Drive past Wilkinsburg’s Kelly Primary School and it’s a drastically different picture than years past.

Bright blue and green benches line a path leading into a secure entrance for the building, highlighted by a welcoming overhang and soon-to-be green spaces once the district can plant grass.

It’s a major change from the dark, concrete structure that loomed over Kelly Street, a building many said resembled a prison rather than a school.

Kelly Primary was renovated this year for the first time since it was built in 1969 to include improved safety and security measures and a new playground and classrooms.

“This space is more than walls and classrooms,” Superintendent Jocelyn Artinger said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday. “It is a place where curiosity, learning and community come

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