Sheila Riley stepped over the threshold from a kindergarten classroom and suddenly, the overhead fluorescents clicked on.

"We like to say 'Let there be light!' " Mrs. Riley said.

These are bright times at the St. Thomas More Elementary School. As part of a $16 million construction and renovation project at the Roman Catholic church in Bethel Park, the brand-new school building chimed its opening bell last Wednesday and Mrs. Riley, its principal, said she still cannot get over, well, everything.

"We are living in Catholic School Heaven," she said.

The 57,602-square-foot school is just part of the roughly 75,000-square-foot St. Thomas More Center.

Besides the state-of-the-art facility for students ranging from preschool to eighth grade, there is a spacious Gathering Space that could also be used for wedding receptions of up to 300 people, meeting rooms, plus a flowing outdoor patio space featuring a meditation fountain.

The center won't have an official dedication until next month, but parishioners were given a first look Saturday evening.

"There was applause," said the Rev. James Farnan, one of the parish's two priests.

The Rev. Ken White, pastor, has been the driving force behind the project.

"He is just such a steady influence, a man of great vision," Mrs. Riley said.

"When so many people are in retreat, we were able to move forward, thanks to his leadership."

St. Thomas More draws most of its students from Bethel Park, Upper St. Clair and Peters Township. This year, it has an enrollment of 242 students in K through 8, with 71 in morning and afternoon preschool.

Technically, the center is still a work-in-progress, but an impressive one. St. Thomas More began its life as a South Hills parish in 1953, operating out of the old Upper St. Clair fire hall on Route 19. By 1958, the church was an aluminum Quonset hut on the grounds of the current church building off Fort Couch Road.

A school had been built at the site in 1957. The new school drapes its three main floors and two half-floors along a hillside.

Construction of the new school meant demolishing the old last summer, but before the building came down, all of its students and faculty had a group photo taken in front of it.

One of the first things on the agenda last week was the taking of a photo with students and faculty in front of the new building.

Students were given tours of the new building before classes got under way, and despite the thrill of exploring the general shininess of the halls and classrooms, there was still a sense of loss.

"They loved that old building," Father Farnan said.

One thing Mrs. Riley said she won't miss is her "gymalunchatorium," that combined area in the old school used as gymnasium, lunchroom and auditorium.

"It took a lot of planning around all those schedules," said Mrs. Riley, who was principal at the old building for 11 years.

Some of the old has been incorporated into the new. A smooth birch bench from the former school will be the center of a seating area in the lobby. In the Gathering Space, a whole backlit wall of faceted glass windows vied for attention with the natural light of the plate glass and an old-English style fireplace and grand piano across the large room.

The windows, designed by Nick Parrendo, of Hunt Stained Glass, were salvaged from Holy Souls in Carnegie after that church closed. Mr. Parrendo also had designed the 70-foot window walls of faceted glass that dominate St. Thomas More church.

Look up at the ceilings in both the church and the new community space; there are a great many similarities in design.

Over the elegant gas fireplace of the Gathering Place are framed sketches of St. Thomas More, past and present. The future will hold the completion of gardens and athletic playing fields behind the school.

Mrs. Riley pointed through a window to the new playground below. Besides the equipment, there is a rubberized surface beneath each piece to reduce the chance of injuries.

"There is 6-inch foam rubber there; if kids fall off, they bounce," Father Farnan said.

It is the principal's great source of pride that next to the playground stands a large pin oak.

"We saved that tree through four years of construction," Mrs. Riley said. "Mosites [the contractor] did everything they could."

In a sparkling new complex, two areas really stand out. A private donation of $150,000 was earmarked for a science lab featuring computer-linked tables that rise and lower, through hydraulics, to meet the needs of the very young children through to the eighth-graders. The lab, like most of the classrooms, has white, computerized SMART Boards. Next to the windows is an awards case with four impressive trophies: St. Thomas More collected its most recent Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair first-place honor in March.

The gymnasium is full-sized, with three scoreboards and an iPod-ready sound system. The school's name is painted in black letters at each end of the gleaming hardwood basketball court, with the mascot -- a purple-and-white tiger -- at the center circle.

Although seating is fairly limited by high school standards, the facility puts most secondary school gyms to shame.

The gym also converts to an auditorium, with a stage concealed behind panels along one side. It is Mrs. Riley's hope that one day the school can put on plays here.

St. Thomas More is one of 10 schools in the Diocese of Pittsburgh that mainstreams special needs students into classes through the St. Anthony program. It also provides counseling and classes in behavioral health, such as one taught by Lisa Hendrickson, who is the program liaison.

St. Thomas More is paying $550,000 per year on the mortgage until 2022, although more campaigns to pay it off are possible. Much of the parish fund raising was through festivals and smaller endeavors. Mrs. Riley has also gotten adept at hunting for grants. Dr. Scholl's, for example, provided a $10,000 grant for the art room; "I was doing a major jig in my office when that came through," she said.

"It's kind of like fishing. You have to put out feelers. If you put out six, you might get one."

Parishioners, she added, and not just parents, all put their financial weight into raising funds.

"Grandparents have been very generous," Father Farnan said. "And we've had some successful alumni [make donations]."

But in the end, said Mrs. Riley, it isn't about the new laptops or the elegant new portico that will greet future brides as they arrive at the church.

"This is my vocation, and my advocation. It's not the building, it's the program. There is a deep undercurrent of support for Catholic education," she said.