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Special Education School Opens in Former Lemont Elementary Building

The former Lemont Elementary School building will soon be welcoming students once again.

New Story Schools, which operates private special education schools for students with complex behavioral and educational challenges, opened its new location in the 82-year-old school building at 675 Elmwood Street this week to begin accepting students from State College and surrounding areas.

“We’re very excited to be in State College,” New Story CEO Dana Monroe said in a statement. “We have a long history of supporting students with autism and emotional support needs and their families. We are so thrilled to begin working with school districts in the State College area to offer our services where they are needed.”

Founded in 1997, New Story Schools has 14 other locations in Pennsylvania.

Susan Griffith, vice president of New Story’s western Pennsylvania region, said that before adding a new school, the organization conducts market research, working with local school districts to determine a need for more special education placement options and ultimately obtaining letters of support from those districts before a school can be licensed.

“We present what programming we have and see if there is an identified need for the area,” Griffith said. “State College area, various districts [in Centre County], did say there was a need for us and that they would be very happy to have us in the area.”

New Story and local school districts are currently working on the specific terms of their agreements for student placement.

“Once they have a referral for us we would work with them on transportation and intake of students,” Griffith said.

With a learning environment integrating behavioral support services, New Story works with families, school districts and other professionals to create individualized programs for students ages 5 through 21 experiencing social, emotional, educational and behavioral challenges, according to its website.

The new location has five classrooms and at maximum capacity can have up to 52 students. Griffith said the school currently has five special education teachers, along with specialists, support staff and an administrative assistant, but as student enrollment grows, the staff will as well.

An autistic support classroom, Griffith said, will have a teacher student ratio of, at most, 1 to 4, with a teacher and assistant for up to eight students.

Griffith said New Story has long sought to establish a school in the State College area and when the Lemont Elementary building became available it “immediately felt like it was a good fit for us.”

After a long discussion and planning process, State College Area School District closed the K-2 Lemont Elementary in June 2019 and the following fall merged it with its sister school Houserville Elementary in a new building on the Houserville site, Spring Creek Elementary.

In July 2019, the State College Area School Board approved the sale of the building to New Story for $1.3 million. A provision of the sales agreement requires that the limestone facade of the original front portion of the building, constructed in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration, be maintained.

Inside, however, New Story has invested in renovations to meet the needs for special education.

“Everything was completely gutted and rebuilt,” Griffith said.

The renovations included the addition of a sensory room and individual therapy rooms for services such as speech and occupational therapy and counseling.

Other additions include a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) lab and a cool-down area for students in crisis or who just need space for themselves.

The gymnasium was renovated to add safety padding to the walls and replace the flooring with a rubber-like material. The cafeteria also is now closed off from the gym to create a more peaceful dining area for students with reduced noise and distractions.

An ADA compliant ramp has been added to the front entrance, as well.

“We’ll be making some changes to the playground in the spring to add some more equipment for students that will better meet their needs,” Griffith said.

New Story originally expected to open the school in the fall, but the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic slowed renovations.

“Getting the building ready during the pandemic was challenging, but we’re so happy with the outcome and cannot wait to see our halls filled with students,” Griffith said.