ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The Allentown School District held a groundbreaking Friday to mark the start of construction on a new $11 million Family & Community Resource Center.
The center will be a one-stop shop for district families to enroll their children in school, access health care or even learn English.
It will be located on the campus of Bridgeview Academy of Health, Science, Innovation, and Technology at 265 Lehigh St., Allentown.
The new building will sit just north of the theme-based high school, with entrances facing Union and Lehigh streets.
Superintendent Carol Birks said Friday that the center was the result of parents calling for a centralized location for student registration, social services and other district resources.
“We’re building something bold, something lasting. ... We’re building a way of being.”Carol Birks, Allentown School District superintendent
She said the center is part of district efforts to continually engage the Allentown community.
“We’re building something bold, something lasting,” Birks said. “We’re building a way of being.”
Community partners and social services
The Family & Community Resource Center will provide mental and physical health services that include telehealth, dental care and immunizations, the district said when it first announced the project in 2024.
The center will have exam rooms, and medical teams from Lehigh Valley Health Network and Valley Health partners will help staff the center.
Workforce Board Lehigh Valley will help families and students find jobs and offer resume-writing classes, as well as other workforce opportunities at the center.
United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley will be another regular community partner at the center.
Additionally, the district plans to invite other organizations to offer community services on a rotating basis.
The new building also will have large meeting spaces and offices for central administration staff.
Allentown School Board President Andrene Brown-Nowell said Friday that students’ success isn’t just determined by what happens during the school day.
The Family & Community Resource Center will help district families address other concerns they may have, she said.
“Success is nurtured at home, supported by health and wellness and fueled by stable, empowered community,” Brown-Nowell said.
Bridgeview Academy sophomore Amileni Liranzo said the resource center “shows that the district actually cares about what life is like” for district families.
“For students like me, it’s exciting to see change actually happen, not just being talked about,” she said.
Officials talk of ASD's future
Construction of the center will be partially funded through a $522,205 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Multi-Purpose Community Facilities Competitive Grant Program.
State Reps. Peter Schweyer and Mike Schlossberg, as well as state Sen. Nick Miller, helped the school district secure the grant. Lehigh County Executive Joshua Siegel, who was formerly a state representative, also helped in securing the funding.
Those officials spoke at Friday’s groundbreaking.
When Schlossberg first became a state representative in 2013, the Allentown School District was in the midst of dealing with budget cuts, eliminating positions and academic programs as a result, he said.
“The idea of being able to move forward was really, really far away,” said Schlossberg, D-Lehigh. “We have come so far.”
Today, the district isn’t just focused on surviving budget cuts, but moving beyond a “traditional approach to education,” he said.
Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk also spoke of the school district's future and that of the city, too.
He said that Allentown is a “place of second acts,” referencing revitalization at the Bridgeview Academy campus and nearby locations in the city.
Tuerk acknowledged Bridgeview Academy’s recent past as Building 21 High School.
The high school was renamed and opened as Bridgeview Academy this school year, offering career pathways for students to study artificial intelligence, computer science and allied health.
"We’re starting an amazing second act in the city of Allentown.”Matt Tuerk, Allentown mayor
It will expand in coming years to serve younger students in sixth through eighth grades, too.
Tuerk also pointed to the redevelopment of Bridgeview Estates, formerly the Little Lehigh housing complex, located less than a mile away from Bridgeview Academy.
Additionally, the mayor highlighted recent upgrades at Clyde E. Bosket Sr. Park, formerly Valania Park, located on Union Street.
“We have a really beautiful future ahead of us,” Tuerk said. “We’re starting an amazing second act in the city of Allentown.”
The Family & Community Resource Center is slated to be completed by December 2026, just as $53 million worth of renovations and new construction are slated to begin at Bridgeview Academy.
Those plans include building an athletic addition with a gymnasium and a two-story academic addition with career labs.
The Bridgeview Academy upgrades are slated to be finished by 2029.
