Years in the making, the new Clifton Heights Middle School is now open.
Upper Darby School District welcomed students Monday to the new $91-million-plus Clifton Heights Middle School.
A teacher rolls learning materials into the Clifton Heights Middle School on Friday. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
The school includes a modern kitchen for student lunches. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
The multiple fields will be turned over to Clifton Heights borough. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
Upper Darby School District will open the $91+ million Clifton Heights Middle School on Monday. An official ribbon cutting is planned for October 6th. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
The stage in the cafetorium of the Clifton Heights Middle School. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
Clifton Heights Middle School Principal William Rogers said he is ecstatic about the new school opening. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
Upper Darby School District Director of Capital Projects, Craig Harnitchek opens up a glass Nana Wall that allows staff to expand some classrooms, (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
The new Clifton Heights Middle School opened Monday. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
The new Clifton Heights Middle School opened Monday. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
The new Clifton Heights Middle School opened Monday. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
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A teacher rolls learning materials into the Clifton Heights Middle School on Friday. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
The 173,000-square-foot facility will be utilized by 750 students, which will relieve strain on the two other middle schools, Drexel Hill and Beverly Hills, dropping those buildings below 1,000 students and removing modular classrooms.
Kelley Simone, district director of Secondary Education, compared it to taking a entire grade out of those schools.
Simone says the new building has become the district’s exemplar and the next challenge will to being the other middle schools up to that level.
Over 60 teaching staff as well as additional student support personal staff will work with students from grades 6 through 8 at Clifton Heights. At this time the school will not have autistic, life skill or supplement emotional support classes.
Officials raced to complete the new school, which broke ground in July 2024, in time for the first day of classes.
The school had been a source of contention with borough residents and officials concerned they would lose use and control of the fields that are the heart of the community and have hosted many youth sports leagues and community festivals.
In October 2020, the school district sued the borough after the borough zoning board turned down a revised preliminary land development plan to build the school.
Eventually the two sides came to an agreement, with the district replacing multiple athletic fields and then deeding them to the borough to be available for youth teams and community organizations.
As work on the building moved ahead, the district had contingencies to bus students to other schools if they weren’t able to open in time for this year. However, builders led by the General Contractor Rycon worked in high gear to have the facility ready for the first day of school.
New Principal William Rogers said he was ecstatic about the facility.
“It’s exulting, also I’m honored,” Rogers said on Friday. “We’re right at the finish line right now and ready for the kids to come in and experience this and take pride in the neighborhood.”
On Friday afternoon, teachers were setting up their classrooms and taking part in professional development as workers were still busy handling last minute projects.
Down to the wire
Craig Harnitchek, director of Capital Projects for the district, gave the Daily Times a sneak peak of the three-story building that features state of the art design.
Harnitchek said a couple of issues had slowed progress.
Upper Darby School District Director of Capital Projects Craig Harnitchek talks about the acoustics in one of the music rooms on Friday at Clifton Heights Middle School ahead of the first day of classes on Monday. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
First was some of the flooring.
On Friday, workers were still busy with laying terrazzo flooring, a durable aggregate material that is time consuming to install. It is laid down in a wet mix and ground to a relatively smooth finish, which is then polished.
The other issue that slowed progress was a vandalism incident on June 17 in which two 12-year-olds broke into the building and opened water valves on the upper floors. The water damaged some electrical devices, which are being replaced. The two confessed to the police.
Harnitchek said the district is finishing a general seeding of the three baseball-type fields and a football field, which will be signed over to the borough.
For stormwater management, the 14 acre property has six surface stormwater basins and four subterranean basins to hold rainwater.
A walking path for the community runs behind the fields. Trees will be planted after the heat of the summer for the best chance of survival.
The building is built into a hill and has three levels. The top floor is set back to reduce the appearance of looming over the street.
On the inside
Inside, a rock climbing wall, a great hall and cafetorium are some of the standout features.
The floor of the primary gym is still being coated and will be open about Sept. 8, Harmchek said.
One wall of the gym is a climbing wall. It also has a screen that can divide the gym into two smaller spaces as well as audio-visual projection equipment along with retractable basketball backboards and wrestling mats.
