Dr. Justin Belardi is a new teacher here at Central Catholic. After attending grade school at St. Sebastian’s in the North Hills and graduating from North Allegheny High School in 2000, he received his BA in chemistry from Villanova University in 2004. After completing his undergraduate degree at Villanova, he attended Yale University where he received his Masters and PhD in organic chemistry in the year 2009. Dr. Belardi worked for Merck and Knopp Biosciences for 7 years before coming here to Central, helping with drug discovery research. The classes he teaches are AP Chemistry, Honors Chemistry, and Level 3 Chemistry.

A full-time teacher is something that Dr. Belardi has always been interested in. His father attended Central, so he was familiar with the appealing culture of Central Catholic. His transition to Central has been very smooth. He claims that he instantly felt the warm, welcoming culture Central Catholic provides, and he credits his fellow teachers with making him feel at home. His favorite teaching moment so far this year was making “safety memes” with his classes to promote lab safety.

Dr. Belardi is fascinated with the new STEM Building, claiming that it is the nicest building he has ever worked in. He is a big fan of his new classroom. When Dr. Belardi is not teaching, he spends his time with his wife and daughters, ages two and four. Dr. Belardi is also a fan of classic rock, specifically Paul Simon, and all Pittsburgh sports teams.