Transformation is underway at the former Rheems Elementary School, where construction has begun on a no-cost learning center set to open in summer 2027. When it does, the Catherine Hershey School will bring change not only to the building, but also to the students and families it serves.

The Elizabethtown Catherine Hershey School, located at 130 Alida St., will be the second location to open in Lancaster County, following the opening of a site in New Danville this summer. A third school is set to open in Lancaster city in the fall of 2027. Additional Catherine Hershey Schools are open in Hershey, Harrisburg and Middletown.

Each is funded by a $350 million initiative by the Milton Hershey Trust, and all are open to low-income families.

"All expenses are covered for our families," said Luanne Dohner, center director for the Elizabethtown Catherine Hershey School. The school will operate year-round and will provide classes for children age 6 weeks to 5 years.

The school will accommodate up to 150 children and will initially be open to families that live or work in the Elizabethtown, Manheim Central and Donegal school districts.

The Elizabethtown site has kept much of the footprint of the original elementary school, adding some new features that are found in all Catherine Hershey Schools.

Each school features a tree motif in the lobby, representing Milton Hershey's philosophy.

"He believed if you plant a tree, you're planting not for the shade it provides, but for the people who come after you," Dohner said.

A Family Success Center will be at the heart of the school.

"We have dedicated advocates for all of our families," Dohner remarked. "Each family success advocate has about 20 families that they walk alongside of while they're here. We have a two-generational approach to education. It's a whole-child approach as well as a family success approach."

While little ones are learning, adults will have opportunities to work toward their own goals, such as financial literacy or furthering their own education.

Participating in the advocacy program is required, Dohner said.

"We want to help the child, and we want to provide high-quality education, but we also want to help the family progress along, so they are not in the same place they started when they finish with our program," she explained.

One wing of the new school will be dedicated to preschool classrooms for 3- and 4-year-olds. Each classroom will have a maximum of 17 students to three teachers, who will work together to team teach and collaborate thanks to a space that encourages interaction between the rooms. Each classroom also features its own bathroom.

A wing on the left side of the building will house the infant and toddler classrooms.

The center wing of the building will hold administrative offices, including space for an operations manager, human resources generalist, health services and others.

"I love that it's in the center of this building, so it's equidistance from all of the classrooms and everyone is here together to collaborate," Dohner said.

Unique features of the Catherine Hershey School include porches outside every classroom, so students have opportunities to get outside daily to use playground facilities.

A sensory room will provide a place for children to calm down and self-regulate, if needed, and an observation room will provide opportunities for therapists, coaches and specialists to review what's happening live in a classroom without having to interrupt instruction.

Construction at the site has modified the original cafeteria into a gross-motor-skills room, with skylights added to bring in natural light.

A state-of-the-art kitchen located off the gym will provide breakfast, lunch and a hearty snack daily. Children will eat family style in their classrooms.

"They learn to serve themselves, clean up after themselves and other skills that hopefully parents will appreciate when they go home," Dohner said.

An innovation studio will be stocked with materials for art and science projects, and an outdoor STEM garden will feature interactive water bubblers, shrubbery and greenery to represent different areas of Pennsylvania, a rock garden, a scavenger hunt for animals and more.

Children will also have the opportunity to grow produce in the garden to use in the classroom.

"We like to say we bring the classroom out into our play areas," Dohner said.

Construction on the site began about a year ago and is scheduled to wrap up in the next few months.

Staff will then be brought in for a professional development period starting this summer, with teachers joining in January of 2027 for their training. An opening date for students is tentatively set for the summer of 2027.

The first Catherine Hershey School opened in Hershey in 2023, and the model has proven to be successful, Dohner said.

"Families are realizing everything we can provide and help them with," she noted. "We're here to walk alongside them to help them reach their goals and find the resources they need along the way."

For more information on the Catherine Hershey School, visit http://www.chslearn.org.