Upper Darby School District Director of Capital Projects Craig Harnitchek talks about the gymnasium and its rock-climbing wall, (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
The great hall will feature 160 feet of graphics and will hold large groups and includes a choral riser, Harnitchek said.
The school features a 280-seat cafetorium, which is a combination cafeteria and auditorium.
Harnitchek said auditoriums and cafeterias are actually found to be wasted space in schools: They are very large, expensive to heat and cool and often underutilized. Combining them maximizes that space and mobile furniture allows staff to convert the use quickly.
Off the stage are choral and band rooms with windows on the south side facing Springfield Road that can be darkened with shades for performances.
The building is cooled by two chillers and heated by two boilers, both of which run on natural gas and oil.
Harnitchek said of the cast-iron boilers: one is 84 percent efficient with a life span of 40 years, and the other is a condensing boiler that can reach 99 percent efficiency.
Harnitchek said the system allows for them to run on oil during times of high natural gas use at PECO’s request when that energy is needed for home heating. He said it will pay for itself in a year and is a win-win.
The expansive kitchen is not in use. Prepared lunches will not begin for the first two weeks as the district waits on approval from the borough health inspector. Until then, lunches will be brought from the high school.
Science labs allow teachers to demonstrate lab reactions using gases in safely ventilated facilities.
Two areas of the school include two-story classrooms with glass folding walls that can be opened, expanding their capacity. Plans for that space include drone training flights.
The building is equipped with two elevators and five stair towers, which include safety doors that close when a fire alarm sounds and would prevent smoke from traveling to upper floors.
Educational areas include whiteboards, and there is a video studio with green screen walls.
Inside a classroom before the first day of classes. An official ribbon cutting is planned for Oct. 6. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
The school has about 100 lockers per floor but officials do not expect them to be fully utilized as students have moved to backpacks and away from using lockers.
There is an auxiliary gymnasium with retractable batting cages on the upper floor, a weight room that looks out over the fields, as well as the full gym on the first floor.
Opening day
On Monday, traffic was slow and orderly along Springfield Road as parents and students began a new routine for the school year.
Clifton Heights Mayor Mary K. Dougherty was on hand for the first day, and was happy to see fencing gone and the sidewalk open.
Clifton Heights Police Chief Timothy Rockenbach said traffic on Day 1 was as expected: “very slow and congested between 7:40 and maybe 8 a.m.” but he expected as the weeks go by it will improve.
Rockenbach said he was working with Anthony Vaughn, the school district director of public safety, to address student drop-off and any other issues that arise.
Rockenbach added officers along with regional emergency response teams and the fire company have made several walk-throughs of the school over the summer regarding public safety, emergency response plans and training on both sides.
The parents
Parents dropping off their children were excited for the new school.
“I think it’s amazing. I know the teachers, the principals … I’m very happy, the staff, the facility,” said Anthony Bartley as he watched his son Azzure head off to seventh grade. “I’m extremely proud of the building, the progress. It didn’t take that long as I thought it would. It was built quite efficiently.”
Dorick Northington was dropping his daughter Harmony off for the first day. He was happy but worried the school isn’t fully done and recommended to parents to stay involved.
Lorraine Rowe was excited about the new school as she said goodbye to her son Jayden who is entering sixth grade.
“Close to home, it’s so convenient. He’s excited and he likes the different activities they have for him. I’m sure he will do great,” Rowe said.
For one family just across Springfield Road, the new school is a big change from the open fields, and ironically, it won’t be where their middle schooler is attending.
The Clifton Heights Middle School will relieve crowding in the two other middle schools in the district. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
“It’s a big change of scenery. It’s beautiful, but I might be looking to sell soon. It might be a little bit too much,” said Donna Burke.
Her granddaughter Layla, who lives with them, is going into seventh grade but she has to attend Drexel Hill Middle School due to the new school not currently offering life skills classes.
As students filed into the new Clifton Heights school, the family waited for Layla’s bus, which was running late in the traffic.
“I guess it was a lot, to get special ed in there right now. I guess it’s a lot,” Burke said.
The district is planning a ribbon cutting for the new school Oct. 6 at 5 p.m.