ALLENTOWN, Pa., July 03, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Parkland School Board , a division of the Parkland School District, encompassing Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton (the third largest metropolitan region in Pennsylvania) announced a new elementary school to be named Veterans Memorial Elementary. Veterans Memorial Elementary will be the first elementary school in the state specifically named to honor veterans.
In 2017, the Parkland School Board accepted a donated 18-acre parcel of land from David Jaindl, owner and President of Jaindl Farms and President of Jaindl Land Company , for the purpose of building the new elementary school.
As an expression of appreciation for the donation, the Parkland School Board granted naming rights to David and Jackie Jaindl. David Jaindl has expressed his passion for serving military veterans and therefore proposed the name Veterans Memorial Elementary School which was consequently approved by the School Board. The District closed on the property on May 1, 2018 and broke ground later that month for the new school, which is slated to open in September 2020.
“The Parkland School Board and Administration are pleased with David Jaindl and his family’s choice to name its newest school after veterans who are such important members of our community,” said Richard Sniscak, Parkland Superintendent of Schools. “I want to personally thank David and Jackie Jaindl for their generous gift of land and for honoring our nation’s heroes in their ability to name the school.”
“What segment in our community is more worthy of being honored than veterans, particularly those veterans who have lost their lives while protecting our freedoms,” said Jaindl.
Veterans Memorial Elementary School will be Parkland’s ninth elementary, located in the middle of one of the District’s fastest growing areas of new residential construction, and will accommodate about 600 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Fred J. Jaindl Elementary School also located in the Parkland School District is named for David Jaindl’s father.
Fast Facts about Veterans Memorial Elementary School
- The total cost of the new elementary school project will be approximately $35.8 million, including site work and road improvements near the school.
- Enrollment patterns and projections are being studied and attendance boundaries are planned to be shared with students and parents in the fall of 2019.
“The School Board is so grateful for the Jaindl family’s generosity, which impacts every taxpaying member of our community in a positive way, and we are honored to attach the name of Veterans Memorial to the new school,” David Kennedy, President of Parkland’s Board of School Directors.
This is not the first time Jaindl has partnered with Parkland, his alma mater, to honor veterans. He and his family presented a gift in the amount of $50,000 to the Wounded Warrior Project at Parkland High School in 2013. The gift was derived from the proceeds of a Tough Mudder event held at Jaindl AG™’s Raven Valley farm in Heidelberg Township that summer. At that event, local politicians presented citations that commemorated November 8 th as “Wounded Warrior Day in the Lehigh Valley,” the Parkland High School (PHS) Band honored veterans with a music procession, and PHS students shared information about a Veteran’s Day Community Service project that entailed the collection of cards for the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Media Contact: Kristin Schaeffer 610-973-2400 kristin@klunkmillan.com
