Here's what Abington's new middle school might look like

Abington School District wants feedback on design plans for a middle school set to open as early as 2029.

The new school, designed to house 2,200 students, will be built on existing district land. The current building, meanwhile, is slated for demolition and sports fields will be rebuilt in a $285 million project that taxpayers approved in a rare, successful referendum last May.

The plan, as seen in a June presentation, includes more parking spaces, layouts for easier monitoring of classrooms and bathrooms, a class “pod” design, and flexible room sizes.

Abington has extended the deadline for a community survey on the plan to July 10, district spokesperson Allie Artur said. The district will use the feedback to further refine the design.

The academic areas of the school would be divided into sets of classrooms and bathrooms to give students a home base within the larger building, said Ryan Murphy, a project manager from ICS, the facility planning consulting firm leading the design effort.

Those classrooms would have windows that allow adults to look in from the hallway, but are too high to distract students sitting at desks.

The planned bathrooms would have fully private stalls, with shared sink areas equipped with cameras.

Several classrooms, along with the cafeteria and auditorium, would have partition options for changing the room sizes.

The design adds 79 more parking spaces than the current middle school has, Murphy said. The plans also retain a track around the football field.

The new school is to be built on the current site of the tennis courts beside the district administration building.

While some athletic spaces, including the soccer fields, won’t be touched during construction, the tennis courts won’t be rebuilt until the old school is demolished during the 2029–2030 school year, according to the project timeline.

The district is working with the township on a plan to use Alverthorpe Park and other venues for tennis in the meantime, Artur said.

The new building would also give spectators access to bathrooms during games, while keeping the rest of the school blocked off.

Murphy emphasized during the June presentation that the renderings are not the final product, as the district continues to seek feedback on the project.

A district survey last winter found that residents wanted a safe, inclusive, and cost-effective middle school filled with natural light.

The new survey on the initial building renderings asks residents for feedback on specific design elements, including safety features, the pickup and drop-off line, and parking.

Residents had to approve the extra spending for the demolition and construction project, which will eventually cost the average taxpayer about $54 per month.

The successful 2025 referendum — unusual in Pennsylvania — drew 17,497 voters and passed by a 385-vote margin.

Opponents of the project argued that $285 million is too steep, and called for a slower process to allow residents more input in the renovation and construction options.

Advocates said renovating the existing building would cost an estimated $206 million anyway, and that needed repairs alone would cost around $100 million and require debt.

A tax calculator that allows property owners to estimate how much the project will add to their bill has been viewed more than 27,000 times, according to the website.

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