Elwyn breaks ground on new main school building with an eye to the future
The construction of a new, $47 million Elwyn main school building is officially underway following a ceremonial groundbreaking Friday afternoon at the Middletown Township campus.
But Elwyn President and CEO Chuck McLister, giving remarks in a heated tent near the construction site, said Friday’s event marked more than the mere start of construction.
“It marks a moment of progress and a bold step forward in Elwyn’s ability to fulfill its mission of making life better for people with developmental and behavioral health challenges,” he said.
That purpose, for more than 173 years, has always been to empower people to live meaningful, self-directed lives within their communities, McLister said, and the new Elwyn school will be a place designed to that end with purpose and possibility at its core.
“It will offer safe, modern and inclusive places that support learning, creativity and independence,” he said. “It will expand our capacity, strengthen specialized services and allow us to meet students where they are while helping them imagine where they could go.”
It is the latest and largest in a series of moves the institution has undertaken as part of a 10-year, $100-million master plan.
Other new additions and upgrades have included a transition center where students aged 18-21 can learn the basics of self-reliance, a first-of-its-kind young adult residential treatment facility, and divesting of other properties that no longer help Elwyn meet its mission.
McLister told the Daily Times in 2023 that the design phase of the new building had taken four years at that point, but the idea was to build a school that will be relevant over at least the next decade.
More importantly, though, he said it needs to be a place where families can be secure in the knowledge that their loved ones are being supported in a place built with dignity, care and attention.
The new school is designed to cater to students on two curriculum tracks, according to a news release: One for those with complex behavioral needs who will likely need to move into the residential program, and another for those more independent individuals who may be able to live on their own as adults.
“It’s so exciting to see the evolution of this campus,” said Delaware County Council Chair Dr. Monica Taylor. “I feel like we’ve been talking about it for years, and to see where we are in this project and the development is just really exciting.”
Taylor said the new school will be the latest addition to the state-of-the-art facilities Elwyn is putting in place and will set an example of what the future can look like for children and adults with autism, and intellectual and developmental disabilities.
She added that it has been inspiring to see Elwyn transform its vision into reality with this undertaking.
Joining Taylor on Friday were community partners, board members, executives, school staff and several other local elected officials including fellow new County Council Member Joanne Phillips; U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-5, Swarthmore; state Sen. John Kane, D-9, Birmingham; and state Reps. Lisa Borowski, D-168, of Middletown; Leanne Krueger, D-161, Wallingford; and Regina Young, D-185, Philadelphia.
Yulia Murphy, senior vice president of Middle Market Healthcare for KeyBank, which provided $45 million funding for the project, said groundbreakings are always moments of optimism, but this one felt especially meaningful because of what the new school represents: A renewed commitment to the children and families Elwyn has served for nearly 175 years.
“KeyBank’s relationship with Elwyn is one we are extremely proud of,” said Murphy. “... With more than 20,000 individuals served annually, Elwyn makes a profound impact not just here in Pennsylvania, but in all other markets the organization serves. That’s why early this year, KeyBank was honored to serve as the sole lender for this really important project.”
McLister said demolition on the old main building began in June and he expects the new facility will be up and running by summer of 2027 so it can begin accepting students that fall.
“It’s been a process of including faculty, staff at all levels, other experts that the developer and builders bring to the project to design the right school,” he said. “So it will have some early learning space, it will have some elementary primary space, it will also have some secondary space, of course, and then a gymnasium, a cafeteria, all the usual trappings for a school.”
While it is one of the biggest projects in the master campus plan, McLister said it is far from the last.
He expects to be presenting some other ideas to the board in June, including expanding a residential footprint for kids and adults, as well as other projects he hopes to have completed over the next five to seven years.
“I think it will probably be going on even after I leave,” he said. “But I will stick around to see it through.”