Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
MOVE-IN DAY ARRIVES
Students tour new East Coventry Elementary School
As they waited for the ribbon to be snipped in front of the brandnew East Coventry Elementary School on Friday, students broke out in a spontaneous chant of “Cut it! Cut it! Cut it!”
When the scissors finally sliced through the bright red ribbon, the cheers were heartfelt and the excitement palpable from both children and adults who gathered for the official opening of Owen J. Roberts School District’s newest elementary building.
The ceremony was attended by about 200 students, as well as teachers, staff, school board members and administrators. Also in attendance were Congressman Ryan Costello, R-6th Dist., State Senator John Rafferty R-44th Dist., and State Rep. Tim Hennessey, R-26th Dist.
The ribbon was cut by school board President Melissa Booth, with the help of students Nola Herbic, Grace Pryzborowski, Terner Whitten and Paige Faith, all of whom had wielded shovels during a groundbreaking ceremony in February 2017. Each of the four students held onto the oversized scissors while the ribbon was cut.
Booth addressed the crowd and spoke of the long road to bringing the building to fruition.
“Today’s event has been long awaited and highly anticipated,” Booth said. “This is the day we step with history. We have created tangible evidence of our community’s energetic commitment to future generations, our nation’s source of perpetual hope.”
After the ribbon was cut, students filed excitedly into the school to get a look at their new classrooms, which were
already partially set up. The building is located on the same lot as the old school, so it was a short walk for students and teachers to visit the new facility.
Teachers will use an in-service day on Monday to finish moving in and arranging their classrooms while students are off for the Columbus Day holiday. Classes will begin in the new facility on Tuesday.
“This new school will make a difference for our students’ learning each and every day for years to come,” district Superintendent Susan Lloyd said during the ceremony.
The ribbon-cutting marks a new beginning for East Coventry students and faculty. But it also puts an end to a lengthy $28 million construction project that district officials began planning more than half a decade ago.
“This has been a long time in the making,” Principal Todd Oswald told the students. “But seeing this excitement on everyone’s faces as you walked in to see your new school, that has made everything worthwhile.”
The construction project was beset by delays almost from the start. The building was approved in November 2014, one of two elementary schools that the board had voted to rebuild on their existing lots. At that time, plans called for East Vincent and East Coventry Elementary School to be constructed simultaneously. Both projects were expected to be completed by 2017.
While the East Vincent school remained on schedule, the East Coventry building quickly hit roadblocks stemming from a failed percolation test and unforeseen East Coventry Township land development requirements. Construction did not get underway until February 2017.
The board had hoped to have the facility open on the first day of school in August, but a summer of wet weather led to further delays. In early August, Lloyd announced that there were too many outstanding issues for the school to open on schedule. At that time, the board came up with a plan to move into the building over the Columbus Day holiday weekend.
So, when the students paraded into the building for the first time, it was indeed a moment that had been highly anticipated.
“This structure takes its first breath and shines its very brightest when our student body enthusiastically steps into these welcoming halls,” Booth said, quoting words she had spoken during the groundbreaking ceremony. “Today we cut this ribbon to welcome your shining, anxious faces to your new educational home. Today is the day this brick and mortar awakens.”