Pennsylvania Charter School Expands to New Facility

BEAR CREEK TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Construction broke ground on the new Bear Creek Community Charter School in Bear Creek Township in late July. The $21 million school will be located about two miles from the old facility, situated on a 26-acre piece of land. Scranton, Pa.-based Hemmler + Camayd Architects designed the new facility to accommodate up to 450 kids.
Initial work on the project includes clearing nine of the 26 acres to make way for the 60,000-square-foot facility. The additional land will remain the same, apart from some hiking trails, in order to meet the schools goal of environmental education, reported the Times Leader. Because the charter school is a public school without many state regulations, it can focus on specific education concepts, such as environmental education in Bear Creek’s case.
The project is being funded by a $12 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as well as an additional $9 million to be raised by the school’s non-profit foundation. When the USDA loan was first announced last August, conceptual plans included a spacious atrium with a fireplace, a gym, athletic fields, and a pond and stream. However, as final costs became more specific, the board of trustees agreed that some parts of the plan, such as the gym locker rooms, a baseball field and a wood pier near the pond, could be constructed at a later time, reported the Times Leader.
The new school will continue to serve K–8 students, just as the original charter school did. The decision to build the original charter school happened after Wilkes-Barre Area School District decided to close Bear Creek Elementary School in 2002 to save on costs. The original school opened in 2004 with fewer than 80 students but grew to more than 400.
The facility could not accommodate the growing enrollment and had to make extra space by bringing in classroom trailers. When the idea of building a new facility was first discussed, the plan was to expand the current one or build a new one in the same area. However, they could not get enough land at the current location to accommodate the school’s growing needs.
The Times Leader reported that there are still no plans for the current building, but the hope is to repurpose it for community use. Construction on the new facility is scheduled for completion in August 2015.