Dear Families and Friends of New Horizon,
WE MADE IT!
For months, we have ended these updates by looking ahead to one goal: bringing our students and staff safely home to New Horizon School for the start of the 2026-27 school year. In June, I wrote that we were “eager to see their journey home come to a close in August.” In July, with a lot of work still ahead of us, we remained focused on reaching that milestone. Today, I am incredibly proud to say: Together, we made the seemingly impossible possible! We are in. School started on time. And our students and staff are finally home!
On August 24, buses once again pulled up to New Horizon School. Students walked through the doors. Teachers welcomed them into their classrooms. Hallways that only weeks earlier were filled with construction equipment, workers, furniture and supplies are once again filled with the sounds of students and staff. After the journey of the past year, it was an extraordinary sight!
As is typical with a project of this size, some work remains. During after-school hours in the weeks ahead, crews will continue addressing finishing touches, adjustments, and punch-list items. But we have reached the milestone that mattered most: New Horizon School is open, our students are learning, and our staff are home!
Getting here required a tremendous team effort.
SiteLogIQ, along with all the contractors and tradespeople, worked through an incredibly demanding construction schedule. Our BVIU maintenance, technology, business office, administrative, and support teams also did whatever was necessary to help prepare the building for opening.
I also want to extend a special thank you to our member school districts, on whose behalf we proudly operate New Horizon School. The support of our superintendents and their Boards of School Directors made this project possible. Their willingness to invest in the long-term future of New Horizon, to make difficult decisions, and to remain committed to the students we collectively serve provided the foundation upon which this entire project was built.
We also deeply appreciate our Beaver County Commissioners and State Legislators for their generous financial support of this project. Their investment in New Horizon helped us move forward and reflected a shared commitment to the students, families, and schools of our region. Their support, together with that of our member school districts, demonstrates what can be accomplished when local and state partners come together around a common purpose.
Likewise, the team working behind the scenes on the financial components of this project deserves special recognition. Bringing a project of this size and complexity to fruition required creativity, persistence, careful planning, and a willingness to explore every responsible option available to us. Their work expanded what we believed was possible while ensuring that we made wise use of the resources entrusted to us.
Above all, our New Horizon staff deserve our heartfelt appreciation.
Over the past year, they packed classrooms, relocated programs, adapted to temporary spaces, adjusted routines, supported one another, personally purchased supplies for their classrooms and students, and continued serving students through circumstances none of us would have chosen. Through all of the disruption and uncertainty, they never lost sight of why this work mattered: our students.
Our families also deserve special recognition. You demonstrated tremendous patience, flexibility, trust, and support throughout this journey. We know that the past year required adjustments from you as well, and we appreciate the confidence you placed in our team.
We have also been overwhelmed by the generosity of our surrounding school communities, partner organizations, businesses, individuals, and countless others who responded when New Horizon needed help replacing furniture and other items. Desks, chairs, tables, classroom furnishings, and other donations came to us from throughout the region.
Because of that extraordinary generosity, New Horizon is now properly equipped, and we are not in need of additional furniture at this time. To everyone who donated, coordinated, transported, delivered, or simply asked, “What can we do to help?”—please know how much your kindness has meant to our students and staff. You helped turn newly renovated spaces into fully equipped classrooms and, ultimately, back into a school.
Throughout this past year, we have talked about finances, construction, and deadlines. Now we get to talk about learning and possibilities. The rehabilitation of New Horizon School was never simply about creating a better building; it was about creating a safe and comfortable learning environment worthy of the incredible students and staff who call New Horizon home. And while we are certainly proud of the building we have created, this journey has reminded us of something even more important: a building does not make New Horizon special. The people inside it do!
We would love the opportunity to share the renewed New Horizon with all of you. Please join us for a New Horizon School Open House on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. We invite our families, friends, district partners, community supporters, and everyone who helped make this journey possible to come see the transformation, visit our classrooms, and celebrate this remarkable homecoming with us.
To everyone who worked, planned, financed, packed, moved, built, cleaned, donated, problem-solved, encouraged, supported, adapted, and believed that we could get here: Thank you!
And to our students, families, and staff: Welcome home. The journey home is complete. We made it!
Now it is time to enjoy the possibilities waiting just beyond this New Horizon.
Sincerely,
Dr. Eric G. Rosendale, Executive Director
Beaver Valley Intermediate Unit
