ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A group of young Allentown students put on their hard hats, picked up their shovels and helped launch a new chapter for education on Allentown’s East Side.
They joined elected officials and representatives from Allentown School District on Monday for a groundbreaking at the site of a new school for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
“Today marks an extraordinary moment in the Allentown School District,” Superintendent Carol Birks said.
“This milestone represents the culmination of decades of hopes and dreams for the East Side of Allentown,” she said.
The Allentown K-8 Academy is set to offer more than 200,000 square feet of academic and creative spaces when construction wraps up during the 2027-28 school year.
Two instructional wings — one for about 800 elementary students and 400 middle schoolers — will feature classrooms, support hubs, learning commons and group rooms that can accommodate special education programs.
“This is one of the most substantial educational investments in the East Side of Allentown in decades."State Sen. Nick Miller
The school’s campus will “bring together early learners and adolescents” into a “cohesive, forward-thinking learning community,” Birks said, calling the project a “transformative endeavor.”
A 'launchpad' for students
State Sen. Nick Miller, who served on the Allentown School Board before being elected to Harrisburg, said a new East Side middle school was long overdue.
Dieruff High School initially was earmarked as a middle school when it was being built in the late 1950s, but officials opened it for older students due to population and demographic factors, he said.
“We want our students to do more than memorize facts. We want them to learn how to think critically, create boldly and innovate fearlessly. This new school will be the engine that drives that transformation.”Andrene Brown Nowell, school board president
That forced East Side students to continue walking several miles to Harrison Morton Middle School, which Miller said was just one of the “inequities” they faced for a long time.
The new school will significantly cut the distance East Side students have to travel, he said.
“This is one of the most substantial educational investments in the East Side of Allentown in decades,” Miller, D-Lehigh/Northampton, said Monday.
School board President Andrene Brown-Nowell called the new school “a foundational commitment to the future of Allentown” and a “launchpad” for its future students’ futures.
“We want our students to do more than memorize facts. We want them to learn how to think critically, create boldly and innovate fearlessly,” she said. “This new school will be the engine that drives that transformation.”
“Today, we break ground on a building,” Brown-Nowell said. “Tomorrow, we will begin the work of breaking new ground on education.”
Build a good school and residents will come
The new school is the first project to break ground on the sprawling former Allentown State Hospital property.
City Center, Allentown’s most prominent developer, bought the 195-acre site for about $5.5 million. Pennsylvania Revenue Secretary Pat Browne helped push the deal through while representing the city in the state Senate.
City Center President J.B. Reilly said the school will “anchor” the new development and be “truly transformative” for the East Side.
“Today, we break ground on a building. Tomorrow, we will begin the work of breaking new ground on education.”Andrene Brown-Nowell, school board president
Reilly said the school "is going to kick off a very meaningful community-based project,” which will also bring health care, retail and retail spaces — and more than 1,000 housing units.
Reilly said he looks forward to returning to the Northridge property next year for many more groundbreakings.
School board member Phoebe Harris said it was “a dream come true” to watch young students officially launch the project to build the K-8 Academy, which will provide a top-class education.
Allentown children “deserve nothing less,” she said.
