With great anticipation, the Malvern community saw the opening of Riley Hall, a renovation made possible by a generous donation from the Riley family. After years of only a temporary Mod space, the middle school finally has a set space. It will be fascinating to see what this might look like and how it can be utilized in the coming years.
“Riley Hall is the new home for Malvern’s middle school, a much-needed improvement over the previous facilities. [Riley Hall] was designed as part of a larger renovation and improvement of the facilities for Malvern’s campus. Much thought was put into the design to specifically focus on improving the learning experience for middle school boys,” the Riley family said.
Riley Hall offers everything the middle school needs like bigger classrooms, advanced technology, and their own space to learn. Mrs. Tyoe, a middle school Social Studies teacher, expressed how excited she is for the new building space.
“[The middle school] has what they need to be successful in a classroom and with other programming in the middle school as well,” Tyoe said.
The designing and preparation of the building took some time for it to be perfect. It was under construction last year and all summer. However, now Riley Hall serves as an engaging hub for middle schoolers to work and learn.
“The new building offers Malvern’s middle school students a better learning environment and much-improved classrooms and labs. The enhanced [space] also enables the possibility for future growth in the middle school student body over time,” the Riley family said.
Riley Hall is going to be the Middle school’s permanent environment and will provide them with a safe environment to learn, work, and engage with classmates.
“It is our hope that Riley Hall will be the center of the middle school at Malvern for decades to come,” the Riley family said.
With all of the construction going on around campus, Riley Hall is a little disconnected from the rest of the school at the present moment.
“Right now, it feels a little isolating, but in a few years, it’s gonna feel great to be able to walk out the doors and see everyone,” Tyoe said.
Riley Hall has brought the middle school students and teachers closer since they are all in one place now.
Ms. DePiero, a middle school English teacher, said, “for my first two years at Malvern, we were scattered around the campus and did not have as much of an opportunity to be in the same space at the same time. It’s nice to have a dedicated space on campus that our students and faculty can call home.”
Riley Hall has plenty of classrooms with flexible seating throughout the building. This gives the students the chance to engage with other students with group work and other projects and assignments.
“We have beautifully designed classrooms that provide enough space for students to learn comfortably and move around while doing so,” DePiero said.
In the next couple of years, our campus will look very different when the new Vic Maggitti Pavillion, the Middle School common space, is connected to Riley Hall.
“Having our Middle School building connected to the Student Life Center should bring even more activity and excitement into our building. It will be great to have the Middle School directly connected with a building focused on the student experience for the whole community,” DePiero said.
The Malvern Community wants to give another huge thank you to the Riley family for their generous donation and all they do for Malvern Prep!
