Jenkintown School District Staff, Parents, and Community Members,
I would like to invite you to a public presentation about a potential opportunity for the Jenkintown School District to expand its facilities, as we continuously evaluate ways to provide the most meaningful and relevant educational opportunities and services for our students.
On Monday, December 2, at 5:30 p.m., please consider attending a meeting in the cafeteria, where we will begin to discuss a possible opportunity to acquire use of the land, currently occupied by the apartment building at 309 Walnut Street, adjacent to the school district. It is important to note that no decisions have been made, or will be made, without significant community discussion and input.
As you know, our school district has an extremely limited amount of open or undeveloped space on which we could consider expanding our facilities. It is our responsibility to evaluate current and future program and facility’s needs, including the possibility of:
- Increased academic opportunities (such as STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering Arts and Math learning labs; larger spaces that provide more opportunities for students to collaborate in modern ways; increased space for additional classrooms)
- Adequate space for special education learning and services
- Opportunities to expand our performing arts spaces
- Space for mental health services for students
- Improvements to sports facilities
- Potential for collaboration with county-wide early childhood educational services
- Partnerships with higher education
Our school district is one of the highest performing in the state, but we lack opportunities for physical growth. We believe this is a rare opportunity for the district to consider a possible physical expansion. If the district pursues this opportunity, we would take the utmost care and support for the families who might be impacted.
We have begun exploring several financial options, including donations and/or grants, that could potentially allow the district to purchase or lease the property to address our needs. Again, any decisions by our School Board would be made with a significant amount of public communication, input, and long-range planning.
Information discussed at this meeting will be shared out broadly with our community. Furthermore, this will be the first of several public meetings to discuss this potential opportunity.
Thank you for your partnership and support for our school district.
Sincerely,
Jill A. Takacs
