LANSDALE- Starting this fall, 82 former Inglewood students will be welcomed into a new elementary school. For the 2020-2021 school year, 54 kids will be moving to General Nash, and 28 to Gwynedd Square.

This all comes after the School Board approved the Option C, or “Hybrid Model”, for the Inglewood Boundary Realignment project. 

A number of factors contributed to this decision, including the growth of the Lansdale area, the fact that Inglewood currently has art and music on a cart, and decreased enrollment at Nash.

In the past 15 years, Inglewood enrollment has drastically increased, and Nash enrollment has significantly decreased. 

“We knew that (Nash) had the capacity to hold 581 kids,” said Director of Elementary Education Dr. Betty Santoro.

For specifics on enrollment, see Dr. Santoro’s presentation from the February worksession here.

Gwynedd Square, one of the largest elementary schools in the District, will not face any major difficulties from their new students either.

“We will not have an impact at Gwynedd Square, because Gwynedd Square is able to absorb these students. We have done the calculations,” Santoro added.

Santoro is aware of the emotional struggles many students will face while transitioning schools, but there is a thorough plan in place to aid them. There will be an information night in March, an opportunity for students to visit their new school in May to get to know the building and staff, and orientation will be in late August. 

To help ease the transition for the parents, Board Member Juliane Ramic suggested that the Home and School organizations from all three schools come together to discuss losing and gaining parent volunteers.

During the Audience of Citizens at the conclusion of the meeting, two mothers affected by the change voiced their thoughts to the Board.

“Change is exactly that-new opportunities, new friendships, and new experiences,” one Inglewood mom said.

One Gwynedd Square mother suggested that the transition include a “buddy system”; including students writing letters to incoming Inglewooders explaining the best parts about Gwynedd Square and Nash.

Board Vice President Christian Fusco, an Inglewood parent himself, understands the concerns that parents have. 

“We’re going to make sure [transitioning students] have the opportunity, as they transition, to remain connected with their friends,” Fusco said.

“As a member of the Inglewood community myself, this is one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make,” Fusco added.

The next North Penn School Board meeting will be the February action meeting, held on Thursday, February 20 at 7 pm at the ESC.