Middletown Grants Approval For New Neshaminy Elementary School

The Neshaminy School District’s plan to build a new elementary school is moving forward.

The Middletown Township Board of Supervisors approved preliminary and final land development 5-0 Monday evening for the Neshaminy School District to construct a new elementary school next to Maple Point Middle School.

The proposed two-story, 119,000-square-foot building would replace Pearl S. Buck Elementary School on Top Road in Middletown Township’s Levittown section.

The new school could be next to the existing Maple Point Middle School on Langhorne-Yardley Road, which also houses the district administration offices.

The new building is expect to cost $34.6 million to $43.3 million. The district is planning to secure a $35 million bond for the project.

If plans continue to move forward, construction would start in the coming months and the school would open in time for the 2023-2024 school year.

Aside from the 287-acre Neshaminy High School property, Maple Point Middle School sits on the district’s second-largest site. The property totals about 85 acres, according to district data.

The new elementary school could hold 800 to 900 students and would feature a modern design next to the existing middle school. A designer for the project said the building is drawn up to resemble the neighboring middle school.

Designer Scott Downie, of Spiezle Architectural Group, said the design draws from that of Tawanka Elementary School in Lower Southampton Township. He said the district learned from that project and will implement features that worked.

The district plans to make the school more cost-effective than the existing Buck building. Downie said money will be saved by using an existing site and not tearing down woodlands.

“We’re capitalizing on already developed property,” he said.

Addressing efficiency, Downie said the building will be 15 percent more efficient than required. He also said sensors will be used to determine when to use heating and cooling and when the lights should be on, off, or dimmed.

An engineer said the new building will use numerous methods to cut back on stormwater runoff.

Stacey Jensen, a traffic consultant for Gilmore and Associates, said the district proposed installing a traffic signal at Woodbourne Road and the school driveway. They also plan to install school zone signals at the school property.

The plans additionally call for adding a left-turn lane from Langhorne-Yardley Road into the school property.

Officials representing the district and project said the work involving traffic for the schools was being coordinated with PennDOT’s ongoing plans to upgrade the Langhorne-Yardley Road and Bridgetown Pike and Langhorne-Yardley Road and Woodbourne Road intersections.

Regionally, schools are seeing more parents dropping off or picking up students since classes returned to in-person learning during COVID-19.

Neshaminy Superintendent Dr. Rob McGee said the district has worked up plans to improve access and deal with fluctuation in parent pick-ups of students.

The new school plan follows a years-long facilities roadmap from the district that has seen schools closed, renovated, and one built.

Pearl S. Buck, which sits on 13 acres of land, was opened in 1968 and has received no major renovations, according to information provided at a 2014 school board meeting.

McGee said it would be difficult and costly to renovate the aging building while students attended classes.

The only other district school not renovated since opening was Oliver Heckman Elementary School on the Langhorne Borough and Middletown Township border. Heckman was closed in 2016 and has sat vacant since.

Neshaminy School Board President John Allen said there is no intention to sell the Buck property for commercial purposes. He added the building is intended for education or education support services.

“That’s more what we would be pursuing,” he told the supervisors.

Residents voiced concerns about traffic on Woodbourne and Langhorne-Yardley roads with the addition of a new school. One resident asked why they would build a new school before the PennDOT intersection upgrade project is completed.

Some residents said they were not advised a school was being planned for the site.

School board member Stephen Pirritano, the former board president, addressed those comments. He said the school board and committees have talked about the plan for more than a year, followed the law for notifying residents, and there was press coverage. LevittownNow.com broke the news on the plan on February 17, 2021.

McGee advised residents the district would next look at options for the other schools in the Levittown area.

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