Building Scheduled To Open In September 2016

Center Valley, Pa. – Southern Lehigh School District officials and community leaders will hold a ground-breaking for the district’s new elementary school at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 9, Superintendent Dr. Leah Christman said today.

The ground-breaking will be held next to the current Hopewell Elementary School at 4625 W. Hopewell Rd. Parking for the event will be in the existing Hopewell parking lot or grass areas near the ceremony. Matt Szuchyt, Government Liaison for state Sen. Pat Browne, will be speaking.

The new $16.5-million school will be a 59,000-square-foot facility for kindergarten through third grade and will replace the existing Hopewell elementary school. The existing Hopewell will be demolished when the new school opens in September 2016.

“The ceremony will provide our community an opportunity to celebrate the upcoming construction of the new elementary building and for us to thank the many individuals who have been instrumental in the planning stages,” Christman said. “We are looking forward to watching the building come to life over the next year, and to many years of learning that will occur in this beautiful facility for our students.”

The project includes a $2 million Alternative and Clean Energy Grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and Department of Environmental Projection because plans call for a LEEDS Gold Certified building that includes a ground-source (geothermal) heating system and a small solar field outside the school.

The new school is designed for up to 500 students and Christman said that design will also accommodate future expansion, if necessary. Smaller spaces in the new school, now intended for small group or one-to-one instruction, could also be adapted as extra class space in the future, if needed.

Once opened, students from throughout the district will be reassigned to either the new elementary building or Liberty Bell.

Current projections call for average enrollments of about 410 students at both Liberty Bell and the new elementary building once the new school is open, and Christman said those projections are unlikely to change unless something dramatic changes that was not identified in the demographic study completed in April 2013.

“Projections through 2022-23 show a growth from a low of 5 to a high of about 34 students in grades k-3 as compared to our current k-3 student enrollment of 822,” she said.

Christman said the district is also applying lessons learned in the construction of the Joseph P. Liberati Intermediate School. “Some of the processes we used there, like involving the people who are going to be working there, from the beginning and getting their input are being applied here,” she said.

Construction will occur while classes are held at the current Hopewell school as the new structure rises around it on the back and side closest to Lanark Road. Fencing will be erected to protect the site and the children who may be playing nearby, Christman said. Safety is always a major concern and plans to separate the construction from regular school operations are a priority.

Once the new school is open and children have moved in, similar fencing will be erected around the existing school as it is demolished.

Contacts:
Dr. Leah Christman
Superintendent
Southern Lehigh School District
5575 Main St.
Center Valley, Pa. 18034
610-282-3121 Ext. 5101
christmanl@slsd.org