Jenkintown schools need more space. The district may buy an affordable housing complex.
The district presented the land acquisition under the former superintendent last year as a rare opportunity to expand in the dense borough.
Surrounded by houses, Jenkintown School District has little space to expand beyond its plot at the center of town, which hosts the administration, sports fields, a playground, and all K-12 classrooms.
One solution officials are discussing, for the third year in a row, involves buying an affordable housing complex next to the baseball and softball field. School leaders will present the idea at a school board meeting on Monday, Superintendent Brea D’Angelo said.
The district authorized a feasibility study in September from architecture firm Schrader Group to create a master plan for Jenkintown’s facilities, which includes assessing the possibility of buying the one-acre Salba Apartments parcel. The final study is expected to be ready by February, according to the architectural firm’s presentation.
Jenkintown talked about expansion last year
The district previously considered buying the apartment property in 2024 under then-Superintendent Jill Takacs.
Salem Baptist Church built the complex in the early 1970s, and the apartments, which were at nearly full capacity in 2024, are becoming too old to use, Salem Baptist’s pastor, Rev. Marshall Mitchell, said at the time.
The church offered to sell the property to the school district, which had added nearly 100 students over the previous decade, Takacs said at a December 2024 meeting — a roughly 15% increase in Montgomery County’s smallest district. Though the school had a larger student population at other points in history, a growing special education footprint and preference for smaller classes require more space, she said.
Under the 2024 proposal, the 17 apartments would likely have been demolished, Takacs and Mitchell said at the time. Possibilities for the land included relocating the school’s tennis courts and creating space for a preschool center, a mental health space, and other facilities.
The church planned to build more affordable housing elsewhere for Salba residents, Mitchell said at the 2024 meeting. The district would have allowed Jenkintown students living in the apartments to stay enrolled, even if the new complex was located outside the borough, Takacs said.
In May 2025, Takacs announced that an anonymous donor had offered to contribute “millions” of dollars to the property purchase.
D’Angelo, who took over as superintendent in July, said Friday she would recommend the school board proceed without the donor, although officials “appreciate his continued interest in supporting the District” and will consider future opportunities for his support.
Too early to say if apartment purchase will happen, new superintendent says
But it’s unclear whether any of the ideas presented two years ago will carry forward into the new discussion. “We don’t have any plans for the building yet, including demolition or a new school facility,” D’Angelo wrote in an email earlier this month.
“We would want to gather input and explore our options before deciding how the property might fit into our broader campus plan.”
Salem Baptist Church and Salba’s property manager, HumanGood, did not return requests for comment.
The plan will be presented at the Monday board meeting, set for 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium.
Inquirer Greater Abington
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