(Photo Credit Upper Darby School District) Renovations included a larger gymnasium with a higher ceiling, Patrick
Expansion adds kindergarten, doubles enrollment
After five years of perseverance, struggle and dust – along with a once-in-a-century magnitude global pandemic – renovations at Aronimink Elementary School are complete.
Aronimink Principal Joshua Rehak and Assistant Principal Andrea Simpson gave a report on the completed renovations at the Upper Darby School Board meeting Nove. 12.
The $27 million project included renovating pre-exisiting portions of the school, as well as the construction of a 36,000-square-foot addition. The project more than doubled the number of classrooms and increased enrollment from 300 to 600 students.
A new full sized gymnasium was built and the school will serve as temporary housing for the district wide-kindergarten center.
The architects, School Superintendent Daniel McGarry and others met with teachers and with the student council to solicit input for design features for the school.
“Every kid wanted to share their vision of what an elementary school looks like,” McGarry said.
Construction took place while classes were still being held, with teachers and students occupying one part of the building while another part was under construction or renovation, and moving as need throughout the process.
Rehak called it “a frustrating but rewarding process.”
“I think I used the words ‘flexibile’ and ‘accommodating’ so many times over the process,” he said, referring to the cooperation he received from teachers, staff and students.
The increased size allowed the school’s enrollment to roughly double, and Simpson said she was delighted by the opportunities presented b the larger, more diverse community.
“Our goal is to create a community that is warm, welcoming and inclusive,” Simpson said.
