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The Imani Christian Academy is ready to ditch its old home in a shuttered department store and move into a bigger and better facility at the former East Hills Elementary School.

School officials will show off their new home tonight during an open house. The move is part of Imani's long-term plans to take in more at-risk children and expand community programs, school officials said Monday.

"Now we have a real school, real facilities, amenities, jungle gyms, classrooms that were designed to be classrooms," Imani headmaster Milton Raiford said. "This is going to put us as a 'real' school. It legitimizes Imani."

The school was founded in 1993 with 30 students and three teachers who met in a house in Swissvale. In 1996 Imani moved to a former department store at the old East Hills Shopping Center.

Imani bought the former East Hills Elementary School building last year for $1 million.

By accepting Imani's bid in an 8-0 vote, the Pittsburgh Public Schools board acted against a policy established 30 years ago of not selling closed schools to competitors. School board member Thomas Sumpter said at the meeting that he favored selling to Imani in part because the school takes troubled students from Pittsburgh and other districts.

Raiford wants more troubled kids. Last year, 218 students attended the K-12 school. Raiford said he expects to expand enrollment by 50 before classes start in the fall.

Imani's campus covers 5.5 acres. The school building is 90,000 square feet, nearly twice as large as the old facility, officials said.

"The students already feel it -- we're a real school," said Imani board member Enos Scott. "This gives them a sense of, 'My school is legit.' "

The city school board closed East Hills Elementary in 2006 during a "right-sizing plan" that shuttered 22 schools and 17 buildings, and eliminated 10,117 of the district's 13,706 excess seats in classrooms.

To get the school ready for the open house, more than 100 volunteers from Deloitte & Touche spent Friday painting and cleaning the interior, and mulching, weeding and planting outside.

Imani operates on a $1.9 million budget funded almost entirely by donations. The school will need an additional $300,000 per year to operate in this facility, Raiford said.

School officials will work through summer to complete the move. Future plans include a "green" roof where students could grow vegetables, and a boarding home for students who have nowhere to stay.

The open house runs from 4 to 8 p.m. at 2150 East Hills Drive. A dedication ceremony starts at 6:15 p.m.

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