Building 21High School

A message from Superintendent Parker: ASD Board Votes to Renew Contract between District & Building 21, Inc.

A message from Superintendent Parker: ASD Board Votes to Renew Contract between District & Building 21, Inc.
Posted on 02/28/2020

February 28, 2020

Greetings ASD Community,

Last night the ASD Board of Directors voted to renew the (Memorandum of Understanding) MOU between ASD and Building, 21 Inc. Building 21 opened in 2015 and celebrated its first graduating class last summer. We are excited to continue to provide a unique learning opportunity to our high school students through this partnership.

How did we get here?

The revisions to the partnership were made after a strategic review of student outcomes, finances, and survey results and a community town hall meeting. In addition, our board conducted a site visit to observe daily operations and collected meaningful feedback from students, families, teachers and community partners during a January town hall. It was the valuable efforts that guided the contract and programmatic revisions.

What does this mean for students and families?

Building 21 will continue to operate as Allentown’s third high school. Students from any Allentown middle school can apply to enroll in Building 21 for Grade 9 beginning in March. Additionally, Building 21 will begin to visit middle school students as early as Grade 7 to provide them with information that will allow for a smooth transition to high school. The school will also implement a summer bridge program for students between Grades 8 & 9 to prepare students for academic success.

Lastly, strategic communication aimed at providing students and families with a better understanding of competency-based learning, a hallmark of Building 21, will be a priority going forward.

Thank you,

Superintendent Thomas Parker