Special education services will now be available to Bucks County students who need them closer to home.
To meet increasing special education demand, the former Pearl S. Buck Elementary school is now the Bucks IU Pearl S. Buck special education student services in Middletown Township.
The Pearl S. Buck School in the Neshaminy School District was closed in 2022 and replaced in January by the newly built Core Creek Elementary School, Levittown Now reported.
“The opening of the Bucks IU at Pearl S. Buck provides a meaningful opportunity to meet the requests of our member districts. An educational environment such as this allows our highly skilled and trained staff to meet the complex and individualized needs of students enrolled at the school,” said Lenny Greaney, Bucks IU assistant to the executive director in a press release.
Eighteen new special education classrooms will serve students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Three specialized “pods” of classrooms include shared areas for specific learning and general staff work areas, the press release said.
The Bucks County IU press release said students will receive care and education as outlined in their Individual Education Program, or IEP, alongside educationally-aligned curriculum.
“An educational environment such as this allows our highly skilled and trained staff to meet the complex and individualized needs of students enrolled at the school.”
In addition to the new Middletown Township location, the Bucks IU’s administration offices and Fab Lab are located in Doylestown. Three additional satellite locations offer programs for kids. They include Bucks IU at Lower Southampton Early Learning Center, Bucks IU at Samuel Everitt and Bucks IU at Perkasie Square.
“Expanding our programming in Bucks County aligns with the mission of the Bucks IU to support the needs of all learners, their families, school districts and our community,” said Mark Hoffman, Bucks IU executive director.
“As the needs of our stakeholders change, the Bucks IU will continue to evolve and grow,” Hoffman said.
Details regarding the project’s timeline for retrofit for special education students, its construction costs, the school year program calendar, any potential summer program offerings and whether or not Bucks IU Pearl S. Buck would provide services to “tuition” students from adjacent school districts were unavailable at press time.
