Alburtis Elementary School has a rich history that dates back to the early 1900s, when the land of the original Alburtis School was donated by an Alburtis resident. In 1913, the original Alburtis School opened as a four-room school house that had no indoor plumbing and served grades kindergarten through twelve. In 1940, the original building was “updated” to include indoor bathrooms for boys and girls as well as a health room and office area. By 1952, it was obvious that this four-room school could no longer accommodate the growing population and building plans commenced. In January 1958, the “new” Alburtis School opened on West Third Street; this building included seven classrooms and facilities for approximately 200 students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
Forty-five years later, in 2003, the Alburtis School was demolished, so that a larger, three-story school could be erected on the same site. In 2004, Alburtis Elementary School opened for a third time, as a 61,000 square foot building that is designed to accommodate 525 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. The lobby of Alburtis Elementary houses artifacts from former buildings, including the bell from the 1913 building and the cornerstone from the 1958 building.
One special construction detail was also waiting for the teachers and students upon their return; embedded in the walls of the school were tiles each of them had created before the rebuilding. The tiles, which contained their individual handprint and signatures, were placed through all 3 floors of the building as part of the tile walls. We also started our garden club, which is maintained by students and provides the entire students body with vegetables at our salad bar.