A Shady Side Academy alumnus is helping the National Aviary find a nest for its next breeding and conservation center, teaching hospital and educational space.
S. Kent Rockwell, a Fox Chapel resident and 1962 academy graduate, is in the process of acquiring his alma mater’s 35-acre middle school campus.
The plan is to donate it to the Pittsburgh-based bird-focused nonprofit via the SK Rockwell Conservancy.
“A great deal of my gifting goes in to conservation and wildlife preservation,” Rockwell said on Feb. 11. “I’ve always had an interest in those things. This seems to me like it would be a good fit for (the Aviary). They need the space. They’re doing wonderful things and they’re very cramped.”
The development coincides with the academy’s construction of a new middle school building on the senior school campus at 423 Fox Chapel Road.
Once complete, the $26 million project will converge grades 6-12 for the first time since 1958. It has a capacity for 260 students.
That project is largely funded through a 2022 donation by Rockwell and his partner, Patricia Babyak.
The pair gifted $15 million, the largest in the academy’s more than 140-year history.
Rockwell is chairman and CEO of Rockwell Venture Capital, a company he founded in 1983 that has invested in numerous technology companies.
He and Babyak live less than a mile from the senior school and often take walks on the 130-acre campus.
“I’ve been very fortunate in my life to do well and I’m now at the point where I’m trying to give back to the community some of the things that we should be doing,” Rockwell said. “We’ve been giving back to try and do things that we think are important with the money we’ve earned over the years. (Pat’s) been my partner for 42 years and she’s tremendously essential. We’re very pleased to be doing this together.”
The middle school sale is projected to close sometime in January 2026 after students are moved into their new educational home.
Aviary officials said renovations to the facility may take about a year. An opening celebration is being planned for 2027.
National Aviary executive director Cheryl Tracy said everyone is excited to develop a state-of-the-art veterinary teaching hospital and other amenities in Fox Chapel.
“We see this as transformational for the National Aviary to really be able to highlight the work that we do behind the scenes for conservation,” Tracy said.
She credited Rockwell with coming up with the Shady Side Academy move about a year ago during a conversation about other aviary projects.
“We have an amazing breeding center, but we have a small footprint here on the North Side,” Tracy said. “We had always planned to find additional space that would allow us to really expand our current breeding programs. … It gives us the opportunity to significantly expand the work that we’re already doing, and we see the impact that we’re making.”
The Aviary hosts at least 60 species of birds, with some in its breeding center and some in the habitats accessible by guests. More than 300 birds hatched under Aviary care in the last 10 years.
Among the impacted species is the Guam Rail, which was lifted from its status of “extinct in the wild” to “critically endangered” in 2019.
Future conservancy
In addition to donating the middle school campus, Rockwell has pledged $10 million to help fund programs and upkeep at what is tentatively called the National Aviary SK Rockwell Conservancy.
It will focus on three core areas:
• A state-of-the-art veterinary teaching hospital dedicated to advancing avian health care.
• A breeding and conservation center for birds with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature status of threatened, endangered, critically endangered, or extinct in the wild.
• An interactive educational center offering scheduled programming opportunities, field trips and resources for local schools and the broader community.
The campus redevelopment is part of a broader, ambitious master plan for the National Aviary, which includes the renovations of both the veterinary hospital at the Aviary’s North Side location as well as modifications to the donated Fox Chapel property.
Main hospital upgrades include more accessibility and windows in the hallways.
The total project is expected to cost $17 million.
More than $7 million has been raised so far, including an undisclosed amount gifted by Daniel G. and Carole L. Kamin, which will support the veterinary teaching hospital at the conservancy. Daniel Kamin, along with his three sons, Matthew, Michael and Philip, also are Shady Side Academy alumni.
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The Shady Side middle school campus has several residential properties as well as the school itself.
Veterinary interns and students involved in conservation, breeding and research are expected to live in the existing residential units during their practicum.
Tracy said they hope to host between 20 and 100 interns annually. Not all may live on site.
Academy chief marketing officer Diana Toole said there is a plan to accommodate staffers currently living in those homes.
“We deeply value the educators and staff who make Shady Side Academy such a special place,” Toole said. “We have adequate faculty housing available on our Senior School campus to meet the current demand of faculty families and support our residential life program.”
Both Rockwell and academy officials declined to discuss the middle school property purchase price.
Toole said sale proceeds will be used for academy developments, including the new Rockwell school.
Perfect purpose
Rockwell, 81, said he and a real estate developer examined the middle school campus prior to Aviary consideration.
They determined the slope was a bit too steep to transform the area into residential property.
Rockwell said the idea of donating it to the Pittsburgh-based nonprofit flew into his mind after further talks with academy officials.
“We just passed on it and (the academy) wasn’t having any luck finding anybody to buy it,” Rockwell said. “They asked me, ‘Do you have any ideas?’
“I’d been down to the Aviary and seen what they were doing. I knew they were very landlocked from being able to develop further in that facility down there. I called and said, ‘I’ve got an idea for you.’
“I thought that it would be a real match for what they need and be a real plus for the entire community if that transfer were to take place. I went back to Shady Side and negotiated a purchase of the property, and then I worked with Cheryl to get to where we are today.”
The Aviary receives about 200,000 visitors a year.
More information about the Aviary and how to support its programs is available at aviary.org.