The first thing you notice in the sprawling new East Allen Elementary School are the encouraging words.

On the entrance door of each K-5 classroom are personalized messages from the teacher, with inspirational philosophies also displayed on nearby hallway posters.

The teachers’ love for their new school, their profession and their students was evident up and down the hallways of East Allen Elementary School, which opened for the first day of classes Aug. 24 in Northampton Area School District.

Open houses for the school at New Seemsville Road and Route 329 were held Aug. 21 and 22. An estimated 1,000 toured the school, NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph S. Kovalvchik said Aug. 21.

The school was a long time coming, as was the use of its site, in the school district.

“It took around 30 years,” Kovalchik said of the conveyance of what is now 92.32 acres, the purchase of which was funded via the Pennsylvania Department of Education, with a restrictive covenant that it be used for educational purposes.

Construction of the $75.8 miliion East Allen Elementary School and Education Center began in November 2023. The NASD administration and IT department are in the education center.

The views to the south from the library and some of the classrooms and offices are spectacular.

There are 505 students and 40 pre-K children at the school, said East Allen Elementary School Principal Curt Dimmick, who, along with Kovalchik and NASD Assistant Superintendent Dr. Michelle Schoeneberger, greeted open house attendees.

On the hallway wall outside the gymnasium/multi-purpose room is a display of photographs, uplifting quotes and information about the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The display is the handiwork of Emily Reichtler, the school’s physical education teacher.

Among those attending the open house were retired borough elementary school principal Darrell Crook and former borough elementary school assistant principal Christine Steigerwalt.

“I am thoroughly impressed with what they did — a fantastic job,” Crook said of the new school and education center.

“It was a long time coming,” Crook continued. “It’s going to ease some of the overcrowding in the borough schools. I commend the administration and school board.”

“The opportunities for the students are impressive,” Steigerwalt said.

Among those attending the Aug. 21 open house was Barb Wiemann, who is on the board of directors of Governor Wolf Historical Society, a nonprofit that owns and operates Wolf Academy, 6600 Jacksonville Road, Bath, and nearby sites.

Wiemann said that Monocacy Schoolhouse, 6600 Jacksonville Road, which the historical society bought in 1998, was in operation until 1983 in the school district.

Wiemann said Knauss School was in operation until 1968. It is now the East Allen Township Municipal Building, 5344 Nor-Bath Blvd.

East Allen Elementary School is a 159,000-square-foot building that can accommodate 650 kindergarten to fifth-grade students. There is to be a staff of 50.

The two-story school has a central courtyard, STEAM suite, TV studio, art and music classrooms and a multi-purpose room for athletics and performing arts.

The adjacent education center also is two stories, at a slightly higher elevation, for a total four-story structure.

The campus has separate bus and parent vehicle driveway loops, parking for events, a playground and an athletic field.

Events this month include the following.

• 7 p.m. Sept. 3, NASD finance committee, Northampton Area High School library conference room,1619 Laubach Ave., Northampton

• 2-4 p.m. Sept. 12, walk-through for the community, Moore Elementary School, Bath

• 7 p.m. Sept. 14, NASD Board of Education meeting, NASD Education Center board room, 7200 New Seemsville Road, East Allen Township

• 7 p.m. Sept. 21, NASD facilities committee, NASD Education Center board room

• 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sept. 19, Houser Auctioneers’ auction of district school items, NASD maintenance facility, 100 Held Drive, Northampton

• 7 p.m. Sept. 21, NASD facilities committee, NASD Education Center board room