Existing School Site Maximized

Rossmoyne Elementary School

K&W provided comprehensive site design, civil engineering, and land development planning for a new replacement K-4 elementary school built on the same site as an existing school that remained operational during construction. This presented unique design challenges including the separation of construction activities from the school function, as well as the logistics of managing ongoing parent and bus drop off and pick up of students. 

Designers also had to account for a 50’ wide gas line utility easement and 20’ water line easement that crisscrossed the site leaving a limited portion of the site available for the new and considerably larger school. 

In addition, a third of the site was sloping to the point not being developable except for stormwater management purposes. 

The adjacent state highway was also required to be expanded to include turning and deceleration lanes to accommodate the larger school. This required preparation, submission and approvals of a PennDOT Highway Occupancy Permit (HOP).

The site includes separate drop-off loops for parents and busses that improve safety by segregating the busses from other vehicular traffic. The Covid-19 pandemic caused scheduling issues regarding material delays that required certain site improvements be revised during construction. K&W worked with the contractors and the municipality to coordinate these changes in a timely manner and minimize impact to the project’s schedule. The school was completed on time for school opening in August 2021.