Passport Academy Charter School, a public charter school aimed to help high school students graduate and enter the workforce, is planning a move to the Uptown section of Pittsburgh.
Passport Academy wants to operate at 1835 Forbes Ave., moving from its current location in Garfield. The school is asking the city Planning Commission to reclassify the Uptown building’s use from business to educational.
Speaking to the Planning Commission board on Tuesday, Passport Academy CEO Joe Oliphant described the school’s mission to provide an option for students who did not find success in a traditional secondary school
The school has worked with outside industries and companies to support career-ready components to academics, ultimately leading to a high school diploma, Oliphant said. Since opening in 2014, Passport Academy has graduated more than 700 students, he said.
Passport Academy started at the Kaufmann Center building in the Hill District and moved Downtown, to 933 Penn Ave., in 2019. The Downtown lease was not renewed and the school moved to 5231 Penn Ave. in Garfield earlier this year. School officials aim to open in Uptown next year.
The Forbes Avenue building was constructed in 1996 and renovated to medical office suites in 2007. Most of the space is vacant. Passport has signed an agreement of sale for the property, said Robert Max Junker, an attorney with Babst Calland and legal representative for Passport Academy.
There would be no major additions or parking changes on the property. The scope of work includes interior renovations for classrooms, interior finishes and signage changes, Junker said. Wildman Chalmers, a local architecture firm with experience in school buildings, is designing the space.
About 125 to 150 students aged 16 to 21 attend Passport Academy, Oliphant said. Schooling is divided into two in-person sessions per day — from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. — and there are no more than 80 students in the building per session.
Most students arrive via public transportation, Junker said. No busing is provided except for small group trips to off-site training programs. Passport Academy anticipates about 18 staff members to park in the parking lot.
The school does not provide meals, so deliveries are limited to occasional supplies, Junker said.
Junker said that because of its small size and limited operations, Passport Academy will not impact the surrounding community.
Instead, “through this training and by giving opportunity to City of Pittsburgh residents … we are going to have a different type of impact on the community, continuing our 12 years of success,” Junker said.
The Planning Commission will consider issuing a recommendation at its April 21 meeting.
Commissioner Rachel O’Neill indicated she was in favor of Passport’s request.
“The timelines and traffic impacts are going to be so much less than what we normally think of as being associated with an elementary or secondary school,” she said.