Pittsburgh Public Schools is considering locating its new science and technology school at the Carnegie Science Center.

Betsy Momich, spokeswoman for Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, said the North Shore attraction was "thrilled" by the prospect.

"We think it would really be an important part of both our future and the Pittsburgh Public Schools' future," she said.

In October, school Superintendent Mark Roosevelt said he wanted to expand a previously planned science and technology high school into a school for grades six through 12.

He proposed opening the school in fall 2009 in the Oakland building now occupied by Pittsburgh Frick 6-8, an international studies magnet middle school. Mr. Roosevelt proposed folding Frick's population into a new International Baccalaureate school in Shadyside.

Mr. Roosevelt said he hasn't abandoned the idea of placing the sci-tech school at the Frick building but is considering the science center, too, because the partnership would bring "an incredible set of assets" -- collections, staff and facilities -- "to bear for our students." He said the science center would benefit from the deeper connection to public education.

"It is an exciting possibility," Mr. Roosevelt said, adding that he has discussed it with David M. Hillenbrand, president and chief executive officer of the Carnegie Museums.

The science center is home to the USS Requin submarine, the Buhl Digital Dome planetarium and various exhibits in robotics, forces, matter and motion, sports, the human body, and rivers and the environment.

Ms. Momich said the partnership also could tap experts at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Oakland.

She said the proposal comes as the science center works on a long-range plan that could involve changes to the existing building and development of nearby acreage. Mr. Roosevelt said the center's redesign could bring heightened attention to ecology and environmental education.

The science center already has an education program that serves more than 200,000 students annually from various grade levels, Ms. Momich said.

Mr. Roosevelt said the school district likely would want its own building on the science center campus. He said it was too soon to estimate a cost.

The science and technology school is one of four new schools configured for grades six through 12 that Mr. Roosevelt has proposed to inject new life into secondary education. The others are the IB school, a university-partnership school in the Hill District, and a merger of the magnet middle-grade and high school arts program, Downtown.

Mr. Roosevelt said he'd still want to open the science and technology school in fall 2009 even if the location changed from Frick to the science center. He said the school could start small and grow to a full enrollment.