CRANBERRY TWP — Students arriving Tuesday at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School were met with a surprise greeting.

Bishop David Zubik stood inside the entrance to the school to greet the students as they entered the new building on the first day of classes.

The building on Route 228 replaces North Catholic High School that was in the Troy Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh since 1939.

“It's a historic day for the Diocese of Pittsburgh. This has been in the works for decades. We were finally able to build a school in the fastest growing area, not only in the region, but the whole commonwealth,” Zubik said.

“I wanted to welcome the students to let them know I'm happy to be here for something big they're a part of.”

Zubik also visited the school Aug. 22 for a dedication and blessing ceremony for the grotto and Virgin Mary statue.

Enrollment at the school is 286, said the Rev. Charles Bober, school president.

That number could continue to grow this year, Bober said.

“It's a transient area. There might be people moving here, so we will still be accepting applications in the first couple of weeks,” he said.

In the school's final year in Pittsburgh, enrollment was about 200 students.

With the first bell scheduled to ring at 7:50 a.m. most students arrived between 7:30 and 8 a.m. After meeting the bishop, students were told by teachers and administrators to go to the cafeteria to receive their homeroom assignments.

The students enter the school through the side entrance after being dropped off by a bus or car, or having driven to the school. The main entrance is for teachers, staff and visitors.

The buses that pick up students living in the Seneca Valley and Mars school districts drop off the high school students first and then drop off the younger students who attend St. Kilian Parish School across the street between 8 and 8:30 a.m., Bober said.

The junior and senior classes are composed mostly of students who attended the school last year in Pittsburgh.

The freshman and sophomore classes are larger and are made up of mostly students who are new to the school.

Ryan Orthermen, a freshman from Wexford, said he was excited to attend Cardinal Wuerl.

“It's a very nice building, and it's cool to be a part of something new,” Ryan said.

Kevin Curran, a freshman from Cranberry Township, said he was looking forward to playing football and being at a smaller school after attending Seneca Valley last year.

“I like the smaller environment,” Kevin said.

Biology teacher Carly Williams was one of the faculty members to greet students as they arrived.

“I'm very excited to be here. It's good to be in a school where we can freely talk about God,” she said.

Williams said she was one of the new teachers hired over the summer and went through a three-round interview process to get the job.

“I think these are the best of the best. We worked really hard to be here,” she said.

Though the building, grounds and roads are complete, one classroom wing of the 185,000-square-foot school has been intentionally left unfinished.

When finished, the building will have the capacity for 1,000 students, though officials expect it will operate with a smaller enrollment for its first few years.

The school campus is on 71 acres and cost about $70 million to build. It employs 25 teachers and 40 total staff.