construction time and expanded industry and partner participation,” Donahoe said. “They actively review and refine their curriculum to ensure it remains aligned with industry standards and emerging workforce needs.”

More Steel Center updates can be found at the school’s new website, www.steelcentertech. com, or by calling 412-469-3200.