For the first time on Sunday, representatives of the Whitehall-Coplay School District unveiled the recently completed Gockley Elementary School located at 2940 MacArthur Road. For the kindergarten and first-grade students in the district, a two-story, 93,000-square-foot building has taken the place of the previous Gockley Elementary School at 2932 Zephyr Blvd.
Transition planning started in 2016, but the COVID-19 outbreak caused a delay in the project. In April 2022, construction finally got underway. The principle of the school, Denise Saylor, said, "It is almost indescribable, because it is taken so long to get here, the degree of enthusiasm to kind of see that we are at the end and we are moving into the new building."
Since its construction, the district has outgrown the old Gockley Elementary, particularly since full-day kindergarten programs were introduced. In addition to having more classrooms, the new Gockley Elementary offers larger classrooms that allow children to spread out more. An improvement in technology is also included in the new structure. According to Saylor, the addition of Smart Panels, whiteboards, and projector replacements to every new classroom will increase student engagement.
A STEM education room that is connected to the library is another recent addition. It will host science, technology, engineering, and math sessions every week that are project-based. Most of the people who visited the new building on Sunday were impressed with what they saw. A portion of the former Gockley will contain pre-kindergarten programs in collaboration with Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit, in addition to new offices.
There will only be one Gockley Elementary going forward, Saylor added, as the old Gockley will soon have a new name to reflect its new function.